[alanbyrne]

> IBM when it takes over operations often hires the IT staff of the firm it is taking over operations from and runs systems on multiple-year contracts.

I've seen this happen many times and it's always been successful. They can replicate the business processes they've honed over time whilst keeping that important business knowledge. It's also often better for the staff as they can hand off that knowledge and move internally within IBM to new and more challenging roles without switching employers.

[gaius]

I've seen this happen too. But people who wanted to work for company X for whatever reason, not for IBM (or whoever).

Now they work for IBM, and all the things they did above-and-beyond their job description are now billable. Now their incentive isn't to help company X that they wanted to work for, but to screw company X for every nickel-and-dime because that's where their new employer's revenue comes from. And they know all the skeletons in the closet and all the pain points.

Stab good people in the back and you make powerful enemies, the managers of all the company X's out there never learn this lesson.

[justinclift]

Interesting. In IT circles IBM is generally regarded as "worst of class", due to continual waves of firing competent employees, outsourcing, and many other dodgy practises. A recent example (there are many, many more):

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/26/ibm_asks_contractor...

[davidf18]

May 5, 2017: Warren Buffett selling his stake in IBM. http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/05/cramer-warren-buffetts-decisi...

Also May 27, 2017 https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/27/is-management-real...