Afrox/BOC sign infrastructure outsource deal with EDS

South African gas and healthcare giant, Afrox, has signed an initial five-year, R131 million IT outsourcing deal with EDS, the leading global IT services company.

The deal, which took several months to finalise, includes the flexibility to make technology changes as Afrox`s business grows and matures. The deal has also been crafted to form the basis for Afrox parent company, BOC`s (www.boc.com) planned global IT outsource to EDS.

According to Afrox MD, Jimmy Marriott, the total infrastructure outsource includes Afrox`s mainframe and midrange infrastructure, its service desk, some 3 800 desktops, its national network infrastructure and several IT staff who will be transitioned to EDS.

"Also included are service level agreement (SLA)-based support and maintenance contracts for our entire IT infrastructure," he said. Other infrastructure not provided by EDS will also be managed by EDS on Afrox`s behalf. The contract has been structured for flexibility - so that both standard upgrades to infrastructure and changes in requirements brought about by changes in the direction of Afrox`s business can be catered for. "It is important to us that EDS is able to change the technical specifications of the solution and not be tied to an inflexible contract," said Marriott.

Marriott said Afrox will derive substantial cost and efficiency benefits from the deal. It will also benefit from EDS` global distributed systems management capabilities, and the fact that its mainframe infrastructure will be moved to EDS` highly resilient core infrastructure premises located in Johannesburg.

"This not only assures us of SLA-based reliability, but also frees up real estate for Afrox," he pointed out. "Improved scalability and availability also came into the equation. In fact, the agreement will allow us to focus on our core business generally, and help us improve our internal business processes in order to grow Afrox`s business." A few dozen staff have been transitioned and service delivery commenced two workings days after conclusion of the agreement on 11 April 2001.

EDS South Africa chairman, Michael Minassian, said the deal makes EDS the largest IT services provider to the South African gas and energy market, and by virtue of Afrox`s status, one of the largest to the healthcare market. "EDS` delivery capabilities, international best practices and access to industry experts position us to provide not only excellent service and support, but also to play a strategic role in helping Afrox define the role IT will play in its future," he said.

Minassian said the global ripple effect will also position both Afrox and EDS as notable players in the context of their global parent companies.

He believes EDS will bring the following benefits to bear on Afrox`s operations:

• Standardisation - Common hardware and software and a standardised environment will simplify Afrox`s architecture, cut support costs, increase optimisation and raise purchasing power.

• Standard tools and processes - Using standard tools and processes, EDS will provide consistent, reliable service locally and globally.

• Employee care - Employee care and retention is a top priority at EDS.

These staff are key to providing EDS with the core business knowledge of Afrox`s environment. More than 50% of EDS` 130 000 global staff complement consists of transitionees.