Royal Sun Alliance, the UK insurance giant, has extended its business process outsourcing contract with services and consultancy provider Accenture by four years.

In 2003, RSA outsourced a number of business processes to Accenture’s Indian delivery centres in Bangalore and Mumbai. These include administrative process for sales and service, claims processing and finance operations.

According to an Accenture case study on the deal, the decision to outsource was part of an initiative by RSA to cut £270 million from its annual operating expenses.

Originally set to expire in 2010, the engagement was first extended to 2012, and has now been further extended to 2016.

In a statement, RSA operations director David Pitt said that renewed engagement allows for greater flexibility, “enabling us to refine services in an efficient and timely manner to reflect the changing needs of our customers".

"In addition, we have developed a level of mutual trust and respect over an eight-year period that gives us comfort knowing Accenture will provide the necessary support to RSA as markets and requirements evolve," Pitt said.

Having been hit hard by the recession, Accenture now appears to be bouncing back in a big way. The company took bookings worth $7 billion in its latest financial quarter, its highest booking rate since September 2007. The quarter’s consultancy bookings were the second highest in the company’s ten -ear history.

Accenture has announced a number of new deals in recent weeks, including a five-year BPO deal with CEVA Logistics and a cloud-based shared services contract with UK’s Ministry of Justice.