IBM sees German IT-market Growing
Date: 29-08-2007
Source: AFX International Focus
International Business Machines Corp is expecting Germany's IT market to grow 3-3.5 pct a year in 2007 and 2008, but is aiming for higher growth rates in its own business there, the company's German head Michael Diemer told Financial Times Deutschland in an interview.
'We are positioned in such a way, that we will be more than satisfied with our slice of the cake,' the newspaper quoted Diemer as saying.
In its German business, IBM is benefiting from the Herkules project, which it won together with Siemens in Dec 2006. The project, which aims to modernise the information technology of the German federal armed forces, has a total volume of about 7.1 bln eur and a duration of ten years, the newspaper said.
Traditionally, IBM does not disclose figures for its German business. However, consulting agency PAC estimates that IBM's revenue from IT-services in Germany totaled 2.6 bln eur in 2006, the newspaper said. Diemer also said IBM is gaining customers in Germany's IT-services segment as uncertainty about the future of Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Systems continues.
Deutsche Telekom is considering the sale and break-up of its T-Systems unit. The company is planning to transfer 18,000 jobs of the Systems Integration segment to a joint venture, for which it is still looking for a partner, the newspaper said.
Diemer did not comment on whether IBM is interested in a strategic partnership with T-Systems. He said that IBM's current strategy is to strengthen the company through acquisitions in the software business, the paper reported. In Germany, however, IBM is not intending to make major acquisitions, he added.
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