CSC opens online service centre

Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) has opened a customer service centre to host IT infrastructure for other companies.

Called Unity, the Preston-based facility is based on a suite of packages developed by CSC and product vendors. It has a cross-platform operating environment, a heterogeneous systems management framework based on Computer Associates Unicenter TNG software, and a customer response centre where agents resolve calls.

One of the first companies to use Unity is British Aerospace (BAe), an existing CSC customer which will have 6,000 staff covered by the facility.

Terry Morgan, BAe corporate HR director with responsibility for IT, said the service centre provides the company's staff with "a range of online services that optimise their capabilities".

A CSC spokeswoman said Unity has led to the creation of 100 jobs. However, CSC claims the centre has made staff more efficient, saying 80 per cent of user calls are resolved remotely, with agents able to handle five times more calls per day.

In addition to Unicenter TNG, Unity relies on Microsoft Windows NT, infrastructure management technology from MainControl, and additional software from BMC.