Centrica signs new deals in IT revamp

Energy firm pays £8m for a one-year contract with SQS and extends deal with Fujitsu

Energy firm Centrica has signed a managed services contract worth £8m with SQS Software Quality Systems.

The firm has selected SQS, specialists in software testing and quality managed services, to provide on- and offshore testing, with a focus on reducing risk within its core business elements.

The 12-month contract commences immediately and is worth £8m. It will see SQS providing end-to-end testing, from performance through to automated regression test suites.

Centrica also announced that it extended its contract with IT services provider Fujitsu earlier this week, with a five-year infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) deal that will see Fujitsu refresh the company's desktop infrastructure to deliver access to new email and instant messaging solutions.

According to Fujitsu, the infrastructure can be scaled to meet Centrica's requirements going forward, and will support increased use of virtual clients and mobile devices.

Fujitsu's IaaS solution will be hosted using Fujitsu servers and storage in one of Fujitsu's UK datacentres.

"As Centrica grows both organically and through acquisition, the IT capabilities and support we provide to allow them to do their jobs are critical," said David Bickerton, group CIO at Centrica.

"Therefore our desktop services, which increasingly involve adoption of mobile devices, become ever more critical to the efficient running of our business and the IT experience we provide our people."