“Anyone who is honest will admit that the prospect of being outsourced is not particularly pleasant,” says Dorlis Ouellette. When the Compliance Manager crosses the beautifully landscaped campus at Minuteman Road in Andover, Massachusetts, she walks into the same Philips office as she has for the past six years – but since January 1, she does so as a T-Systems employee. The German IT provider took charge of Philips’s SAP service, the infrastructure at all 300 Philips data centers in 60 countries – and 135 employees around the world.

Like many of her co-workers, Dorlis Ouellette didn’t know for a long time whether anything would be outsourced and whether she would be affected. “I was N.A. Regional Compliance Officer. Those with less technical jobs were apprehensive and not exactly thrilled.” When she learned that she too would have to switch, she was initially unfamiliar with her new employer. “I knew of T-Mobile, but had never even heard of T-Systems.” Her worries soon vanished and were replaced
by attractive prospects. “I found the human resources teamto be extremely experienced. They understood what we had gone through during the ecision-making phase. We were told up front where our place was in the company and how the transition would unfold. The objectives were very clear – and everything remained largely on schedule.”

Rapid climb up the ladder

“Communications were extraordinarily good,” recalls Dorlis Ouellette – and not just in terms of conveying hard facts. “We immediately felt welcome. My new supervisor worked hard to bring me on board quickly and to show me my support was needed. It was a positive experience.” Dorlis Ouellette has now taken on a global compliance management role, supporting Philips as a customer – a move up the corporate ladder. “When I saw what long-term goals T-Systems was pursuing and that they would need even more employees, particularly in North America, I felt this would be a great place for me.” And it’s no wonder. Because IT experts have much different development opportunities at an organization that specializes in ICT . But these facts are often obscured by general apprehensions about the upcoming change. Hence the need to quickly wrap up transitions in order to minimize unease and quell rumors.