IBM UK's pre-Xmas GTS head-chop: THWACK! Is that it?

IBM's Global Technology Services says it is finally edging closer to a proposed target to base 60 per cent of the workforce in offshore locations, one fifth in nearshore and another fifth onshore. The 60-20-20 rule, as it is known within the company, replaces the previous model in which Big Blue intended to have eight in 10 …

[Anonymous Coward]

The thing about cost cutting and profits...

So they are moving staff to cheap locations and look profits are up!

However....

As many of the current customers may be locked in 3, 5, 10 or even longer contracts, what happens when those expire? Will those customer renew, or will they be pissed off enough to leave.

The effects, good or bad, may not be seen for several years yet.

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: The thing about cost cutting and profits...

Spot on. Take last year's Lloyds deal, 10 year contract, ~1,500 staff (maybe 2000) TUPEd over, so those guys will be RA'd in 2019, leaving Lloyds with eight years of offshored pain before the contract expires.

So it's not the end for job cutting in the UK either, not when TUPE protection expires, the big blue chopper will see the light of day yet again.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: The thing about cost cutting and profits...

It will actually work out quite well for them, as Lloyds has already off shored most of its admins, IBM are just sending the rest to join then.

[Mark 85]

Re: The thing about cost cutting and profits...

The effects, good or bad, may not be seen for several years yet.

In the corporate boardroom... it doesn't matter as they only see from quarter to quarter. A year or longer is a concept unknown to them.

[Korev]

Wrong animal?

IBM may have broken the duck and finally reported sales growth in its most recent quarter,

I just hope that it's not a dead cat bounce.

[Anonymous South African Coward]

Re: Wrong animal?

I just hope that it's not a dead cat bounce.

Schrödinger's cat? Or Greebo?

[Alistair]

Re: Wrong animal?

@ASAC:

Pusheen possibly?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Wrong animal?

I'm American, what is a duck?

[m0rt]

Re: Wrong animal?

Let's hope you are never in a war zone.

[Mayday]

Re: Wrong animal?

American re duck -

In cricket, a duck is "scored" when a batsman is dismissed (out) for a score of zero.

"Breaking a duck" is a term used to described when no longer being on zero.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you think the chopping stops...

...I have a bridge to sell you.

Just remember that the chopping started waaaaaaaaaay before 60-20-20 existed. I have zero reason to believe that it will stop now. Just because that arbitrary target has been met (and provided a convenient excuse for the last few rounds), that doesn't mean it stops.

Does anyone seriously believe that it stops there?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: If you think the chopping stops...

Yes, the chopping will go on for as long as IBM acquires new contracts. I'm sure Lloyd's hasn't reached the 20-20-60 ratio given they only came on-board last year.

As for 20-20-60 being sufficient - the uptick in IBM sales appears to have matched their (almost) across the board hardware refresh. Will it last more than one quarter? And without all that extra money to prop up results in lower performing areas, it's back to cutting staff from services...

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: If you think the chopping stops...

'uptick',....

.. the received wisdom is that sales of Z series have a little spike when there's a new model, then fall off next quarter, so it's perhaps not time to break out the champagne just yet.

[spold]

Re: If you think the chopping stops...

>IBM's relentless job-cutting looks to be drawing to a close

No - just for this quarter! IBM has a quota to get rid off every quarter (there was every quarter last year - see no reason for it to change).

[Anonymous Coward]

15% annually per division per band per profession

When I left 5 years ago

[Anonymous Coward]

Because there is no-one left?

The good news is that IBM's relentless job-cutting looks to be drawing to a close. At least in the UK.

[John Styles]

Dear IBM,

Please stop making this irksome usage of 'cognitive' a thing. It is not going to become a thing and you are just embarrassing yourselves by this point.

Signed,

everyone in the world without the defective custom IBM dictionary

[m0rt]

"and social and mobile technologies"

So consutants offering social media advice now? Or is this the great new world of IBM - International Business Marketing?

[Alister]

IBM - International Business Marketing

I'm sorry, I think you misspelled "Bullshit" there...

[Anonymous Coward]

Marketing = Bullshit. So IBB or IMM.

[Anonymous Coward]

They think they're going to be what!?!?!?

"As IBM transforms into the premier cognitive computing and cloud platform company,"

Pardon me while I clean up the mess of snorted coffee off my keyboard. IBM foray into the world of cloud has been about as successful as their $20 earnings per share in 2015 - which they (wisely?) backed away from.

[Lord Elpuss]

Re: They think they're going to be what!?!?!?

Cloud Computing (n): the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

IBM’s been doing Cloud since the ‘70’s; so not exactly a ‘foray’. Cloud (and XaaS) are not new concepts, they just got a whizzy new marketing wrapper.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: They think they're going to be what!?!?!?

Virtualisation != Cloud

[Lord Elpuss]

Re: They think they're going to be what!?!?!?

Yes AC well done. What's your point?

[Mayday]

Nearshore?

Not a term I've heard before.

Isn't something that is not "onshore" always "offshore"? Regardless of how close? Isn't a UK job that is moved to France (ie "nearby") just as offshored as one that has moved to Poland, Russia, China, India or Antarctica?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Nearshore?

"Nearshoring" is where you can't fully offshore work for some reason, so instead you fly in cheap resources from places that (ideally) don't require visas. So within the EU, you'd fly in people from the Eastern European EU countries where staff costs are relatively low, but where they have the right to work anywhere in the EU. In short, it's the usual race to the bottom stuff ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Nearshore?

After we Brexit where will near shore be located?

[paulf]

Re: Nearshore?

@AC, "After we Brexit where will near shore be located?"

The Rockall part of South Harris Parish.

[Anonymous Coward]

The tablet repair guy...

There was 1 tablet repair guy for a good chunk of england... he's gone and server engineers are now doing warranty replacement duty.

Which is okay until you realise that they will youtube the procedure just like anyone else.

Oh and they've also cut back their stock to avoid honouring next business day warranties.