BT Global Services - Part 8

(By Richard Holway 6.00pm 25th May 09) Further to my latest report on BT Global Services – Part 7 on 14th May, it does appear that my reporting was ‘spot on’ according to ‘sources close to the situation’. So maybe worth a re-read if you are that interested.

A few points which have since come to light:

UKDomestic, where Mark Quartermaine is the ‘acting’ CEO (the ‘acting’ bit is important!) , does NOT include responsibility for the (largely UK) Delivery Unit. This is managed by the highly respected Texan, Patrick O’Connell. Patrick was brought in by Tim Smart in 2005 to stabilize BT’s NHS programme and seems to have done a good job. This twin-headed situation just doesn’t seem viable long-term.

“Stick to the knitting” – At long last BT really does seem to have got the message and is likely to ‘stick to the knitting’ in its future IT Services activities. The next year or so will be used to create a stable operation in the UK and we are unlikely to see either acquisitions or wholesale disposals - although I expect the latter once both the business and valuations have recovered. For example, I don’t see any further BPO forays outside of the current Local Authority commitments.

BT does see opportunities for using its NHS experience in the US – where electronic patient records are an Obama priority. The thought of BT engaging in this kind of US adventure scares the life out of me!

My overall impression is of an organisation still in a state of change with more disruption to come. I see an organisation shaken to its core over the revelations of the last 2 years. They say that the first thing an alcoholic needs to do to start recovery is to accept that he has real problems. One suspects BT is only just at that stage. There is still a lot of work and pain to come before the patient is truly in recovery.