In what could turn out to be very substantial business for ICL Plc, Microsoft Corp has turned over support of large accounts across Western Europe to the Fujitsu Ltd affiliate, the Financial Times reported. ICL becomes and Authorised Support Centre with responsibility for helping users to get to grips with Microsoft products, including Windows NT; neither company would spreculate on what the deal is worth, but ICL will be offering maintenance, systems integration, consultancy and training, and ICL feels well-prepared for the big new assignment, saying it has 5,000 staff in its support group, which is doing UKP500m a year. Microsoft admits that it doesn’t have the expertise to support big users more familiar with mainframe computers, and wants to concentrate its resources on software development. The agreement is a major coup for ICL, because Compagnie des Machines Bull SA and Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA are both putting a great deal of emphasis on expanding the services side of their businesses.
