Nielsen partners with Tata Consultancy Services for IT and operations support worldwide in a contract worth $1.2 billion
October 18, 2007

The Nielsen Company, a global information and media company with leading market positions, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, business solutions and outsourcing organisation, announced today that they are entering into an agreement for outsourcing a portion of Nielsen's information technology (IT) and operations functions worldwide.

Under the ten-year agreement, valued at $US1.2 billion, TCS will assume responsibility for important IT and operational processes and help Nielsen integrate and centralise multiple systems, technologies and processes on a global scale. TCS will also assume responsibility for certain finance and human resource business processes, which will be executed on new BPO platforms built by TCS.

The Nielsen Company provides a wide range of global services, including television and internet audience measurement, insight and analysis of consumer behaviour for the packaged goods and retail industries, services to clients in print, online and mobile media services, entertainment, books, video and the music industries, and is a major provider of business publications and trade shows.

"Nielsen is moving quickly to transform an outstanding group of operating businesses into an integrated, market-focused organisation that delivers high-value information services to our clients," said Mitchell Habib, executive vice president in charge of Nielsen Global Business Services.

"This arrangement with TCS will help us streamline and simplify our IT infrastructure and application platforms and operational practices across our businesses, support the development of integrated solutions and give us much greater flexibility to respond quickly to changes in the marketplace," added Habib. "We are delighted to be working with the TCS team and look forward to a long and productive relationship."

TCS' full service capabilities
TCS said it will provide this service to Nielsen through its full-service model, leveraging consulting, IT, infrastructure and business process outsourcing (BPO) services delivered through its network delivery model (GNDMTM). The global model will help Nielsen align complex global IT and operational processes, deliver high quality services to its clients and create cost efficiencies.

"The Nielsen engagement showcases our domain knowledge and our ability to manage and execute complex transformation engagements across the globe. It highlights the level of strategic engagement that TCS enjoys with global customers like The Nielson Company," said S Ramadorai, chief executive officer and MD, TCS.

N Chandrasekaran, chief operating officer and executive director, TCS said, "This landmark agreement with Nielsen combines our traditional strength in IT services with our growing prowess in areas like infrastructure and enterprise transformation, consulting, and platform-based BPO. The engagement underlines not only our ability to efficiently run the business but also help transform it. We continue to deliver sustained business value to our customers and help them experience certainty."

The implementation of next generation technology platforms and processes will enable faster and enriched information service delivery for Nielsen. TCS will also set up an innovation lab with Nielsen to help the customer conceptualise the next generation of business solutions for its end-clients globally.

The BPO platforms will help Nielsen consolidate and transform its processes and systems into a single platform, thereby providing real-time access to organisation performance and reporting. The BPO services cover end-to-end financial services in such processes as accounts receivable and payable, billing, credit and collections and general accounting, and HR processes, including workforce administration, global reporting and payroll services.

"TCS has made significant investments to develop true global BPO platforms based on SAP technology. Our agreement with Nielsen is further validation of TCS' platform-based BPO strategy," Chandrasekaran added.

Building KPO capabilities
As part of the agreement, TCS said it will take direct responsibility for a Nielsen team based in Baroda, Gujarat, that has developed significant expertise in key information-management processes for Nielsen's retail measurement services, one of Nielsen's core products for packaged goods manufacturers and retailers. The addition of this team will complement TCS' established knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) team and help to accelerate development of TCS' KPO service delivery platform. This development will enhance TCS' domain expertise and make it one of the largest KPO providers in India, working in such areas as analytics and reporting and reference data management.