Zurich Financial Services, a global insurance provider, has signed a seven-year agreement to outsource all application development and support services for its businesses in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland, to Computer Sciences Corp.
Applications within the scope of the agreement support all of Zurich's insurance lines and all business processes, including new business and underwriting, customer service and claims. It is estimated that 1,600 Zurich IT employees will transfer to CSC over the next year, with staff in the U.S., United Kingdom and Switzerland expected to transfer in the fourth quarter of 2004.
If all options of the contract are exercised, CSC estimates the value of the contract at $1.3 billion.
The Zurich announcement came several days after CSC announced that it will take over management of Aon Corp.'s U.S. telecommunications and data networks, desktop support, help-desk services and other IT support functions. Under the seven-year, $600 million agreement, a majority of Aon's 600 IT staffers and contractors managing the insurer's IT infrastructure are expected to transfer to CSC by the end of August.
