Under the terms of the contract, Bull and Barnsley Council will create a joint venture company that will provide a range of IT infrastructure services, including helpdesk management and data center management. Some 106 staff who are currently employed in the council’s IT department will transfer to the joint venture as part of the deal.
In February 2004, Barnsley Council brought in LogicaCMG to consolidate its HR, payroll, works management, procurement, and purchasing operations. The two-year deal was valued at 3.5m pounds ($6.5m).
Following the contract win, Bull will also use Barnsley as a center for some of its other IT services programs in the UK. For example, the company has begun to move a number of its hosting projects into the operations center in Barnsley.
Les Clayes-Sous-Bois, France-based Bull recently announced a strategy to make IT services the company’s main source of sales by the end of 2008. In 2005, about 27% of Bull’s total revenue was derived from IT services, compared to about 48% from product sales, and 25% from maintenance services.
In 2002, Bull sold its IT services business outside of France, known as Integris, to local rival Steria. In March this year, Bull CEO Didier Lamouche told Computer Business Review that disposing of Integris was not the best decision the prior management had taken, but when you have a fire in the house, you try your best.
