IBM, Lend Lease Corp Ltd and Telstra Corp have finalized their alliance to establish a new information technology and telecomms outsourcing venture (CI 3,174). The trio are joining forces under IBM’s Integrated Systems Solutions Australia, now called IBM Global Services Australia Ltd. Lend Lease and IBM have reduced their existing stakes to 23% and 53% respectively, and the Australian state-owned communications company now holds 26%. The first fruit of the alliance is a new networking services company, Advantra Pty Ltd, in which IBM has 30%, Lend Lease holds 20% and Telstra has 50%. Providing a gamut of networking services, the first customer is the parent company and it will managing delivery of Global Network Services across Australia. Telstra says Advantra will become a powerhouse of communications and services and it is the largest data processing and networking center in Asia-Pacific.
