British Telecom announced a new five year outsourcing contract with Honeywell, a global leader in diversified technology and manufacturing. The deal will see BT manage and deliver communications and networking services to 220 Honeywell sites throughout Western Europe. Under the terms of the contract, BT Ignite, BT's business services and solutions division, will manage all of Honeywell's voice communications, PBX management, local area network (LAN) infrastructure and management, mobile and video communications and internet access. It will also manage Honeywell's wide area network (WAN), migrating the WAN from frame-relay/ATM to an Internet Protocol (IP) virtual private network (VPN). Central to Honeywell's decision to upgrade the network was its need to centralize the control and prioritization of traffic and applications running over it. Based on multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), the IP VPN will enable Honeywell to improve the management and performance of its network while delivering cost savings at the same time.
Ben Verwaayen, BT's chief executive officer, said: "Winning this contract to provide telecommunications services for a world-class company like Honeywell is a fantastic endorsement of BT's capability and approach. This agreement places BT at the heart of Honeywell's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) strategy in Western Europe and builds on our credentials as the outsourcing partner of choice for global businesses. Our focus on the provision of ICT services means that we have huge experience and access to the most up-to-date technology. We are able to deliver real value by sharing this with our customers worldwide to benefit all areas of their businesses."
Juan Sanchez, Honeywell's Vice President & Chief Information Officer for the EMEA region, said: "Honeywell's global strategy is to focus on our core business and outsource areas that fall outside this. BT demonstrated its commitment to understanding our business needs and to working closely with our existing partners. Working with BT, we will be able to control costs more tightly, improve our business processes and focus on driving our core business forward."
