GE Outsources To CSC

Computer Sciences Corp. said today it has signed a letter of intent for a 10-year, $300 million data center outsourcing agreement with General Electric Co. to manage GE and GE Capital's mainframe and midrange data processing operations in Europe.

GE's Kingswood data center in Bristol, England, is the first site CSC plans to manage, although additional sites throughout Europe are expected to be added during the length of the agreement, a CSC company spokesman says.

CSC said it will also manage certain data processing operations in Australia and acquire GE Capital Information Technology Solutions, GE's outsourcing operations in Australia. GE Capital ITS boasts approximately $200 million in annual revenue, with 800 employees and another 200 contracted workers who supply IT services to commercial and government organizations.

"GE is a highly regarded global company, and we're proud to be able to work with them in Europe and Australia," says Van B. Honeycutt, chairman, president and CEO of CSC. "As one of the world's largest suppliers of IT services, CSC is well-positioned to help GE achieve its business goals."

Mike Stout, chief technology and information officer at GE Capital, says, "This agreement allows us to improve the quality of services to our customers, while at the same time reduce costs and increase the focus on our core competencies."