To: D&B GTO U.S.

Subject: Offshore development

Dear all,

As the business world around us becomes more and more competitive, large companies such as ours must find new ways to become more nimble and flexible to be able to respond more quickly to the competitive environment. We must sharpen our focus on our core competencies and move to outsource work that can be done more efficiently by others. GTO's strategic value lies in the expertise we offer our business partners in how to effectively use technology to solve business problems.

In the second half of 1999, we began to look seriously at the possibility of off-shoring both software development and application maintenance as a means to reduce the cost structure of GTO. By moving to this type of model, we can become a more flexible organization by adding or reducing resources based on business needs. As we move to a more variable resourcing strategy that includes work being done at off-shore development centers, the skills desired and roles required within GTO will change. Changing our operational model in this way will create new opportunities for individuals within GTO who have the skills to be business analysts, designers, architects, project leaders, quality assurance analysts and other roles with greater business impact.

We've chosen two organizations to assist us in this endeavor - WIPRO Infotech and Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS). These vendors have established Off-shore Development Centers (ODCs) in India where they build and support software for many large corporations such as ours. Over the course of the next year, these two organizations will become extensions to the GTO organization. We've asked them to assist us in determining the priority in which systems will be moved off-shore. In order to facilitate this prioritization, representatives of both companies are meeting with application development and support teams to understand our applications. I ask that you consider them as members of our team and give them your full cooperation during this analysis. In the future, project teams will be composed of a mix of D&B resources, on-shore resources from these firms, as well as off-shore resources in India. Within our model, all parties will work under the guidance and direction of the Program Manager as I outlined to you in a recent communication.

Marcia Hopkins has been named the Program Manager for this strategic initiative. She is tasked with creating the overall plan for implementing the off-shore model in GTO. By end of the first quarter, she will set the priority for off-shoring existing application support, maintenance and new software development. In addition, she will define the infrastructure elements (the "factory") required to successfully manage resources in India as part of our development teams and develop the plan for implementing those elements. Finally, the off-shore program plan will address the "people" elements of this transition including: identifying the roles needed to support the new model, inventorying the skills and roles that exist today versus those required in the future and defining the process for transitioning work from employees to off-shore consultants in cases where that makes business sense.

The process of moving work to the ODCs will begin in April and continue throughout the next eighteen months. I know that you must be wondering "what happens if my job gets transferred to the ODC?" 

I assure you that these decisions will not be made lightly. Decisions to move work off-shore will be made after careful analysis of the business situation and will only be done in cases that make business sense. If your current role is to be impacted, you will be provided with notice to begin retraining or to interview for other internal positions. Should no suitable alternative exist for you at the time your application/project moves off-shore, severance benefits will be provided to you under the Career Transition Plan.

Your continued commitment and dedication are necessary to ensure a smooth transition to this new model. I thank you in advance for your support & cooperation and we will continue to update you with more specifics of the program as they evolve. In the interim, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact your manager, Marcia Hopkins or Jean Chesterfield.

Elahe