HCL Technologies (HCL), an IT services provider, has signed a partnership agreement with Optimation, a New Zealand-based information and communication technology company, to offer services to New Zealand government and enterprise customers.

HCL said that the partnership will draw on the strengths of both organisations to bring cost effectiveness, global capabilities and skill sets to New Zealand organisations.

The HCL-Optimation partnership is expected to offer customers a mix of services from a range of partners including SAP, Oracle, Microsoft and EMC. Services will include business transformation, remote infrastructure management, business process outsourcing, application development and maintenance, testing, document management and BPM, SOA and Middleware upgrades.

HCL added that a significant number of its existing staff are hired from New Zealand and it expects to expand its training facilities with a new IT competency centre planned for Auckland in the next two years.

Virender Aggarwal, head of Asia Pacific at HCL Technologies, said: “Having successfully developed a strong New Zealand presence in over a decade, we are very excited about the partnership with Optimation that will prove to be a significant step forward in our plans to grow HCL’s operations locally.

“This partnership will progress HCL’s ability to deliver world class services to the industry at a highly competitive price point. We chose Optimation because of their long track record in New Zealand and their detailed understanding of the nuances in successfully winning and delivering business here because of their long track record in New Zealand.”

Rhoda Holmes, chief executive officer of Optimation, said: “HCL has developed a very strong reputation in this part of the world. We are looking forward to working with them to extend our global delivery model and our existing capabilities in areas such as SAP services and large scale application development.”