The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), a public body, which regulates the public examination system, has outsourced its service-management operation to Steria, a European end-to-end IT-services provider. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Under the terms of the three-year contract, Steria will be supporting information and communication technology (ICT) services for up to 700 U.K. users. The company will also be responsible for introducing innovative and flexible environment at QCA, and will be required to enhance the desktop estate to support flexible and mobile working, to undertake the migration to a data-center environment, and to introduce a new telephone system.

As part of the deal, Steria will be responsible for moving QCA’s IT facilities from its headquarters in London to its new offices in Coventry in 2009. The Steria team will develop robust ICT systems to support the requirements of QCA’s strategic plan and increase the level of service to its employees in London and Belfast. The new service management approach will rely heavily on ITIL standards as a key element, enabling QCA to deliver more innovative services to meet its efficiency targets, and create a more flexible and cost-effective infrastructure to support new ways of working.

In February 2008, Dolder SA, an international distributor of raw materials and provider of services, signed a five-year outsourcing contract with Steria Suisse SA to provide IT services. Under the terms of the contract, Steria is to provide IT services after acquiring Dolder’s information system, applications and telephony, for its sites in Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

In addition to this contract, Xansa, who has since been acquired by Steria, was awarded a six year, £13 million (approx. $20 million) contract with QCA in September 2007. The new entity employs over 18,000 staff in 16 countries, including 5,000 in India.