Tube Lines has signed a £10.5m IT outsourcing contract for the three-year period to December 2013 with Capgemini UK. The new contract is an extension and significant expansion of an alliance between the two companies that started in 2005 and effectively means that Capgemini now becomes Tube Lines’ prime IT partner, with responsibility for all IT support including infrastructure, applications and networks.
Tube Lines was acquired by Transport for London in June 2010. The contractor, under direct management of London Underground, maintains the trains, tracks and stations for London’s Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines.
Under the new contract Capgemini will for the first time take over support for IT applications at Tube Lines, including all core business applications, as well as continuing its existing responsibilities for IT infrastructure and networks. Capgemini will also provide service desk support for some 2,500 desktop users at Tube Lines. The award follows a rigorous open tender process by Tube Lines involving a number of other leading global and national bidders.
The majority of work on the contract will be carried out from Tube Lines premises and Capgemini sites in the UK, with additional support from Capgemini centres in India and Poland. Capgemini’s Rightshore® global delivery model, which aims to get the right balance of the best talent from multiple locations, was a positive factor in winning the new Tube Lines contract. Capgemini as prime contractor will also assume responsibility for the work of a number of specialist subcontractors including BT Engage, InTechnology and Servo. In consequence of the new contract, a number of staff will be moving from the previous incumbent applications outsourcing supplier to Capgemini under TUPE conditions.
Capgemini intends to maintain both its highly collaborative approach and its service record at Tube Lines. An independent audit report recently confirmed that the existing Capgemini service to Tube Lines was in the top quartile for quality and the bottom quartile for costs. The collaboration will include the exploration of cloud computing solutions for certain aspects of IT support at Tube Lines.
