IBM has won the first ever data processing outsourcing contract awarded by a bank in Hong Kong, the Asia-Pacific region’s top banking and financial center. First Pacific Bank and IBM China/Hong Kong have signed a HK$120m ($15.4m) agreement, under which the bank will outsource its data center to IBM over the coming seven years. Tony Tai, general manager of IBM China/Hong Kong, said he expects other local banks to follow First Pacific’s lead. IBM has similar outsourcing projects with Cathay Pacific Airways and Cable & Wireless HKT and is negotiating terms of agreement with companies in other sectors, Tai says.
