Skandia outsources IT to India

Insurance company Skandia UK has awarded a five-year, $200m deal to outsource the management of its IT infrastructure to India-based HCL Technologies.

The deal will see 250 Skandia jobs move to India, of which 156 are active Skandia jobs and 94 represent contractors or current vacancies.

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Tim Mann, customer service and technical director at Skandia, told silicon.com the job losses are scheduled to begin in June of next year.

HCL will develop, maintain and support processes across all platforms and manage the insurer's IT infrastructure, including its shift into a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Skandia will retain all customer-facing activities.

Mann said HCL's large presence in India and knowledge of Tibco's software were two reasons why Skandia chose the outsourcer. Skandia announced last week it will use Tibco software for its SOA migration.

Mann said India was chosen as the outsourcing location because of the country's excellent education system and the cost savings associated with lower pay rates.