UK telco BT and Belgian financial group KBC are teaming up to provide joint ICT outsourcing services to companies in the Benelux region.
Under the agreement BT and KBC-ICT - the outsourcing arm of the Belgian bank - will provide outsourced information and communications technology (ICT) services to companies in the region.
BT says the partnership combines its global, networked IT services capabilities with the bank's data centre and application hosting services.
The partnership can help companies make these changes to IT systems in a more cost efficient way, says BT. Furthermore, KBC's expertise of Basel II compliance in financial service s can be applied to other industries, where firms need to comply with the increasing number of rules and regulations relating to business continuity and security.
Commenting on the move, Michel De Coster, country manager, BT Benelux, says: "We have chosen to partner with KBC-ICT because of their innovative approach of IT and compliance issues and their proven track record as one of the largest independent providers of IT services in the financial sector."
Carl Tilkin-Franssen, general director, KBC, says: "For KBC-ICT this cooperation is important to create enough scale and be more competitive in the ICT-industry."