Outsourcing ICT: Slovak bank saves costs without compromising on quality

Financial service providers are under constant pressure to improve the efficiency of their ICT systems by outsourcing them to specialist providers, while also maintaining a consistent quality of service and complying with stringent security requirements. PosAm, a subsidiary company of Slovak Telekom (ST) and thus ultimately part of the Deutsche Telekom group, was chosen by one of the biggest banks in Slovakia to help its achieve its goal of better ICT outsourcing at a lower cost.

Back in 2014, the third-largest bank in Slovakia with more than 700,000 clients, took the decision to change its provider of “end-user services” in order to cut costs and find a highly competent partner that was capable of supporting several thousand end-user devices such as computers, notebooks, printers, tablets, and smartphones. One key condition was to ensure that the quality of outsourcing support was at least the same as, or better than, before.

The requirements were extensive: the new provider would be responsible for every device and user at all branches and member companies within the bank group. The services to be provided by the outsourcing partner included the installation and repair of hardware and software components, as well as the download of product updates. The services were to be provided either remotely or on site for a total of 3,500 active users at four major locations and 174 branches throughout Slovakia. A further, crucial requirement was to comply with the security rules of the bank’s headquartered owner as well as with the guidelines of the National Bank of Slovakia.

Slovak Telekom’s PosAm won the tender in the face of tough international competition. Commenting on the win, Radovan Viskupič, Director for Banking and Insurance Sales Group at PosAm, said: “PosAm was successful in the tender thanks to its references, experience, strong internal effectiveness and optimized processes, which meant we could offer the best price while preserving quality and our own profitability.”

Experience in serving the banking sector is key

PosAm is the second-largest provider of IT operations services in Slovakia and has been part of the ST group since 2010. The specialist company has also helped strengthen Slovak Telekom group’s position as a leading IT business in Slovakia. This is further backed up by the stability and synergy of the Deutsche Telekom group, which has developed a strong ICT business throughout its European footprint.

PosAm’s experience in the provision of IT services to large clients and the banking sector enables it to provide quality services at highly competitive terms. This in turn allowed Slovak bank to considerably reduce the cost of supporting IT equipment and end-user devices by switching its outsourcing operation to PosAm.  After winning the tender, PosAm kicked off the demanding process of taking over the services from the previous provider. Even though the work involved numerous organisational, procedural and technical issues, the transition went so smoothly that neither employees nor clients noticed any change in their working practices.