BT Group announces deal for strategic tech build with TCS

BT Group today announces a new partnership for its Digital Unit that will transform the business’ approach to its legacy IT estate as part of its modernisation and simplification programme. Building on Digital’s wider strategy to transform and accelerate the Group, the new deal will see Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) work with BT to manage and ramp down over 70% of Digital’s legacy technology estate.

The deal significantly simplifies and restructures Digital’s existing supplier relationships to deliver an annualised £65 million saving by the end of FY25, contributing to BT Group’s ambition to deliver £3bn in gross annualised savings across the same timeframe. This saving is expected to grow to £145 million a year by 2027. A primary goal of the programme is to boost Digital’s capacity and focus to build its new strategic technology architecture faster, supporting the Group’s growth. It will also de-risk and accelerate the Group’s transition from legacy systems, an outcome structured into the deal.

As part of this deal, around 400 BT Group colleagues worldwide will have the opportunity to join TCS. TCS has an excellent track record of transitioning colleagues with these skills into transformative roles, and they will shape the team that will deliver the acceleration of our legacy decommissioning. In addition, colleagues moving to TCS will gain the opportunity to build long-term sustainable careers in an exciting technology business.

Harmeen Mehta, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, BT Group said: “This is yet another transformative move to greatly simplify the BT Group legacy estate. It removes complexity and intensifies our strategic focus on delivering the leading-edge tech to meet our customers’ needs and drive growth.”

TCS was selected because it demonstrated it can bring the skills, scale, problem understanding and innovative approach needed to help accelerate BT Group on its journey to the future.

Debashis Ghosh, President, Business Transformation Group, TCS, said: “We are delighted to be selected by BT Group as their strategic partner to manage and upkeep their legacy application estate and to give BT the capacity for the accelerated build of its new strategic stack. This is a truly innovative and ground-breaking deal that presents a replicable model for other large enterprises seeking to pivot into the new, while mitigating operational risks.”

Mehta continued, “This is an exciting outcome for our colleagues. Those who transition will be given incredible opportunities working with a high growth partner on important transformations. Those who remain, will have more clarity and focus to build our digital future.”

Ghosh added: “We warmly welcome transitioning BT Group employees into the TCS family. We are confident they will benefit from the immense learning and growth opportunities we offer, and pursue long, fulfilling careers at TCS.”

In addition to the specifics of the deal, BT Group and TCS have agreed to work together to develop joint go to market propositions in the coming months.

CT Bureau