ABN Amro has extended its infrastructure services agreement with IBM, tapping Big Blue's technology to integrate recently merged Fortis Bank.
IBM won a EUR1.5 billion to maintain ABN Amro's global IT infrastructure - including servers, storage systems, data centres and desktops - in 2005 as part of a wider outsourcing deal involving a total of five vendors.
Financial terms of the new deal have not been disclosed although last month India's Economic Times claimed new contracts with IBM, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys Technologies would be worth a total of $1 billion. Bloomberg, meanwhile, puts the price tag at closer to $1.8 billion.
The deal will see IBM build and provide a new computing environment while integrating the existing infrastructure of the Dutch bank and Fortis, which legally merged in July.
The vendor says it will create an environment that is less complex, more streamlined and flexible as services are delivered via pre-defined 'cloud-computing' building blocks. IBM will implement a standardised end-user computing platform to enable the bank to communicate faster internally and with clients.
Frans Woelders, CIO, ABN Amro, says: "IBM will help us reach our goal of creating an integrated bank and will provide us with the tools and technology we need to prepare for the future of the banking industry."