Microsoft and ICL have announced a global alliance, part of which will see ICL create 120 new jobs at its Belfast facility. The agreement aims for the two companies to provide business systems for government, education and commerce, and will lead to 1,000 new jobs at ICL over the next three years, half of which will be in the UK.
Both sides will remain independent but ICL plans to cut costs and time spent developing new applications by standardising its products on Microsoft systems. With Microsoft support, it will train more than 4,000 staff and open seven dedicated technical centres worldwide.
One of the new technical centres will be located in Belfast and will focus on developing systems running on Microsoft's software platforms, supported by ICL services and expertise. The other technical centres will be established in Bracknell and Manchester in Britain, Sweden, Poland and two in the US.
Welcoming the announcement, Mr Brian Baird, country manager for ICL Ireland, said: "Not only is this great news for ICL and Microsoft but also for Belfast. For more than 25 years we have been committed to this community, heavily investing in it and its people. With the promise of job creation and investment, there will be a substantial financial injection now and for many years to come."
ICL, currently 90 per cent owned by Japan's Fujitsu, reported a turnover of £2.48 billion in 1997 and profits of £30 million, and hopes to expand its market share in the run-up to its stock market flotation in 2000. Under the new alliance, ICL will become Microsoft's first strategic enterprise alliance partner based in Europe.
According to Mr Keith Todd, chief executive of ICL, Microsoft holds the technological acumen necessary for the deal but ICL brings its expertise in the business services market. He added he was simply interested in having the "right technology" for customers. The companies intend the alliance will create a generation of more user-friendly, "consumer-focused" computer systems.
For government, they will develop applications to give the public access to information and services via PCs and computer kiosks directly linked to services such as the police and local authorities.
In education, the partnership will develop a range of software for schools and colleges to help manage their own computer systems.
They also plan to pitch into the retail world, where ICL is already a major player, to develop the possibilities of on-line shopping. In the wider business forum, the Microsoft/ICL alliance will provide broad-based networking office systems.
Under an initial three-year agreement, ICL will undertake the largest commercial IT training programme in Europe, training and certifying 4,000 ICL staff to become Microsoft certified systems engineers and solution developers.
The new jobs will be mainly for systems engineers and software developers.
