IBM gets extension on £100m bank deal

Bradford and Bingley building society has extended its £100m IT outsourcing agreement with IBM, adding 'on-demand' services to the deal across two business units.

Charcol Online and the building society's mortgage processing division will now use IBM's desktop, server infrastructure, helpdesk and application management services in an attempt to achieve significant savings and respond more quickly to changing market conditions.

The application management services element will use IBM's 'on-demand' structure that will allow the Bradford and Bingley to prioritise the development of IT resources according to business priorities as they occur.

Bradford and Bingley spokesman Steve Partington said in a statement: "We operate in an increasingly competitive marketplace and by adopting an on-demand approach to our IT services this gives us the flexibility to adjust rapidly to changing business needs."

The value of the extension was not disclosed but Bradford and Bingley originally signed a 10-year £100m desktop, helpdesk and data centre outsourcing contract with IBM back in 1998.

Earlier this year Bradford and Bingley also outsourced its communications infrastructure to BT in a 10-year £140m deal for managed voice and data services across its 7,500 employees and 550 UK sites.