Bank PKO BP sends out invitations for major IT tender

The country's largest retail Bank, PKO BP, has sent out offers to a number of companies inviting them to take part in a bid for the implementation and maintenance of a centralized IT system. According to Puls Biznesu, Prokom stands the best chance of winning the contract, currently estimated to be worth around zl. 500 million, although the previous management board of PKO BP announced its readiness to spend up to zl. 2 billion on the new system. "The value of such a system is very difficult to estimate. The contract, which includes the price of the license, cost of equipment, and implementation, may come out to zl. 500 million, but the additional work will lead to enormous added costs. The winner of such a tender will attract the client for a period of up to ten years, that is why this race is so important," said an advisor who took part in the previous, unresolved, tender for PKO BP's computerization. Other companies invited to the bid include two Polish firms, Comp Rzeszow and Wonlok, as well as the consortium of Computerland and Sanchez, which will offer an integrated solution based on a Unix platform. Prokom, who will join forces with Alltel Corebanking Solutions (ACS), is to offer a system based on an IBM mainframe platform. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) A.K.