Adel Al-Saleh, CEO T-Systems, announced the new strategy for business clients last December as part of the transformation of T-Systems.
T-Systems’ focus is now on IT and digitisation solutions, and the integration of T-Systems’ international telecoms services into Telekom Deutschland’s B2B unit.
Whether the restructuring will improve T-Systems performance remains to be seen: T-Systems has racked up losses of €3.7 billion since 2006 and talks to merge part of the business with Atos Origin last summer came to nothing. The B2B, IT services-focused arm of BT, Global Services, has also been an expensive thorn in BT Group’s side, and the likes of IBM and Fujitsu too have struggled in this sphere.
Telekom Deutschland expands
Now 3,000 T-Systems employees in Germany who were responsible for telecoms and public sector are transferred to a new subsidiary of Telekom Deutschland, Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) operating company in its home market.
Outside Germany, DT has set up more than 12 new national companies for local telecoms businesses.
In a further 24 countries, 5,000 T-Systems employees are transferring to new subsidiaries of Telekom Deutschland.
DT is also bundling its business with international network operators (Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier) and the management of international networks (Network Infrastructure).
As a result, small and large business customers and multinational corporations will be served worldwide with an integrated telecommunications portfolio from Telekom Deutschland.
“At Telekom Deutschland, an integrated telecommunications unit for business customers from small to large, as well as innovative digitization solutions and IT for small and medium-sized enterprises will be created. Know-how and processes will flow together. We are eliminating interfaces and transfer points and making service processes consistent,” explains Hagen Rickmann, the Managing Director of Telekom Deutschland.
“The crisis has brought about a significant leap forward for digitization. The digital transformation is gaining momentum at an enormous speed. During this crisis, we have underpinned our claim as the leading digitizer in the SME sector, by delivering at short notice.”
Greater impact
The official transfer of operations took place as planned on 1st July 2020, aligned with the works council agreement six months ago. T-Systems will focus on information technology and digitisation solutions for Deutsche Telekom’s large clients around the world.
“Today’s digitization challenges require a systems approach. From supply chains to healthcare, mobility to public services – the Corona pandemic has again demonstrated how interconnected everything is,” says Adel Al-Saleh. “The new T-Systems targets these challenges with a trusted outcome-oriented approach upon which our long-standing client relationships have been built.”
He added, “The Corona Warn App, which T-Systems was responsible for launching on behalf of the Group, exemplifies what is possible with this focus, combined with agility and innovation”. The app has been more widely used than those of other European nations like France and the UK, although there has been controversy regarding privacy issues, which is taken more seriously in Germany than many other countries.
DT says T-Systems continues to be the largest IT service provider in Germany and a leading international market player. The new positioning sharpens T-Systems’ focus on the development, implementation, integration and operation of private and public infrastructures and applications, including strategic digitization and the related transformation solutions.
T-Systems combines connectivity from Telekom’s core business with new digital opportunities. The company’s own Open Telekom Cloud and partnerships with hyperscalers such as Microsoft, AWS and Google are the basis its individual private, public or edge-cloud services.