300 EMEA staff affected in Westcon outsourcing move

Parent Datatec confirms BPO 'transformation' project will affect elements of Westcon's finance and operations functions

Some 300 staff at distributor Westcon will be affected by a restructuring and business process outsourcing (BPO) transformation of its EMEA operations, parent Datatec has announced.

In a results statement this morning, South African IT group Datatec said the move would dent its full-year profits to the tune of $13m (£8.4m) but would position Westcon for "better performance in the future".

Europe contributed a third of Westcon's $2.5bn revenues in the six months to 30 August 2015, with Africa and the Middle East generating an additional 11 per cent. Through its Comstor and Westcon brands, the global distributor works with vendors including Cisco, Avaya, Polycom, Juniper, Check Point, F5, Palo Alto and Blue Coat.

"Westcon is in the process of implementing a restructuring and BPO transformation of its EMEA operations aimed at delivering future improvements in operational efficiency," Datatec confirmed.

"The scope of this project has now been finalised and will include elements of the finance and operations functions, affecting approximately 300 full-time employees."

Total costs for full-year 2016 relating to the project are expected to hit $13m, of which $5m was incurred in its fiscal first half, Datatec said.

"This project will serve as a blueprint for scale and efficiency within the whole of Westcon going forward and is expected to deliver a payback within three years," Datatec added.

CRN has contacted Datatec for further comment, but has yet to hear back.

Westcon saw global revenues rise by 12 per cent year on year to $2.5bn in the six months to 30 August. Operating expenditure at the distributor also rose by 10 per cent due partly to the costs associated with the EMEA transformation and $8.9m of foreign exchange losses associated with the devaluation of the currency in Angola, which is one of its key African operations.