Multinational oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has finally announced the completion of a three-way outsourcing deal for its technology and telecoms infrastructure, valued at more than $4 billion. The announcement ends months of rumour and speculation about the terms of the deal and its impact on IT employees.

As expected, the networking and telecoms component is going to AT&T for $1.6 billion; the hosting and storage deal has been clinched by Deutsche Telekom enterprise subsidiary T-Systems for $1 billion; and the $1 billion computing services and operational integration contract has gone to EDS.

"Partnering with EDS, T-Systems and AT&T gives us greater ability to respond to the growing demands of our businesses. It allows Shell IT to focus on information technology that drives competitive position in the oil and gas market, whilst suppliers focus on improving essential IT capability," said Shell CIO Alan Matula.

Shell expects to keep layoffs to a minimum, it said in the announcement on 31st March, with 3,000 staff going to the outsourcers, and most of the remaining internal teams remaining with Shell.

The T-Systems element of the deal sees the company take over the infrastructure and IT staff of Shell’s global datacentres including three in the Netherlands and one in both the US and Malaysia. T-Systems will move its U.S. headquarters to Houston, and integrate approximately 900 Shell specialists into its ranks.

"We are delighted that Shell rewarded our commitment to their global IT needs with the largest contract in today’s market. We see their complex environment of over 7,400 application servers as an exciting challenge. This is true global delivery", says Reinhard Clemens, T-Systems’ CEO.