Accenture and SAP to Deliver IT Solutions to Banking and Insurance Companies Globally

Together, the two companies will offer financial services companies expanded options for the delivery of IT products and services, including standard solutions, custom solutions and business process outsourcing. Under the agreement, Accenture and SAP will develop and sell a comprehensive portfolio of solutions and services designed to help banks and insurance companies increase efficiency, reduce operational costs and improve business performance. Initially, the portfolio will consist of SAPs and Accentures existing banking and insurance solutions, which support a broad range of business functions, including insurance claims management, insurance policy administration, core banking operations and risk management (e.g. Basel II compliance). SAP and Accenture will work together to market the portfolio of financial services solutions to clients, establishing sales and support teams with members from both companies. The two companies will also market and implement SAPs cross-industry solutions for managing business processes such as financials and human capital management (HCM). Accenture will become a preferred integration partner for SAPs financial services solutions and the two companies will establish an implementation team for the portfolio. In addition, SAP will leverage Accentures industry experience to enhance its training programs for clients on the SAP financial services software solutions in its education centers. Accenture will also become SAPs largest development partner in financial services, and the two companies plan to assign approximately 800 people -- to be based in the United States, Spain and Germany -- to a combined development effort. These professionals will work together to enhance and expand the portfolio of solutions to better meet the requirements of banking and insurance clients on a country-specific basis. The two companies will agree to a development schedule that will include, for example, enhancing policy administration solutions for insurance companies and enhancing country-specific functionality in banking. Accenture and SAP will also work together to integrate their respective software solutions leveraging SAP NetWeaver, SAPs open integration and application platform, to drive down implementation costs and accelerate return on investment for their clients. SAP and Accenture will also maintain their existing relationships with other organizations serving the financial services sector. Under the agreement, Accenture plans to offer business process outsourcing (BPO) services based on the portfolio of solutions, enhancing its current BPO capabilities for banks and insurers.