Anyone watching this forum in US Expert Labs (not Expertise Connect)?
If yes:
"Expert labs just doesn’t have the profit margins or utilization that the company wants."
Expert Labs charge customers $350+ per hour for services... you would thing that would bring a nice profit margin even if the consultant doing the work is highly paid... But no!! The reason why they don't reach profit margins is because of the bloated management chain. That $350 per hour is sucked up into executives pay and bonus packages, then the consultant gets laid off because his/her cost is too high!! Then the vicious circle starts and gets worse at each iteration because IBM only layoffs consultants who are actually doing the work and bringing in the $$$ but never cut management! Isn't that a great business model? Should be taught in Universities as a case of stupidity, shoot yourself in the foot, etc...
Utilization is Expert Labs goes down every year, but Management thinks it is great to increase utilization targets up every year... Then no consultants reach the targets, and more consultants can be laid off... we are getting fast and furious to the end of the cycle when only management will be left. Now, IBM will tell you why do we need consultants when we can use Business Partners...
I am stopping here... I am exhausted by all these BS. LOL!
Expert Labs has become a joke and will not be around too much longer. AK is making sure of that.
AK is just working on wiping out Steve Mills legacy...
What an id--t!
"If you are in that org AK hates you "
Yeah, remember AK was the SVP of the Software Group which Expert Labs is part of... AK destroyed the entire division while he was there!
Certainly none of the hyperscalers charge their customers to help them move their systems on their respective clouds… it is all free services, not to mention they will put an army of smart people at the client disposition to help the move. I think this is what IBM has yet to understand, and the reason why The IBM Cloud never took off. Too much greed in IBM and too short of a sight when it comes to business. Not surprised to see IBM continuing struggling and falling to the abyss.
If you are in that org AK hates you
Expert Labs formerly Lab Services formerly the ISSx organizations never needed to be profitable in the past. Steve Mills (former Software SVP) created the group back in the late 90s to be a highly skilled organization to help customers deploy the IBM software. Since Steve Mills retired, some useless executives have taken over and thought they could make that ORG profitable at the expense of helping customers deploy the IBM software. These execs are just greedy and just don't understand the business model Steve Mills had put in place. Result is that this ORG is in total disarray, all talented consultants have either left IBM or moved to other groups within IBM. There were two major layoffs in Expert Labs back in Oct 2020 and Feb 2021. It was a total carnage. What is left is pitiful. Not the place to be TODAY, and no doubt more layoffs are coming in this ORG as most people have been struggling with their utilization.
If you are supporting AI, which feeds the machine, you most likely still have a future. Otherwise most likely not. Expert labs just doesn’t have the profit margins or utilization that the company wants. The second shoe of the grand re-org is about to drop as the fall plan has been baked.
That group is a complete mess. 4 VPs in 4 years. They know s-h-i-t about running a services organization. Most people have left, and more are leaving every day. Not the group to be in these days. It used to be a great place to work in the past, but no more.
Dead…even the head of Expert Lab has gone.