AMP spends $220m on AXA IT integration

AMP will move subsidiary AXA onto its fully outsourced managed infrastructure under a new five-year, $220 million contract with outsourcer CSC.

The deal extends a managed services agreement, originally worth $150 million in 2009, for mainframe, midrange, network, desktop, service desk, cloud email, and IT security services.

It will run until 2016 and has been specifically designed to support the merged operations of AMP and wealth manager AXA.

AMP purchased AXA's Australian and New Zealand operations in March 2011, and subsequently reported an $87 million increase in its 2011 ICT expenses.

An AMP spokeswoman earlier this year said it had spent $209 million on IT in 2011 because it had been running two companies’ IT systems since the AXA purchase.

AMP declined to comment on the new deal this week.

CSC and AMP have partnered since 1993. CSC's general manager of financial services, Stephen Kowal, said it would integrate all infrastructure services across the new AMP-AXA entity.

He declined to disclose details of AMP's integration strategy, including which systems the joint entity would adopt and if there would be any reductions in ICT spending.

However, he noted that AMP targeted common services across the merged entity, and there were "natural synergies and efficiencies obtained through the integration of all infrastructure services".

Kowal said the companies had implemented full change management strategies to support the ICT integration.

“CSC and AMP have a comprehensive joint integration program in place. Included in this program are both technical and people related change management streams," he said.

CSC is looking to take on additional staff in several locations including Sydney and Melbourne as a result of the new AMP services agreement.