ABN AMRO acquirers likely to hire army of business IT consultants
Time to send your CV to ABN? Acquirers of the Dutch bank will need scores of IT consultants to integrate its systems with their own.
Pundits say it's only a matter of time before the banks involved in the acquisition start beating the hiring drum.
Ralph Silva, senior analyst at TowerGroup, says that over the next eight to 12 months, Fortis, RBS and Santander will attempt to consolidate ABN AMRO's numerous IT infrastructures into their own, focusing on wholesale and capital markets systems.
Silva says: "There will be an increasing need to get merger consultants on board, and they will need some high-level project managers who are used to managing politics.
ABN has approximately 15 lines of businesses, and each will need five to 10 senior project managers. They will have to have a technology background, no question, but they will be looking for a mix of 75% business, and 25% technology skills."
Short-term gains may come at a cost of long-term pain, however. After the initial hiring rush, Silva warns that longer term, the new ABN AMRO is likely to lay off IT staff as it closes redundant capital markets IT departments.
For the moment, Martha Bennett, research director for financial services at Datamonitor, says the new ABN AMRO will also require outsourcing experts to grapple with its complex web of IT offshoring deals with Accenture, EDS, IBM, Infosys, Patni and Tata.
"The big challenge is what to do with the huge outsourcing contracts. They will need outsourcing expertise skills as much as IT skills," says Bennett.
RBS, Fortis and Santander are quietly confident about integrating ABN AMRO's IT systems, but are tight-lipped about the details.
"The three Consortium members have successfully integrated over 100 businesses in the last 15 years by focusing on investment in people, products, technology and new opportunities. They intend to do the same with ABN AMRO, harnessing the experience and expertise of the existing workforce, its product capabilities and infrastructure," the consortium said in a statement.
