French companies do extensive business in China, the US and Canada, with
a focus on Quebec.Records show that several
large French companies have outsourced some of their IT functions.
Some corporations within France that have engaged
in offshore outsourcing opportunities are Aventis, Alstom, and The New Power
Co.The French company Alstom, made a major deal to outsource to the US firm,
EDS. Alstom, a conglomerate with business units in the energy and transportation
industries, contracted its IT infrastructure and applications services in
14 countries including the US (Computerworld, 36 no.48).Aventis SA, a company
formed from the merger of Hoeschst AG and Rhone-Poulenc SA, outsourced their
mainframe and maintenance support for desktops and servers, help desk and
Internet operations to IBM Global services. IBM has also signed a deal to
provide Web hosting and infrastructure services to The New Power Co., a
nationwide energy provider launched by a Houston-based Enron Corp. IBM will
also support the Strasbourg, France-base pharmaceutical and life sciences
firm’s IT infrastructure with telecommunications and network services.
(ComputerWorld, 36 no. 48) It is apparent that France has experimented in
the arena of outsourcing services to obtain better quality from well known
US consulting firms.
Offshore Opportunity