Telstra has just signed an 18-month contract extension to its 10-year applications development and maintenance outsourcing contract with IBM originally signed in 1997. The new applications services deal will now run until 2008. But Telstra is believed to have put pressure on IBM to cut its prices and costs as part of the deal.
A Telstra press release quotes the company’s CIO, Jeff Smith, as saying its sourcing agenda was driven by the need for world-class delivery of IT services and increased competitive pressures in Australia and internationally…We have called on our key IT providers to deliver improved cycle times, quality and cost-effectiveness in the delivery of application development and maintenance services.
IBM Global Services spokesperson, Caspian Smith, told the local media that the 450 roles to be redeployed to IBM India would perform programming, application design and most of the testing and deployment of applications. IBM’s local operations would still manage client relationship management, business analysis, project management, solution architecture and coordinating testing and integration.
This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire.
