MetLife and AT&T Seal $470 Million Deal

As MetLife ($421.4 billion assets under management, New York) moves closer to being a full-service financial servicescompany, it has entered into a seven-year $470 million telecommunications networks outsourcing contract with AT&T (New York). AT&T Solutions, the networking professional services arm of AT&T Business, will manage MetLife's voice and wide area networks and provide connectivity between all MetLife locations.

Hank Hamilton, vice president, information services, MetLife, characterizes the AT&T deal as an extension of an existing business and technology partnership. "It helps lay the ground for us to move more efficiently toward a universal Internet/phone environment," he says.

"There are business functions that we don't need to be a part of, so that we can redirect our internal IT capability toward future technologies," says Hamilton.

He adds that through the partnership, MetLife's design and engineering capabilities are strengthened as the firm moves into new technologies. "Now we have a strong partner to work these issues through very rapidly," he says.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio