MCIS ZURICH and CSA sign 5-year services contract

MCIS ZURICH Insurance Bhd (MZ) and Computer Systems Advisers (M) Bhd (CSA) officially entered into a five-year managed services and IT hardware contract, which will see CSA provide IT services and Hewlett-Packard (HP) desktop and mobility hardware to MZ.
 
This five-year agreement is part of MZ’s strategy for further improving its business productivity and efficiency, as it can focus on its core competency of being one of the leading insurance services providers here.
 
Specifically, MZ will be able to benefit from a reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) when it comes to its IT infrastructure, as CSA will be leveraging its expertise in providing managed services and the latest HP hardware for MZ. In addition, CSA will be the single point of contact for MZ’s internal technical support inquiries for HP desktops and notebooks provided.
 
Encik Md Adnan Md Zain, Chief Executive Officer, MZ described the contract signing as “a monumental step and one of the building blocks to MCIS ZURICH’s organizational transformation efforts.” Elaborating further on the matter, Md Adnan said that the agreement with CSA will not only allow MZ to continue focusing on providing superlative products and services to its customers – but also, this deal enables MZ to remain at the cusp of developments in office technology, in order to support MZ’s efforts to enhance operational productivity and efficiency. “As MCIS ZURICH pushes on its business plans for a larger footprint in the Malaysian insurance market, we are gratified to be in smart partnership with the best in the IT services field.”
 
“As one of the leading IT services providers in Malaysia, CSA is excited to be able to work in close partnership with MCIS Zurich and HP to provide managed services and the latest HP technology to enable MCIS Zurich to serve its customers better” said Chuah Tai Eu, Managing Director, CSA. “This five-year deal underscores our commitment to one of the country’s leading insurance providers and leverages on our expertise in enabling MCIS Zurich to reduce the complexity and costs associated with managing their desktop and mobile environments throughout the entire product lifecycles,” he added.
 
The agreement between MZ and CSA will see the leading IT services provider implement and deploy close to 650 HP desktops and notebooks installed with Microsoft Office applications, insurance applications, Citrix client software, and Lotus Notes email. The hardware will be deployed in all 27 MZ offices and branches located at Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, Kangar, Alor Setar, Sungai Petani, Kulim, Pulau Pinang, Butterworth, Ipoh, Taiping, Teluk Intan, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu, Kuantan, Bentong, Klang, Seremban, Port Dickson, Melaka, Johor Bahru, Kluang, Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Kuching, dan Miri.
 
“This agreement validates HP’s leading position as the preferred hardware provider, and also reaffirms our longstanding partnership with CSA,” said Danny Lee, Country General Manager, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett-Packard (M) Sdn Bhd. “This agreement demonstrates the value that HP’s Desktop and Mobility Lifecycle Solutions are able to offer, as they were designed to reduce the complexity and costs associated with IT infrastructure management,” he said. 
 
Benefits from the CSA-MZ agreement
Key benefits of today’s agreement include:
Desktops and Notebooks Refresh – CSA will refresh MZ’s desktops and notebooks in 3 phases to generate a smooth transition for technology upgrades via the HP leasing programme.
Five-Year Managed Services – CSA will provide MZ comprehensive managed services encompassing the planning, design of the standard operating environment (SOE), implementation, commissioning, technical support, inventory management and software distribution for HP desktops and notebooks provided by CSA.
Single point of contact – CSA will provide a single point of contact for the technical support of HP desktops and notebooks via the CSA Advanced Call Centre Toll Free number.
Technical Support – CSA Engineers will provide on-site technical support for MZ’s headquarters and branch offices nationwide.

 
About CSA
Established in 1971, listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad, Computer Systems Advisers (M) Berhad (CSA) is one of Malaysia’s leading IT Service Providers.
 
The Company provides a broad range of IT solutions and services, specialising in Systems Integration, IT Outsourcing, Customer Services and Support for multinational corporations and small-medium enterprises.
 
CSA is the first IT Company in Malaysia to have earned the prestigious MS ISO 9001 Quality Management and Assurance Standard Award for its entire business operations. Today, the company is well represented in 23 offices strategically located throughout East and West Malaysia, with more than 1,200 employees.
 
CSA is a member of the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), a Fortune 500 company which today has 91,000 employees in more than 800 offices worldwide with revenue of USD 16.1 billion for the 12 months ended 28 Dec, 2007.
 
CSA & CSC can be reached at www.csam.com.my  & www.csc.com respectively, via the Internet.
 
About MCIS ZURICH
MCIS (short for Malaysian Cooperative Insurance Society) was established in 1954, and thereafter was corporatized as MCIS Insurance Berhad in 1998. As part of its efforts to consolidate into a stronger entity with access to global technical best practices, MCIS merged with Zurich Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd in July 2002 which is part of the Zurich Financial Services group, the 4th largest provider of insurance-based financial services in the world and who are ranked 63 in Fortune Globals 500 for year 2006. Zurich Financial Services have a total staff force of 60,000 employees worldwide serving customers in 170 countries.
 
Today MCIS ZURICH proudly stands as one of the leading Life and General Insurance player in Malaysia with total assets in excess of RM3 billion and gross premium income close to RM600 million. MCIS ZURICH employs more than 500 staff and 5000 agents and operates through our network of 26 branches located in state capitals and other major towns.