Decipherment of IT consulting, IBM GBS, part 1

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The developing map of IBM GBS

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Before year 2002, the IT consulting department of IBM was BIS (Business Innovation Services), after, combined with PwCC (PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting), it was integrated as BCS (Business Consultant Services). Before the merger, there were 50 thousand staffs in BIS globally, and yearly sale was 10.2 billion. PwCC had 30 thousand staffs, and a sale value of 4.9 billion.

IBM GBS, the abbreviation of Global Business Services, whose name is changed from BCS in year 2006, the world’s biggest IT consulting company. GBS’ business includes managing consulting, strategy consulting and IT consulting. The number of consultants focus on the first two categories is much smaller than the third one. IBM’s basic positioning is an IT consulting company. Its main competitors are Accenture, Ernest & Young Consulting, BeeringPoint, Delloit Consulting HP consulting. It was ranked the 13th in year 2006 among world’s consulting companies, and it’s bit higher than Accenture and AtKearney. The front several ones are Managing consulting companies like McKinsey, Boston, Bain.

IBM IGS (Global Services) includes GBS, GTS (Global Technology Service) and so on, focuses on IT services. If describe IGS as a boat, GBS is the head, GTS is the body and then comes the tail, the SO (strategic Outsourcing Services).

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GBS’ organization structure: the multi-dimensioned Matrix structure

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From Sector dimensions, industry specified:
Public/Industrial/Financial/Distribution/Communications/SMB (small and middle sized business)

From Service dimensions, solution specified:
Strategy & Change/Relationship Management/Financial Management/Supply Chain Management/Customer Relation Management/Human Capital Management/SAP/Oracle/Application Innovation Service/Application Management Service/Application Service Delivery

And, different solutions can be divided in details.

From Area dimensions:
GBS: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou.
ISSC: Dalian, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu

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Bands of GBS

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Employee’s level is marked with band. GBS has a band range from 6 to 10, and then marked with D, C, B, A, AA. Staffs employed by campus recruitment start from band 90 (trainee, equal to band 5.5), after a year or half and a year, change to band 6; band 6 can be promoted to band 7 after 1 to 3years; from band 7 to band 8, more than 3 years time is required, no upper limit. It’s hard to reach the level of band 9, band 10 and above is managing level.

IBM fellow is band D, outstanding engineer is band D, GBS partner is band D, associate partner is band 10.

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GBS career development

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6 common career roles: specialist, consultant, architect, project manager, learning, sales.
IT Specialist (Band6)–>Advisory IT Specialist–>Senior IT Specialist–>Consulting IT Specialist–>Senior Consulting IT Specialist–>Executive
Consultant (Band6)–>Senior Consultant–>Managing Consultant–>Senior Managing Consultant–>Associate Partner–>Executive
Associate IT Architect (Band7)–>Advisory IT Architect–>Senior IT Architect–>Executive IT Architect–>Executive
Associate Project Manager (Band7)–>Advisory Project Manager–>Senior Project Manager–>Executive Project Manage–>Executive

Others, like learning, are responsive to tanning. Sales, are responsive to services sale and client representation. Quite few.

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GBS skills and abilities assessment framework

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PDF (professional development framework), which is inherited from PwCC is a very excellent skill and ability assessment system, and relevant to band. It has two dimensions, core and career.

By 6 career developing directions, every direction can be divided into several sub-categories, for example, architect is divided into application architect, information architect, and integration architect, enterprise architect, basic facility architect.

Every direction is corresponded with 6 bands, 1 and 2 refers to band 6, 3/4/5/6 refers to band7/8/9/10/

And there are 3 common core directions, business, leadership and relationship.

In March August of every year, the PDF assessment get started, each staff has to submit his paper, in which he try to prove that points required have been reached, and the arguments is taken from project assessment which is approved by project manager. And then approve by the local manager. Approving commitment approve accordingly. In the end, HR’s last verifying will result in promotion.

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To be continued...
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Destiny willed.