Information and communications
technology
Corporations and other
large organisations rely increasingly on
communications and information technology for mission-critical
services and to remain competitive. And with the convergence of both
these technologies, we have a great opportunity to establish ourselves as
a global ICT player capable of competing with the world’s best. In fact, this
is already happening. Recent contract wins have propelled us into the
world league of ICT companies.
From connectivity to
capability
Being in the ICT business means offering not just connectivity but capability, not just integration but
innovation.
The impressive growth in our
ICT revenues – to £2.6 billion in the 2004
financial year,
a rise of 19% on the previous year – indicates the speed
with which we are making our presence felt in
this market.
Of course, our strategy is a focused one
– we can’t go after everything.
Instead, we’ve targeted a number of growth
markets in which we are particularly well placed.
These include: outsourcing,
the provision of IP (internet protocol)
infrastructure, broadband, mobility, managed desktop solutions and
customer relationship management.
And they’re the right markets for
us because they make use of our skills and
experience, our brand has clear value and our partnerships reinforce our capabilities.
In February 2004, for example, we launched
BT Applications Assured Infrastructure (AAI), designed to help
our customers understand and master the
complexities of their communications
infrastructure – all the way from the data
centre to the desktop.
And just as importantly, it makes
it possible for us to guarantee that our
customers’ ICT systems really do support their business priorities.
AAI is what’s known in the business
as an “intelligent solution”, which means
that it can help resolve networking problems before
they happen.
That’s competitive advantage. And
it’s the kind of competitive advantage that BT
is increasingly delivering.
BT’s larger and more complex
global customer contracts are delivered through
or managed by BT Global Solutions and BT
Syntegra.
Networking the
NHS
The highest profile of these were three NHS contracts which are expected to be worth more
than £2.1 billion and form
an integral part of the National Programme for
Information Technology in the NHS. These
contracts represent some of the largest BT has ever won.
One, worth up to £620
million over
ten years, is to design, deliver and manage a
national patient record database and
transactional messaging service for the NHS Care
Records Service. This will provide all 50 million NHS patients in England with
an individual electronic care record and connect more than 30,000 GPs and
270 acute
community and mental health NHS trusts in a single, secure national system.
A second contract, expected to be
worth up to £996 million over ten years, is to
design, deliver and operate integrated local
patient record applications and systems for the whole of the London care community.
The third, worth an estimated
£533 million over seven years, is
to procure, integrate and manage high-speed,
broadband networking services for the New National Network for the NHS.
Other
Deals
In addition, we achieved a number of other groundbreaking wins in the
year, including a six-year contract with ITV to
create a new multimedia network, and a five-year deal with Alliance &
Leicester worth £10.5 million to upgrade its
existing network infrastructure to IP.
In May 2004, BT and HP
announced plans to develop a strategic alliance
to address mutual growth opportunities jointly
in the global ICT marketplace. As a first step,
we have signed managed service agreements with a
combined value of $1.5 billion over the next
seven years.
|
