ICS managing director Stephen Bull said: “What we are announcing here is in direct response to those impassioned requests for highly skilled help, via people they already know and trust, who truly understand the landscape of the local and combined international environment.”ICS and Fifth Step London have been working together for 18 months. Mr Bull said: “We wanted to make sure that our clients were satisfied — so it was time for us to make it public.”Fifth Step London chief executive officer Darren Wray said they have spent that time building relationships with clients here, and reassuring the market before announcing their partnership.Mr Wray said: “Working with ICS was perfect — they’ve been well established for a long time, there was a synergy, and the culture between the organisations — we worked well together.”Fifth Step comes to the fore when a company recognises that they need — “a large programme of change,” he said. “We will work with the client to implement that.“There are aspects of this which are technologically oriented and that is where Steve and his team really excel. They are certified partners with Microsoft, Citrix Solutions Network, Cisco Systems — it’s unique in the Bermuda market,” while Mr Bull added: “And the depth of knowledge and experience of Fifth Step — it’s a whole different level.”Mr Wray said: ‘Our feedback has been really good. We’ve exceeded client’s expectations with the things we’ve been doing.”He explained the demand for their services have been growing along with regulatory requirements. “It’s ever more complicated,” he said.Regulators’ expectations will range from demands in terms of IT policies and procedures to the complexities of Solvency II requirements. “These have massive implications for IT. IT has to be able to vouch for the quality of the data, as well as those processes and procedures,” he said.And once data is on the system, it becomes IT’s responsibility.However, ensuring the requirements of regulators are fulfilled from the beginning is good for business. “The time spent on mitigating all risks can be spent on growing the business — it becomes a circle of investment.”Additionally, today the IT side of any company is expected to be more than simply a cost centre. “Companies are looking to IT to be innovative in their businesses as well,” he said. “We work with organisations to help them build their business case — to align IT with their business strategy, so IT is a strategic asset, not just a cost.“If you start with the end in mind, do it right from the outset and build out from that.”This development brings together a close group of experienced professionals, all with international backgrounds in the insurance, reinsurance and financial sectors, to deliver a range of C Suite services focused on global governance and compliance, Solvency II, IT strategy planning, *ITIL v3 processes and procedures, review of global Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plans, programme and project management, ISO 27001 security, infrastructure and service desk outsourcing, plus a range of other mission-critical business solutions based on a Continual Service Improvement (CSI) framework.In London, the team delivers to clients within Lloyds, where the work they perform for the syndicates has to be signed-off by Lloyds itself.A press release announcing the partnership pointed to projects where the sponsor resides in Bermuda, the CIO in London and the delivery teams on the US East Coast.