Codestone

Category: Support & Managed Services

Utility firm Centrica has made another investment in outsourced IT services that will allow it to further improve the performance of its corporate computing infrastructure.

The latest deal agreed by the British Gas operator will see it allying with a managed services provider on an £8 million deal centring on software testing, reports ComputerWeekly.com.

Under this agreement, the company will be able to take advantage of offshore testing services for its business-critical systems, such as those that it is utilising in the planned rollout of smart metering technology across the UK.

An industry source said: "Smart metering is new to the UK so Centrica needs to get applications right, or the government's £20 billion smart meter plan could fall flat on its face."

This comes after Centrica demonstrated its high level of interest in outsourced IT with the agreement of a new partnership with Fujitsu earlier this month.

The earlier deal will involve remote management of desktop, email and instant messaging systems and will benefit 25,000 Centrica workers in the UK.

Posted by Shannon Wells