Brian Stones, a former VP at Capgemini who was this week named as ACS’ new European chief, told ComputerWire that the company is renewing its efforts to become a significant player in the highly competitive European IT services sector.
ACS as an organization is making close to $5bn a year in revenue, and Europe has to be a material part of that business to maintain the interest of our senior management… It has to represent more than 10% of that total, he said.
Dallas, Texas-based ACS currently has 30 clients in Europe, including General Motors and Air France, for whom it provides HR outsourcing and ticket processing services respectively.
ACS has several hundred staff in Europe, although the vast majority of these are in back office delivery, rather than client-facing positions. It has around 300 at its HR outsourcing center in Barcelona, Spain, and around 150 at its near-shore IT outsourcing center in Cork, Ireland.
ComputerWire also learned that ACS plans to open a low-cost outsourcing center in Eastern Europe in Spring of this year, although it would not confirm a location. However, Stones said that his main priority is to build up the number of people in sales, account management and onsite support in Europe.
This may be done through M&A activity. He said: We’ve got a good track record of assimilating companies, and we’ve got an open mind. He said that the company could be more attracted to more specialized targets, rather than a merger with a major European outsourcing vendor. Large mergers can be distracting, but I won’t rule it out, he said.
Stones declined to comment on the possibility of ACS bidding for Belgian consulting and HR outsourcing firm Arinso International, with whom it is working on a project with General Motors in Europe. It should be noted that any acquisitive approach for Arinso would have to get the green light from its CEO Jos Sluys, who owns 65% of the company’s entire share capital.
