Siemens Forges New Outsourcing Agreements with Guardian, MetLife

Leveraging long-lasting relationships with existing clients, Siemens Business Services (SBS, Norwalk, CT) has scored major new IT outsourcing contracts with New York-based insurers Guardian Life and MetLife for services within SBS's SieQuence solution methodology.

The Guardian has entered into a three-year $12.5 million agreement with SBS for an infrastructure reshaping project. Work will begin with services corresponding to the first level of SBS's SieQuence offering, "Responsive Solutions," aimed at responding to and restoring operations in response to disruptive events. As an SBS SieQuence State 1 client, Guardian will be provided with a national, integrated solution for the carrier's IT help desk; IMAC services (installation, moves, adds and changes), NT monitoring, network notification and asset management solutions, according to Ray Krienke, SBS's vice president and general manager, New York area.

MetLife signed a five-year deal with SBS to extend an existing arrangement with the outsourcer for SieQuence State 2 services, for undisclosed terms. The "Proactive Management" services agreement covers "all the desktop service and support, including network and server monitoring, asset management and acquisition," says Paul Maier, senior vice president, East Region, SBS. "We work very closely with MetLife CTO Steve Sheinheit's organization, allowing them to focus on the carrier's broader strategic issues."

Bill McNamara, SBS's vice president of strategic outsourcing, explains the SieQuence methodology as an enabler of business growth for insurance firms. "Each of the states of SieQuence has been designed to meet different value requirements for a client," he says. "As you start to understand your client's IT business value, you can start to apply a SieQuence solution, depending on where they are in the cycle and how their business and IT objectives support each other." About 50 SBS clients subscribe to the SieQuence methodology, accounting for about 30 percent of the firm's business, according to Maier.

While the Guardian is a new SieQuence client, the firm has a seven-year relationship, which is "a testament to the entire account team's professionalism and ability to produce fast, effective results," according to Mike Cunningham, vice president and chief IT operations officer at the Guardian. SBS's "unique tools and methodologies, along with their willingness to customize the solution to meet the business needs of Guardian, was exactly what we were looking for in an outsourcing partner."

The Guardian is in discussions with SBS about moving into SieQuence State 2, according to SBS's Krienke. "We expect to be taking those steps as we go through the end of this year," he says.

Outsourcing has helped MetLife to increase internal performance, according to CTO Sheinheit. Of the SBS SieQuence State 2 solution, he says it "has standardized our support environment, which can result in higher levels of performance, stability and availability. By entrusting SBS with the administration of these services, they have helped us better focus on our core business goals."

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