ABN Amro externalise son informatique pour faire des économies

Le groupe bancaire néerlandais ABN Amro a signé un contrat de sous-traitance informatique pour un montant total de 1,8 milliard d'euros sur 5 ans avec cinq fournisseurs : IBM, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Accenture et Patni. "Nous comptons sur ce programme qui concerne l'ensemble du groupe pour contribuer aux économies déjà prévues lors de précédentes estimations effectuées par la banque tout en améliorant les services informatiques", a précisé le directeur général adjoint du groupe Hugh Scott-Barrett dans un communiqué.

ABN prévoit de réduire le nombre d'employés de sa division informatique de 5000 à 1800 grâce à la suppression de 1500 postes dans les 18 mois qui viennent et au transfert de 2000 postes vers les sociétés sous-traitantes en grande partie chez chez IBM.

Cette externalisation associée à d'autres mesures de restructuration, doit permettre au groupe de réaliser une économie d'un montant minimum de 600 millions d'euros à partir de 2007.

Source : costkiller.net

ABN AMRO announced on 16 December 2004 that it would accelerate its Group Shared Services (GSS) programme, with the objective to create value across the Group through increased client satisfaction, higher operational efficiency, optimising operational risk and increased flexibility.

After a careful analysis of the options, ABN AMRO has chosen an IT service solution that encompasses in-house consolidation, partial outsourcing, multi-vendor strategies and offshoring. Further streamlining of the bank's global IT organisation will lead to an improved performance of all IT services and to significant efficiencies. Following the announcement on 16 December last year, ABN AMRO announces today that it has signed global services agreements with five IT-vendors for five years, for a total value of approximately EUR 1.8 billion.

The selected vendors are:
IT Infrastructure: IBM
Application Support and Enhancements: Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Application Development: five preferred suppliers Accenture, IBM, Infosys, Patni, TCS
The initiative leads to a new technology organisation of approximately 1,800 full-time equivalents (FTEs), compared to a total of approximately 5,000 FTEs currently working in IT within the bank worldwide. Approximately 2,000 FTEs will be transferred to the selected IT vendors, of which a majority will go to IBM. In line with the former communications, the total estimated IT staff reduction for ABN AMRO will be 1,500 FTEs over the next 18 months.

As previously indicated, the GSS IT initiative is expected to generate at least EUR 258 mln in savings a year as of 2007 (not including savings from the EDS contract). Combined with expected savings related to the other GSS initiatives (Offshoring, HR, Real Estate), the IT savings support the bank in achieving the significant and sustainable GSS savings culminating in at least EUR 600 mln from 2007 onwards, as communicated in earlier announcements.

Hugh Scott-Barrett, Chief Operating Officer and member of ABN AMRO's Managing Board said: "This major IT initiative enables us to deliver the 'fuel for growth' to support the required sustainable competitive growth for the bank. The agreements with selected vendors allow us to utilise the latest technology to further improve the services we offer our clients. We expect that this IT programme that is shared across the Group will contribute to the savings in line with earlier estimates made by the bank, while improving IT services within the Group."

Employee representative bodies are consulted on an ongoing basis on the above plans. All required regulatory consents will be obtained before proceeding with the implementation of the global services agreements.

IT Infrastructure services
The five-year outsourcing contract with IBM will oversee IT infrastructure services for the bank worldwide. Under the agreement, IBM is expected to assume management of the majority of ABN AMRO's worldwide information technology systems – including servers, storage systems and desktops. The only exception is the IT infrastructure of the Business Unit Wholesale Clients, which was already outsourced to EDS in 2003. The service commencement date for the IT infrastructure services is 1 November 2005.

Application Support and Enhancements; Application development
ABN AMRO has signed contracts with Infosys and TCS to provide Application Support and Enhancements to the bank. Both vendors have been allocated to maintain selected applications across Business Units to serve our business appropriately. After 1 September, the planning for phased transition commencement dates is expected for Application Support and Enhancement, subject to consent of local regulators. The implementation of the agreements will be phased over 18 months.

In addition, ABN AMRO has chosen Accenture, IBM, Infosys, Patni and TCS as its preferred vendors for Application Development. These vendors will develop new applications across all Business Units of the bank.

This multi-vendor approach to Support and Enhancements and Application Development will deliver real value to the bank by increasing cost efficiency and significantly improving agility. All the vendors selected are top-tier IT companies and have demonstrated clear commitment to ABN AMRO's defined performance and service level standards.

source : ABN Amro