National Australia Bank expects to save $110 million by outsourcing its Australia and New Zealand operation's telecommunications services to Telstra.
The five-year contract will cover the transition of all affected 71 employees, assets and third-party contracts with telephony services, data services and communication links between Australia and New Zealand.
Under the terms of the agreement, staff will be offered employment with Telstra and in New Zealand, TelstraClear. The bank said it is anticipated the staff transition will be completed before the end of the year.
NAB's current Australian desktop services and local area network (LAN) outsourcing contract with Telstra subsidiary Advantra will be extended and aligned with the new arrangement.
The $55 million, three-year agreement, signed off in August last year, also included maintenance of the group's personal computers and helpdesk functions.
The bank said at the time it expected the deal would save the company $3 million over the contract period. Under this agreement, 95 NAB staff were offered employment with Advantra.
Telstra will provide services to the bank in Australia and TelstraClear will provide services to the Bank of New Zealand in New Zealand.
NAB's CIO Ian Crouch said the arrangement was consistent with the group's outsourcing strategy and delivers on the savings committed within the Positioning for Growth (PfG) program announced earlier this year.
"Our partnership with Telstra is an initiative to invest in new processes and technology infrastructure that will make us more efficient and provide easier, simpler and quicker service to our customers.
"In addition, as an IT and telecommunications industry leader, Telstra together with TelstraClear, can offer diverse career opportunities and growth for our people working in this area, and a better alignment to industry best practice."
