UBS signs network outsourcing deal worth £381 million with CSC

UBS AG, the Swiss bank providing financial facilities to private, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, has entered into a $580 million (£381 million) deal with CSC, a US-based tech firm, for network outsourcing. Having operational centers and offices in more than 50 countries and over 64,000 employees on its rolls worldwide, the Swiss bank has been continually hacking its IT spending as well as retrenching employees, has entered into the agreement with CSC to provide voice and data networking, telecom and security services for a period of five years. In fact, the entire $580 million deal is conditional on completion of the total project.

According to a report published by an industry-related website, now the Swiss bank intends to hold talks with the employee unions to decide on its plans for the staff and, hence, was not able to specify the number of employees who will be affected by the deal with CSC or what measures it will initiate in the near future. In fact, UBS’ agreement with CSC is being considered as a master services contract – a form of deal that explicitly states and establishes clear-cut expectations vis-à-vis rates, liabilities and the services that are to be provided. Earlier, UBS had issued a statement saying that it was ensure that the IT services vendors comprehended and enlist to the bank’s business pattern in order to maintain the progress of its deals.

Earlier this year, the Swiss bank had withdrawn as much as £158 million from its information and technology (ICT) and advisory budget that eventually made the financial institution make a profit following a year of considerable beatings. In effect, UBS made savings worth £23 million by selling its captive BPO unit to Cognizant in December 2009 for £52 million ($82 million). In the same year, the bank also said that it was retrenching around 8,700 employees engaged in different operations of the financial institution. And this included several professionals engaged in back office and information technology.

Looking back, in 2009, UBS CEO Oswald Grübel wrote to the bank’s shareholders saying that the financial institution was passing through a ‘transformative year’ and it was completely working to integrate its operations. He further state that the bank aimed at achieving ‘excellence in execution’.