KPMG is to outsource a
significant chunk of its IT management to
BT in a deal worth £62m over five
years. If successful the contract, in the UK and Germany, may be
extended to other countries in which KPMG has offices.
No announcement has been made as to how this will affect
jobs.
KPMG said the deal would deliver significant operating cost
savings. A statement from BT Global Services CEO Tim Smart
suggested that IT is increasingly being seen as a utility, rather
than a strategic tool. "Our clients are increasingly looking to us
to run their non-core business processes and assets," he said.
BT will run services such as the management and refreshment of
both local and wide area networks, integrating KPMG's
Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) platform with its
Cisco IP Telephony, management of video and audio conferencing
and management of fixed voice and
Time-Division
Multiplexing (TDM) telephony.
Central to this contract will be an obligation for BT to deliver
a fully converged,
IP-based, networked telephony infrastructure on time. This will
then allow KPMG offices in other countries to follow suit and
outsource their services. Initially, the agreement will be limited
to the UK and Germany.
This is an ambitious outsourcing programme, admitted Bryan
Clark, the KPMG partner leading the IT infrastructure
consolidation. He remained confident that it could bring about cost
savings while improving service to clients. He also predicted the
deal would help KPMG's future expansion. "Having a consistent
infrastructure platform and service model will help the integration
of new KPMG firms joining our newly created European firm," he
said.
Clark said he was happy with BT's track record as an outsourcing
partner. "BT's deep expertise in network and IT services and
experience in managing complex global contracts were key factors in
making this investment decision."
BT's Smart concluded: "This deal demonstrates the expansion of
BT's partnering approach in Europe and globally. With employees
working across multiple sites across Europe including thousands in
the UK and Germany, KPMG needs a fast and flexible communications
network. Meeting these needs is our primary focus."