Avaya Signs Multi-Year Outsourcing Agreement With Accenture to Provide Learning Services for Avaya Employees, Customers and BusinessPartners
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2001 – Avaya Inc. (NYSE: AV), a global leader in networking solutions and services, and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced a multi-year outsourcing agreement under which Accenture will provide end-to-end learning services, including web-based e-learning and classroom-based training, to Avaya employees, customers and BusinessPartners.
Under the agreement, Accenture will assume management of Avaya University‘s global network of professionals. Avaya University services outsourced to Accenture include learning development, delivery and operations management functions.
“Avaya selected Accenture for its breadth of experience and track record with clients spanning the full range of industries around the world, “ said Michael Dennis, vice president, worldwide operations and services, Avaya. “The outsourcing of Avaya University to Accenture is designed to expand the reach of our training offerings through web-based technology to a larger audience, while at the same time improving efficiency and reducing costs.”
Other benefits include the ability to update content and course materials quickly, the capacity to rapidly deploy training around new and existing products, technology and services, the use of a single point of registration for global course offerings, and a significant reduction in time and money spent for travel.
Accenture’s methodology for developing solutions, standardizing training programs and consolidating classroom instruction is designed to enable courses to be offered anytime, anywhere, as well as the ability to update and reuse materials at a later date.
“In today’s challenging economic times, communications companies are turning to new business models such as business process outsourcing to drive demonstrable results and make an immediate impact on the bottom line,” said William D. Green, managing partner of Accenture’s Communications & High Tech global market unit. “An outsourcing model such as this one, which incorporates the latest advances in web-based learning services, allows companies to improve business performance while dramatically reducing time required for training so that they can devote more time to meeting their business objectives.”
Accenture’s experience has shown that, when used correctly, web-based training is highly effective and cost efficient, significantly improving retention levels and reducing delivery times by 40 to 60 percent compared to classroom lecture formats.
“Our research has found that learning programs, which maximize performance at cost-effective investment levels, are viewed as critical to business success,” Green added, citing an Accenture research report, “The High-Performance Workforce,” which identifies a number of best practices used by leading companies to attract and retain talented people.
Avaya University, headquartered in Denver, Colo., with global operations, currently offers approximately 2000 courses to customers, associates and BusinessPartners. The courses cover a broad range of professional development skills including business skills, IT skills, and skills building on Avaya’s voice, data and messaging products. As part of the outsourcing arrangement, more than 200 Avaya employees will be offered employment with Accenture. Employees outside the United States will be hired in a manner consistent with applicable local laws.
“We believe this arrangement with Accenture can strategically enhance service to Avaya and our customers,” Dennis said. “The outsourcing decision is also in line with Avaya’s acceleration of our cost-cutting restructuring activities and will give us a sharper focus on our core businesses.”
Avaya and Accenture have an existing customer relationship management (CRM) alliance to deliver contact center business solutions to help enterprises increase operational efficiency, enhance and retain customer relationships and support revenue growth.
About Avaya
Avaya, headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., is a leading global provider of communications solutions and services that help businesses, government agencies and other institutions excel in the customer economy. Avaya offers Customer Relationship Management Solutions, Unified Communication Solutions, Hosted Solutions, MultiService Networking Infrastructure, and Converged Voice and Data Networks - including the company’s no-compromise Enterprise-Class IP Solutions (ECLIPS) - all supported by Avaya Services and Avaya Labs. Avaya is the worldwide leader in unified messaging, messaging systems, call centers and structured cabling systems. It is the U.S leader in voice communications systems and services. Avaya is an official partner for the 2002 FIFA World Cup™, the 2003 Women’s World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ championships. For more information on Avaya, visit its Web site at http://www.avaya.com.
About Accenture
Accenture is the world’s leading management and technology consulting organization. Through its network of businesses approach — in which the company enhances its consulting and outsourcing expertise through alliances, ventures and other capabilities — Accenture delivers innovations that help clients across all industries quickly realize their visions. With more than 75,000 people in 46 countries, the company generated net revenues of $11.44 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2001. Its home page is http://www.accenture.com.
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