Leading South African financial institution, Absa Bank has extended its outsourcing contract for desktop support services to AST Distributed Technology Services (DTS) until 2006. The value of the contract is in excess of R140 million, per annum.
In terms of the contract, AST DTS will conduct maintenance and support service in respect of Absa`s technology environment, which includes desktops, printers, servers and peripherals. This environment consists of around 30 000 PCs, servers and notebooks, and some 1 500 LANs.
"Economies of scale, depth of expertise and international best practices will enable AST DTS to continue with improving customer service levels, while also reducing total cost of ownership of Absa`s technology environment," explains Willie Stegmann, MD of AST DTS, a business unit of the AST Group.
"Over the years AST has shown us that it is committed to improving customer service levels," says Absa General Manager IT Services, Ian Ross. "AST assisted us in reducing the total ownership cost per desktop, improve our asset utilisation and we have the opportunity to immediately unlock value. We can now focus on core banking business and activities."
Since 2000, AST DTS has invested in the necessary managerial and skilled resources to manage and operate in the Absa environment to ensure that all Service Level Agreements are achieved, as agreed by Absa and AST DTS. "Our success can also be attributed to AST DTS`s focus on being a pure player in the distributed technology services environment," adds Stegmann.
Using world-class tools and processes as a basis, AST DTS has made progress towards operational excellence within Absa. They actively monitor and report on performance in the integration of a quality process. The continuous focus is on the client.
In terms of the outsourcing services contract, AST DTS, as a supplier to Absa, will strive to achieve BEE procurement targets as set out in the new Financial Sector Charter released by government in 2003.
Absa and AST DTS are also involved in a R300 million joint project, which allows Absa to improve its cost-to-income ratio without sacrificing service delivery to its customers, and place it as a leading bank in the connected world of e-business.
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AST`s intellectual capacity, its business model and strong customer base form the foundation for the group`s integrated services solutions business.
Ideally positioned as a leading technology solutions company and focused on selected industries, AST unlocks substantial value for its customers. The AST Group - a trustworthy and innovative ICT company.
Absa Group
Absa Group Limited is one of SA`s largest financial services organisations serving both individual and business customers in SA, the UK, Germany, the US, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and elsewhere in Africa.
The group endeavours to be a truly South African organisation with global competitiveness. It offers a complete range of products and services in personal, commercial and corporate banking and in insurance and financial services.
The group had 651 million shares in issue and a market capitalisation of R30.4 billion on 31 December 2004. Its largest shareholders are Sanlam (21.29%), Remgro (9.43%) and the Public Investment Commissioners (8.74%).
Absa employs a customer-centric business model with targeted business units serving specific market segments. The group interacts with its customers through a combination of physical and electronic channels, offering from the basic products and services for the low-income personal market to customised solutions for the corporate market.
Absa is a leading player in the home loan, instalment finance as well as the debit and credit card markets. Armed with a comprehensive e-business strategy, the group continues to launch innovative new services that are both cost-effective and more convenient than conventional banking channels.
The Absa brand (it is 13 years old) is one of the most recognised in SA. In addition to efforts to promote entrepreneurship and assist businesses of all types, the group also has an extensive social investment programme focusing primarily on job creation for marginalised communities, primary and secondary school education and the battle against HIV/AIDS.
As at 31 March 2004, Absa had more than 30 000 permanent staff, assets of more than R300 billion, 649 full and subsidiary outlets, more than 4 000 ATMs and 425 000 Internet banking customers - SA`s largest internet banking customer base.
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