Siemens Business Services Lands #2 Billion BBC Outsourcing Deal

Siemens Business Services (SBS) has won the competition for a 10-year deal to provide IT services to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)--a contract that will be worth as much as £2 billion, or approximately $3.7 billion.

Under the deal, Siemens will also acquire BBC Technology, the BBC arm that provides tech products and services for the BBC and other broadcasters, content owners and British government organizations. The contract, which still needs final approval from the BBC governors as well as British and European Commission regulatory officials, is expected to provide annual budget savings of as much as £20-30 million, according to a BBC statement.

SBS beat out a host of companies for the contract, including finalists CSC and Accenture; the latter had dropped its bid in mid-June. The BBC cited Siemens's scale, its resource and funding levels, and its ability to deliver the best value in technologyp rocurement as main reasons for the award.

The contract, which is expected to be finalized this fall, is the first major deal under the leadership of Adrian von Hammerstein, who took over on July 1 as SBS's president from Paul A. Stodden. Hammerstein, a 14-year Siemens veteran, was most recently president and chief executive officer of Fujitsu Siemens Computers.