AstraZeneca inks $1.4bn IBM outsourcing deal

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has signed a $1.4bn, seven-year global outsourcing agreement with IBM.

Under the deal, which renews and expands on an existing contract between the two, IBM will provide a single global technical infrastructure for AstraZeneca covering 60 countries.

Richard Williams, chief information officer of AstraZeneca, said the deal will enable the company to provide greater value to the business by providing a consistent infrastructure across all its global sites - thereby enabling it to roll out new technologies more quickly and efficiently.

A spokesman for AstraZeneca added: "The contract extends to include server hosting and storage for scientific, commercial and supply operations. Much of the [current] infrastructure provision is limited to major operations in the US, UK and Sweden so [with the new deal] we'll have a single infrastructure linking all functions, regions and markets."

Services provided by IBM will include server and storage hosting, service desks, PC management, network and comms and computer operations support. AstraZeneca will retain control of its overall IT strategy and development and support of its application systems.

Williams added in a statement: "In allowing IBM greater autonomy on methods of delivery, the agreement will result in cost efficiencies when compared with running in-house systems."