Five IT consulting firms win EC contract of 350 million

More than thousand IT consultants of among others KPMG and Sword Group will in the coming four years support the European Commission with IT advisory and support. The mega contract has a total value of €450 million, roughly £350 million.

Last Friday, the Directorate-General for Informatics (DIGIT) of the European Commission (EC) announced the winner of the so-called ‘ESP-DESIS III' (Part 1) framework contract, one of the biggest and most important framework contracts of the EC in the field of IT. The assignment was awarded to a consortium (‘EURORA-1 consortium’) of five firms: ARHS Developments, Cegeka, KPMG, Ordina and Sword Group.

The five IT advisory companies will, in the coming four years, deliver a wide scale of ICT consultancy and implementation services to several Directorates-General and authorities of the EC, mainly in Brussels, Luxembourg, Ispra, Geel, Petten, Karlsruhe, Seville and Dublin. Services will be delivered in several sectors, including employment, taxation, agriculture, translations, and justice.

Stephan Claes, partner at KPMG IT Advisory, states that he is "delighted" with the award of the contract. “We will bring in our knowledge and experience at a strategic level to support the implementation of complex applications. If necessary, we can also rely on additional support from the global KPMG network,” says the KPMG’er. Jo Maes, CEO of Ordina in Belgium, adds: “We are proud to be part of the EURORA-1 Consortium. Ordina has a lot of experience within the services for the European Union, and our dedicated EU experts will provide a wide range of highly sophisticated solutions and services.”

Jacques Mottard, CEO of Sword Group, says: “This is an outstanding challenge itself, that highlights once more Sword Group`s prominent position as a leading provider of professional services for the EU.”