I understand that this is probably old news, but I just finished reading the press release from Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-B) regarding their efforts to outsource a significant part of its IT infrastructure & telecommunications services to AT&T, T-Systems and EDS. I find that I need to vent a little bit as this will impact approximately 3,000 IT staff worldwide:
"The move is part of the company's initiative to achieve top quartile performance in its businesses and functions in support of its "More Upstream, Profitable Downstream" strategy.
As well as significant improvements in efficiency and productivity, the initiative will deliver important financial benefits for Shell over the first five years. Over the same period, the total value of the Agreements to the three suppliers will be in excess of $4.0 billion."
While they expect to transfer the majority of their IT staff to the service providers, there will assuredly be a reduction in headcount...there always is.
