Tata Tele and TCS in IT infrastructure deal

S Ramadorai

Tata Teleservices announced a strategic outsourcing of its entire IT infrastructure management to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). TCS will manage the IT infrastructure of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices, Maharashtra in a deal estimated at over $250 million over 5 years.

Tata Teleservices operates in 20 circles i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, New Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Kolkata, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The company has a customer base of over 5.2 million.

The scope of the engagement includes management of all IT-related activities including implementation, application development and maintenance as well as change management across the enterprise. In addition, management of data centres, information security management, training end-users on new applications, disaster recovery and business continuity will also be the responsibility of TCS as a part of the strategic engagement.

The partnership with TCS will provide an IT roadmap for TTSL with an infrastructure to support the existing and new business initiatives while delivering services. The key ‘technology’ differentiator will be technologically-scaled infrastructure and systems capable of servicing the needs of TTSL’s customers.

Darryl Green, CEO, Tata Telese-rvices said, “Our partnership with TCS will help us reach our goal of being number one in customer satisfaction. I am delighted to have such a strong player join our team.” TCS will deploy an IT framework offering TTSL the flexibility to introduce the latest in voice, data and content-based services to its customers.

“The engagement with Tata Teleservices is another sign of the growing importance of the Indian market. TCS’ knowledge of the telecom domain and its ability to provide best-in-class solutions will help TTSL sustain and grow its competitive advantage and deliver greater value to its stakeholders. TCS is committed to delivering world-class solutions for Tata Teleservices,” said S Ramadorai, CEO & MD, Tata Consultancy Services.

Last year, Bharti Televentures signed a record $750 million contract for ten years with IBM wherein the latter will manage Bharti’s entire IT infrastructure.