Nordea has entered exclusive negotiations with IBM to create a consolidated IT production centre for the bank's operations spanning four Nordic countries.
In June last year, Nordea announced plans to consolidate its IT operations under a EUR70 million cost-cutting programme. The largest cost reductions were expected to emerge from centralised and standardised hardware and software and reduced costs for licences.
The Scandinavian banking conglomerate says it has entered into exclusive negotiations with IBM "to accelerate the transformation process and leverage IBM investments to make Nordea's IT production costs variable".
Jarle Haug, head of group IT in Nordea, says: "By partnering with IBM we can speed up the consolidation and draw on IBM global experience to act as change agent for transformation processes of this magnitude. At the same time we will be able to improve the original business case by sharing the risks, and with IBM being responsible for the transformation investments".
He says Nordea plans to form a single-purpose joint venture drawing on IBM's e-business on demand concept to better monitor and manage IT consumption and capacity according to business needs.
The plan is to finalise negotiations and start the partnership during third quarter 2003. A centralised computer centre, housing the common central hardware of the group, will be placed in Sweden.