TCS arm wins BPO contract from Sun Life Financial

Source: Indiainfoline

Diligenta has been working with SLF UK as a preferred supplier since October, following a competitive tender which came towards the natural end of SLF UK’s existing outsourcing agreement.

Diligenta, a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has won a contract to deliver Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services to support Sun Life Financial of Canada's UK operations (SLF UK). The services, expected to commence in May are estimated to be worth £100mn (over US$200mn) over the life of the contract.

Diligenta has been working with SLF UK as a preferred supplier since October, following a competitive tender which came towards the natural end of SLF UK’s existing outsourcing agreement. Diligenta will continue to run the operation in Basinystoke where SLF UK's Head Office is based.

“Diligenta and TCS will ensure that Sun Life Financial of Canada continues to receive market leading standards of customer service," said Phiroz Vandrevala, Chairman of Diligenta. "This contract win adds significantly to Diligenta’s reputation as a leading player in the UK Life and Pensions outsourcing market and is proof that the TCS promise of certainty can be translated In the UK life and Pensions market."

"The deal with SLE UK underlines the strength of its’ Diligenta strategy, launched in 2006. Our vision was to establish a centre of excellence in the UK to capitailse on the growing SPO trend and to cultivate new opportunities in this sector," said A.S. Lakshminarayanan, Vice-President and Country Head, TCS UK & Ireland. "With the Sun Life Financial deal, Diligenta is moving into the second phase of its history, expanding Its client base and UK market share and we are confident It heralds further growth for Diligenta."

"We have successfully outsourced Our customer services operations for over five years. In preparation for the natural end of our existing outsourcing agreement, we undertook a detailed and thorough review of the BPO market in the UK and selected Diligenta for its cost guarantees, risk transfer capability and its commitment to match or exceed our service requirements," said Janet Fuller, CEO of SLF UK.

We have confidence that Diligenta will work closely with us and our current provider to transition the services during the second quarter of 2008 — a process which we expect to be transparent to our customers. We are p!eased that IDiligenta will continue to run the services from Basingstoke as we are very happy with the quality of people and services provided from the current site," Fuller added.

Dillgenta is a UK-based, FSA regulated subsidiary of TCS. Since 2006, Diligenta has provided BPO services for the Pearl Group under a 12-year, £486 million contract to consolidate 11 financial and administrative systems onto a single platform.