Proximus : signs a partnership with HCL Technologies to run and service its private cloud infrastructure

Companies around the world are rethinking their way of doing IT and combine local assets in data centers in Belgium with infrastructure in the cloud. This approach, commonly referred to as Hybrid Cloud, allows to address specific workload demands, cost optimizations, legacy applications support, EU privacy standards compliance, etc.. This agreement with HCL will reinforce the Enterprise Business Unit's position as a hybrid cloud solution provider by combining the portfolio in the Proximus DC's with public cloud capabilities. It will allow Proximus to offer a richer catalogue of services and significantly improve the cloud offering in terms of sustainability, efficiency, customer experience and flexibility. The portfolio will now include all major public cloud solutions including -but not limited to - Microsoft and Google but also AWS, SAP and many others. This way Proximus will be able to support its customers even better as partner in their digital transformation.

The partner selected by Proximus is HCL Technologies, one of the leading technology companies in the world, with over 175,000 employees in 50 countries. The agreement concluded with HCL is good news for Proximus' private cloud customers, as it will lead to a significant improvement in resilience, customer experience, sustainability and efficiency. This partnership will enable further development in new growth domains, and lead to a richer service catalogue for Proximus' Enterprise customers.

The plan is to have part of Proximus' IT infrastructure managed by HCL as of February 1st of next year, whereas the IT infrastructure will remain in the Proximus data centers. This will imply a transition which will start on October 1st and will last for a period of 4 months. The agreement between Proximus and HCL will not lead to any redundancies. All involved employees will remain on board.

Overall, the agreement also brings attractive financial benefits, lowering the Total Cost to Operate of Proximus' cloud infrastructure by around 20%, and generating a positive NPV as from year one. This partnership will result in lower investment needed for this infrastructure and the avoidance of renewal investments going forward

This agreement results in Proximus receiving early next year EUR 71 million of cash from HCL and its financing and technology partners for the current cloud infrastructure. Any future assets required to support the infrastructure under the HCL contract will fall under a IFRS lease model and hence operating costs. Proximus anticipates that these will be of a limited magnitude going forward.