As part of the agreement, Siemens will take over, run and maintain Gerling’s IT infrastructure including data centers with IBM and Siemens mainframes using Unix and Windows applications.
The company will also acquire the insurer’s Cologne-based IT subsidiary Gerling Gesellschaft fur Informationsmanagagement und Organsiation, including its 280 employees, and will rename it SBI-IS Insurance Services.
Gerling expects the deal to reduce its costs and allow it to focus on its core business.
Adrian Hammerstein, group president of Siemens Business Services, said the contract is the first major order for the firm in the German insurance market. There is growing cost pressure in the insurance business and the outsourcing partnership with Gerling could signal a change for the industry as a whole, he added.
