Kcom to cut 80 roles as it shifts towards managed services
Cisco Gold partner began briefing affected employees on Tuesday
Cisco Gold partner Kcom has confirmed that about 80 of its staff will be affected by a restructuring drive designed to refocus the business on managed services and less on volume tin deals.
The integrator, part of Hull-based KCOM Group, began the process of briefing affected employees on Tuesday.
About 750 staff support the Kcom brand across its offices in Hull, Wakefield, Brighton, London and Hemel Hempstead. Cuts will occur across a range of roles in multiple locations, Kcom confirmed.
In an emailed statement to CRN, Kcom managing director Stephen Long (pictured) said the restructure reflects Kcom's quest for more annuity-based managed services contracts that run over a number of years.
"At Kcom, we've been implementing new ways of working designed to support our focus on the provision of longer-term, annuity-based managed services in the enterprise market," he said.
"We've been simplifying our business, reducing the time and resources we have associated with volume-based activities and re-sized the organisation for the level and type of customer activity we are anticipating. Sadly, this has meant reducing the number of roles we currently have. We are working closely with those employees affected by these changes, including looking for other opportunities elsewhere in the KCOM Group."
The kind of deals Kcom is now chasing are along the lines of contracts it already has with BA, National Farmers Union Mutual and HMRC, it said.
KCOM Group employs 1,800 staff in total, with the Kcom brand generating £214.3m of the group's £370.7m turnover in its last financial year ending 31 March.
Scott Fletcher, chairman of Cisco Gold partner ANS, approved of Kcom's strategy.
"If you are not adapting to the new norm of managed services, you won't have much time left in the market," Fletcher said. "We made that strategic change some time ago. Kcom is doing the right thing but the question is whether it's doing it soon enough."