When asked what savings the company could expect to make from the deal, vice-president of Polkomtel, Mirosław Bielicki, said: "I am not interested in a 10 percent cost cut, it's not worth it." Above 20 percent is his cautious guess.
"IT does not give advantages above the competition in telecommunications, that's why we can outsource it," he adds. Bielicki cites a report by market-research firm Gartner, that estimates computing-related costs at eight to 12 percent for mobile operators in general, which is a significant amount of expenditure. The outsourcing agreement encompasses vital procedures for the functioning of the company. IBM will take care of everyday maintenance of SAP and integrate it with other IT systems as well. Typically, outsourcing contracts in Poland are limited to hardware and software, or basic technology, such as help desks.
IBM sees this deal as part of its long-term strategy. "Some 60 percent of our revenues [in Poland] are services and software. Outsourcing remains our core business," says director of IBM Polska, Dariusz Fabiszewski. So far, he has signed some 20 such contracts, and the company will also start placing offers in public-sector tenders. This market has been dominated up to this point by Polish integrators, such as Prokom Software and Softbank.
Błażej Karwowski
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