BT: 'Web services are our future'

BT has announced a major internal reorganisation aimed at making it easier for the company to develop and roll out web-based services.

Two new business units have been formed in the reorganisation. BT Design will be responsible for designing and developing new services that can be deployed over the 21st Century Network (21CN) - the new national broadband infrastructure that BT is implementing. BT Operate will be responsible for the testing, deployment and operation of the services themselves.

This is the second phase of BT's transformation... It will see BT advance from a 20th century hardware-based company to a 21st century software-based services company.

-- Ben Verwaayen, chief executive, BT

Around 20,000 employees will be moved from other departments into the new business units. The reorganisation will entail no job losses, according to a BT spokesperson.

BT's chief executive, Ben Verwaayen, said: "This is the second phase of BT's transformation. The first phase saw BT shift its focus from narrowband to broadband. This next stage is equally important. It will see BT advance from a 20th century hardware-based company to a 21st century software-based services company."

In a software-driven world, he said, services would be "available in real-time and around the globe, harnessing the potential of BT's 21st Century Network".

Andy Green has become the chief executive of group strategy and operations, and is effectively now in charge of overseeing both BT Design and BT Operate. Previously the chief executive of BT Global Services, Green has been replaced in that capacity by Francois Barrault, formerly president of BT International.

BT's spokesperson said the reorganisation would not affect BT's customers in the sense of who they deal with: "All the customer-facing lines of business stay exactly where they are, keeping all the accountability and responsibility for their customers." The spokesperson added the move had been designed to make BT "nimbler and speedier".

David Meyer writes for ZDNet UK