Possibly being outsourced to IBM or Cap Gemini - company opinions?

morfmedia

morfmedia

morfmedia

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FTSE 100 company at present in South East, been there around 5 years. Anyone got any advice on whether to stay and try to TUPE into either of these or go contracting instead?

Currently SQL DBA, VMWare + windows admin....

Cheers :)
 
TUPE peeps always seem to get a good deal when moving to IBM, it depends on the package they offer you, i know IBM are loaded right up with the skills youve got so im not sure what would be the best move. Im contracting with IBM at the moment but its pretty grim....
 
I think if you TUPE they have to offer you the same package you are on now?

Maybe worth it just to get another company on the CV.

If they are going to ask you to move on and you do want to go contracting wait until they give you a package to leave, should be an OK one after 5 years.
 
What i mean is that TUPE peeps dont always get the same benefits IBM regular employees get, they will get what they have got on their existing contract, but the possibility of them actually being treated like a true IBM employee are slim. Ive seen it go both ways where the TUPE get better deals, and also when the TUPE gets a worse deal, either way youll be 2nd class for a few months/years....
 
Yeah I think I'd keep the majority of rights, probably lose final salary pension etc.

Nope it's not SSE's datacentre.

I imagine they would have plenty of my skills, I'm not a big fan of IBM server hardware, HP all the way, however I am keen to work in the USA for a while if I can, preferably in California, however I think the odds of getting an easy transfer over there are pretty slim?!?!

The redundancy thing hasn't been decided as yet, its probable we'd be made redundant before any TUPE happens as it's bound to cost more getting another company to do it, I'd enjoy the redundancy payment too :)

Will have to see what happens. Anyone else work for Cap Gemini or IBM.

Rcosworth: What do you mean its pretty grim, the company / work or contracting market. I know there's quite a lot off cutbacks going on but jobserve seems to be quite full at the moment
 
I was TUPE'd to IBM 4 years ago and it was horrendous. Stuck at it for a little under 2 years in which time countless people left te account, not a single one was replaced and my own workload tripled whilst money stayed the same and training/prospects evaporated. They then offered a return payment of my pension contributions which I willingly grabbed and used to support myself whilst I started contracting; best move I've ever made.

Ironically my first contract was with Capgemini which lasted for 12 months. Really enjoyed working for them personally, but as a contractor I probably can't give you the perspective you're after.
 
Did IBM offer you the chance to move onto other accounts or work internationally?

Thanks very much for the info, nice to hear it from someone who has done it. That is pretty much what I expected, gradual loss of staff with no replacements... There's quite a few ex IBM staff at my place and they all seem to have left for various reasons.

Anyone else?
 
morfmedia said:
Did IBM offer you the chance to move onto other accounts or work internationally?
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I think I was tied into working on the outsourced account for 12 months before I could apply to move elsewhere. It was a while ago so I'm not certain but I think this was part of the TUPE transfer agreement. In terms of training the IBM online global campus was pretty good as I recall; lots of free stuff, I just had absolutely no time to take advantage of it. Also if I recall any accreditations gained were only recognised by IBM but, again, I could be wrong about that. You could probably get some good blade and SAN exposure out of them though..

I was working in security at the time so was quite involved in a lot of quite key work between IBM and the company I had previously worked for. As an incentive to stay some of American based IBM blue's I had been working with wanted me to get involved in wider IBM work off of the contract but there was no role transfer or financial increase, so I was basically asked to do even more with no change in my circumstances; not quite the incentive I was after :).

My experience may just have been a bad one but my lasting impression was that wider IBM was probably quite a good place to be but they just don't invest in their outsource programme.
 
I Used to work for Capgemini.

I was a desktop support engineer back then working in the Southwest. I learnt a lot working accross many client sites and also internal MIS support.

However for the 4 years i was there they had a pay freeze the entire time. Was a pain in the ass company to work for with backward procedures and antique hardware for there own staff. No one i knew still works there.

If you TUPE will you be able to stay at your current site or will you be absorbed into a larger team covering more than one client ? I was lucky to be in the opposite position to you.

Capgemini actually lost the contract on the site i was working on and i got TUPE'd to another firm.
 
Its difficult to say at present, it could go either way whereby could stay on site but more likely to be moved off site I think.

How recently were you working for them. I know I'll keep the salary but like everyone in IT, I'm keen for more :)
 
Oh go on, tell us who the customer is :)

I know a bit of Cap Gemini quite well. As with all places its a mixed bag, but on the whole UK outsourcing is pretty well run. I know a few people who were tupe'd a decade ago and they are still there.

Thats my experience of course, but other people may have different ones.
 
Stolly said:
I know a bit of Cap Gemini quite well. As with all places its a mixed bag, but on the whole UK outsourcing is pretty well run. I know a few people who were tupe'd a decade ago and they are still there.
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Pretty much what he said. Also depends on the business unit how you get treated.

so who's the client?!
 
Cap has there call center in Inverness and his location says Inverness London so i guess he could be :P

I left cap march 2005, i left the outsourcing/IT industry shortly after. I found that IT jobs working in house for non IT Firms pays a lot better.

I currently work for a Law firm and there are only 2 of us in this infrastructure team. While it is small (600 end users) i get to have all my fingers and toes in all the pies.

None of this Exchange or SQL specialisation. I get to keep upto date on allmost everything and have just done the whole replicated SAN, virtualisation Blades etc.

Personal opinon ofcourse but i much prefer it to a big company like cap. Too much red tape and procedures for my liking :P
 
Company i am working for are currently going through a similar thing and outsourcing to either IBM or EDS so has been very interesting reading some of the comments on here
 
Stolly said:
Rotherham :)

Did you get the "email that never was" from that unhappy youth on his last day ?
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Heh - I've been to Rotherham quite a few times - mostly out in the terrapin. interesting site!

I didn't get it directly, but did see it! found it rather amusing that someone from ops came running through asking for it to be recalled!
 
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