Global IT and BPO services provider Patni Computers has been selected by international health and care organisation Bupa, to provide a managed service for its core business applications.

The Patni team will include 40 technical specialists based in the UK and India who will work on this three-year agreement. This contract with Patni is one of a small number of third party suppliers retained by Bupa as part of its multi-vendor outsourcing strategy.

Founded in 1947, Bupa is an international health and care group, providing a broad range of services including private medical insurance, care homes for older people and young disabled, health assessments, workplace health and childcare services, to over 10 million customers around the world. Its group revenues were £4.24 billion in 2007.

“Our approach is always to ensure that day-to-day activities are taken care of, and that we’re ‘keeping the lights on’. The second step is to provide added value to the business, and the third to introduce strategic services in line with the overall direction that the business is taking,” said David Guest, CIO of Bupa. “By working with Patni, we have more predictable IT costs and reliable systems and can deploy our in-house staff into higher profile projects that keep them motivated.”