Malaysia's Bumiputra-Commerce Bank (BCB) has signed a ten-year multi-million dollar contract with EDS to outsource the management and operation of the technology infrastructure for its new financial IT and back office processing subsidiary, Epic-I.
The deal is valued at $250 million, marking the largest ever outsourcing contract in Malaysia and the first such agreement in the country's banking industry, says the company. The deal represents EDS' largest outsourcing contract in Asia.
Rozali Mohamed Ali, managing director and chief executive officer for BCB, says the agreement with EDS is part of a long-term plan to outsource non-core functions as the company grows its business strategy.
"By forming Epic-I as our technology subsidiary, we are taking a major step towards increasing our efficiency in order to be prepared for the increased competition from foreign banks that will likely occur over the next few years," he adds.
Collin Lazaroo, chief executive officer for Epic-I, comments: "The decision to entrust our technology infrastructure to EDS enables us to leverage EDS' experience in business consulting, IT and back office processing, which will help us reduce our start-up expenses and operate efficiently as we begin operations as a separate entity."
Under the agreement, EDS will provide application development and management services; manage the company's mainframe, midrange systems and network; and manage desktop computers and servers.
EDS will also provide management participation in the new company. By 2004, EDS envisions having significant third party processing business in Epic-I.