EDS, part of HP, has announced that it has secured a 10-year, £700m data centre contract with Aviva, with the aim of reducing operational costs, improving information access and increasing flexibility.
Under the terms of the agreement, EDS will manage two of Aviva’s data centres located in Norwich. The data centres serve Aviva’s business interests in the UK, France, Ireland and India.
The company will provide data centre modernisation services to Aviva as well as management for the insurance firm’s mainframe, midrange and Windows servers. Approximately 300 Aviva employees will transfer to EDS to deliver these services, the company said.
UK general insurance Chief Executive Officer at Aviva, Igal Mayer, said: “Partnering with EDS for data centre services, in our view, supports Aviva’s goals to improve flexibility, increase operational efficiency and lower costs. After a thorough evaluation, we chose EDS over other global service providers because of its collaborative approach as well as its unmatched reliability, security and value.”
Bill Thomas, senior vice president for the EMEA at EDS, said: “The data centre transformation will help Aviva increase efficiency, lower risk and reduce costs. As a trusted business ally, EDS will draw on its years of experience to help Aviva evolve its technology environment to drive better business outcomes.”
Aviva is the new name for insurance firm Norwich Union. It is said to be the fifth largest insurance company in the world.
