Optus tapped for UGL's AU$30m managed services contract

Optus has announced that it will provide managed IT and the mobile fleet to UGL's 8,000 employees over Australia and Asia in a five-year deal worth AU$30 million.

Optus secured the deal after a tender process, and has been signed on by UGL to provide managed IT services, mobile services, broadband, and machine-to-machine capability to the engineering giant over the next five years.

UGL CEO Richard Leupen said that in picking Optus, UGL would be able to expand out through Asia using the company's existing presence in the region through parent company SingTel.

"Positioning UGL to benefit from ongoing growth in Asia is a key strategic priority for our business and we required an ICT partner who could support our regional needs," Leupen said in a statement.

Optus will be responsible for deploying new smartphones and applications to UGL's field force of engineers, the company said, with a focus on enterprise resource planning, CRM, and workflow applications. The engineers will be able to make decisions in real time using the customer data available immediately to them through the smartphones, Optus said.

The services on offer would also allow UGL to manage its technology deployment, and reduce operating costs through better tracking of field jobs and workflow.

Optus' managing director for business John Paitaridis said that the partnership with AGL would help the growth for both companies over the next five years.

Last year, Optus secured a number of big contract wins for its business division, including the ANZ Bank for AU$530 million, Virgin Australia for AU$60 million, and the Department of Agriculture for AU$29 million. The telco missed out on the golden prize the year before, however, in the lucrative Department of Defence contract worth AU$1.1 billion.