Outsourcing - Andersens moves in on Consulting
Arthur Andersen has teamed up with IT giant IBM to offer finance, accounting and related IT outsourcing services in a full-frontal attack on its estranged partner, Andersen Consulting.
Outsourcing is one of the traditional strongholds of Consulting. Under the agreement with IBM, Andersens’ ‘process solutions’ wing will help clients specify and manage ‘enterprise application’ outsourcing projects.
Processing will be carried out by IBM.
The rapid growth of Andersens’ consultancy services is one of the underlying reasons for the ‘divorce’ sought by Consulting, which has now gone to arbitration through the Paris Chamber of Commerce.
A spokesman for Consulting played down the significance of Andersens’ move into outsourcing. ‘There is no relationship between Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting. The IBM deal is as interesting to us as anyone,’ he said.
Arthur Andersen this week reported a 19% rise in its UK fee income to #456m for the year ended 31 December 1998.