BT Buys INS

LONDON -- BT today announced it has agreed terms to acquire International Network Services Inc. ("INS"), a leading global provider of IT consulting and software solutions. This professional services acquisition will increase BT's presence in North America and will significantly enhance BT's consulting capabilities.

The acquisition of the California-headquartered company will add to BT's global professional services resources of more than 7,000 people across the globe. The move will see hundreds of consultants join BT, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. INS enjoys an excellent reputation due to the skills and expertise of its consultants and also for its methodology and knowledge management infrastructure.

INS specializes in four major areas -- Enterprise Architecture and Governance, Business Productivity, Information Risk Management, and Infrastructure Transformation. Based in Santa Clara, California, with offices in Europe, Asia and throughout North America, the company builds, implements and secures business technology infrastructures for its customers. It has served some 75 percent of Fortune 500 enterprises and more than half of the Fortune 1000 companies.

Andy Green, chief executive officer of BT Global Services, said: "The INS business is another great services acquisition for us. INS has a proven business model in the Networked IT Services space that we will replicate around the world. At the same time it significantly boosts our ability to supply world class professional services to US-headquartered corporations and increases BT's presence in the key North American market. INS brings to BT a wealth of consulting and professional services people and the move is fully in line with our strategic goal of becoming the global leader in the digital networked economy."

BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA)