Reuters switches 15,000 servers from IBM to HP

Reuters has ditched IBM in favour of HP for 15,000 servers - using electronic auctions to get the best price.

Greg Meekings, CIO at Reuters, speaking at The Economist CIO and IT directors' summit in London, said the move is part of the company's strategy to simplify and standardise its IT infrastructure.

"You can now have any server you want as long as it's HP," he said.

The switch was revealed during a CIO debate on managing the company's technology portfolio.

Meekings said Reuters now has just three main IT suppliers - Oracle, Siebel and Microsoft - and it still continues to use IBM in other areas of the infrastructure.

"I am a strong advocate for simple business processes and standardising. That allows you to buy software off the shelf and have few suppliers. But you do pay a price for that in dependency."

He said he had to work hard at convincing the sales teams of the long-term benefits during the massive and heavily customised rollout of Siebel's customer relationship management software.

Bryan Jones, CIO at Allied Domecq, said IT needs to be elevated to the top level of the business to get a "holistic" view, while good governance enables a company to manage globally by having one person accountable in each area.

"Principles drive policy and practice," he said.

Jones also consolidated 40 contracts into one with key partner AT&T. Jones now sits on AT&T's global advisory board.

When it comes to dealing with suppliers, Meekings dismissed the suggestion that price is low on the list of deciding factors.

"Price is the determiner. We choose a shortlist of companies we believe can deliver. We get the best price."