Tandem Computers Inc and Bell Atlantic Systems Integration Corp have established a partnership to focus on state and local government, health care and insurance accounts. Bell Atlantic Systems Integration is Tandem’s fourth strategic systems integrator partner, and the two companies say that they decided to form closer ties after collaborating informally on two unsuccessful bids and realising the benefits of establishing an official relationship. According to Computer Systems News, neither Bell Atlantic Systems Integration nor Nynex Corp are particularly worried about an overlap between their relationships with Tandem since Nynex concentrates largely on financial services, although that does encompass a number of state and local government contracts. The new partnership coincides with the formation of Tandem’s Application Group which is to manage software development activities of third parties, to ensure that programs are delivered on schedule and to boost demand for Tandem’s Cyclone system. The Appli-cations Group is headed by John Sims, formerly vice president of Materials and Management Information Systems, and he claims that although he won’t place any special emphasis on particular hardware, the new organisation could be instrumental in increasing the number of applications for Cyclone systems. Analysts believe that the Group will enable Tandem to compete more effectively with IBM and DEC on systems integration deals since a greater number of applications will make Cyclone as acceptable a bid.
