Entry No.47e

IT Writers Awards

And then there were two, a few hangers on and a couple of telcos. That was last month's state of play in the 'wanna work with Westpac?' outsourcing saga. While CSC and IBM Global Services survived the first hatchet job in alliance with their 'strategically positioned' telco partners - Cable & Wireless Optus and Telstra respectively, EDS predictably dipped out after a quick reality check. Nobody likes a hog, so EDS decided that it would be for the good of its outsourcing buddies not to rub salt into the wounds by taking Westpac down to the wire whilst sitting pretty with Com Bank and Colonial. Or maybe Westpac had it in for EDS from the beginning and was merely paying lip service to what could only be described as an unthinkable relationship between the two organisations. So where does this leave the combatants given that Westpac has decided to fast-track its decision making process and now looks like pencilling in October for the big decision? 

If I was a betting man - the likelihood of which is nil after selling out CSC a few issues back before it re-entered Westpac calculations by winning BHP - I would guess that one or two of the aforementioned players will be feverishly bowing and scraping at Westpac's feet eager to atone for lost opportunities.

Considering that Telstra was, and now isn't, a frontline contender for Com Bank's telco tender - which was coincidentally won last month by Telecom New Zealand at $500m over five years, - the organisation is fast running out of chances to make a front door entrance into financial services. Sure, last month's alliance with NBBS to deliver online banking solutions to credit unions and regional banks over its comms infrastructure has all the makings of a Telstra stealth operation aimed at delivering transaction and payments riches. But a big tender alliance win would still look nice in Telstra's scrapbook. Optus may well have burnt its bridges at Westpac following Com Bank's announcement that the telco was short-listed for its comms tender before losing to Telecom New Zealand. Importantly, a win for either telco at Westpac could give the green light for the victor to vigorously pursue its broadband aspirations inside Westpac and its trading partners. CSC has continued on its quiet achieving ways. Its recent BHP win, coupled with that valuable contract extension at AMP makes the outsourcer's credentials compelling reading.  Which leads us to poor old Global Services. I shouldn't say that because GSA may well come up trumps in October. However, GSA has just copped the rough end of the pineapple at ANZ after losing out to a resurgent Getronics for the bank's CRM tender. 

The fact that Westpac's outsourcing partner will be looking after operational activities, and not applications and development also clouds the issue somewhat for GSA. 

But does history count for anything in this day and age of strategic alliances and joint tenders? * Who do you think will win Westpac's heart? Drop me a line at cameron.tomes@informa.com.au to offer your best odds and any late mail. J

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