Caixa Catalunya, Spain's third-largest savings bank, and Accenture have signed an information technology outsourcing agreement valued at more than US$290 million over 10 years.
Under the terms of the deal, Accenture will provide Caixa Catalunya and its subsidiaries with outsourcing services for virtually all IT functions, including infrastructure operations and maintenance, application maintenance, system integration, and technical help desk. The work will be performed through ITC, a company jointly owned by Caixa Catalunya and Accenture that also provides services to other clients in Spain.
The agreement extends an earlier contract for similar services, signed in 1998, that was designed to increase cost efficiency while providing access to new technologies.
"Accenture has helped Caixa Catalunya achieve its cost reduction objectives while maintaining its ability to respond quickly to market demands for changes in technology," said Andreu Plaza, Caixa Catalunya's chief information officer.
Stephen G. Racioppo, global managing partner for outsourcing in Accenture's Financial Services practice, said, "Banks need to be more cost efficient and more flexible to win their share of growth, and selective outsourcing is an increasingly important strategy for high-performance companies. By outsourcing, Caixa Catalunya achieves a leading-edge technology and operating infrastructure while freeing up resources to concentrate on improving multi-channel marketing and customer relationship initiatives."