Wipro beats IBM to Scottish Parliament IT contract
The IT division of Indian services company Wipro has been chosen over previous contract holders IBM to support the IT network and assist in the Parliament's 2003 move to Holyrood.
The Scottish Parliament, which is heavily reliant on IT, has attracted criticism over the choice from Sir David Steel, Presiding Officer. SNP Enterprise Spokesman Mike Russell joined the protest saying: "I think it's extra-ordinary that a Scottish firm could not be found. Scotland is meant to be a world-beater in technology."
Responding to the question of Wipro replacing incumbent supplier IBM, because they could provide the necessary number of staff at a cheaper rate, Scottish Parliament spokesman Andrew Slorance told UKTECH: "It's a service we are after. Where the staff come from and how much they pay their staff is a matter for the companies we employ. We are looking for quality and value for money… cost is a major factor but quality is up there along with availability."
The employment rates in India are around half the £280 per day figure it can cost to employ a programmer in Britain. Wipro has responded to this by saying that staff sent overseas were paid 'the going rate.' "We could not pay low wages and allow our staff to be poached by other firms," a spokesperson said. IBM will now relocate twelve £25,000 per year staff members who will continue to work there until the change-over.
The contract will come into effect next month and will provide support for the validation and installation of many new operational systems as the Scottish Parliament moves to Holyrood. Expenditure on the five-year contract is likely to exceed £1 million a year from within existing running cost budgets.
Earlier this week UK Thames Water selected Wipro Technologies as a key strategic outsourcing partner for application development, support and maintenance of its IS applications after an exhaustive global selection process with participation from several leading global IT vendors.
Azim Premji, Wipro Chairman, is now the fourth richest man in the world, according to calculations by one of India's leading business newspapers. The IT division Wipro Technologies is the largest publicly listed global IT Services business in India. It was the first IT service company in the world to be assessed at SEI-CMM Level 5, the highest level of software process quality. For the year ended March 2000, the company has recorded sales and other income of $532 million, up by 28% over the previous year.
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Richard Powell