Computacenter deal makes Ballmer super-excited

Computacenter announced this morning an alliance with Microsoft that will create 1,000 new jobs. Financial details of the alliance remain secret, but it's a nice deal for Computacenter, and not very good news for its competitors. Of the 1,000 new jobs, to be created over a three-year period, there will be 900 in the UK (half in the south-east), with the remainder being in France and Germany. This, in fact, represents a slow-down in recruitment, since Mike Norris, Computacenter's CEO, said that in the first half of 1998, Computacenter added 626 jobs and expected to add another 500 to 600 in the second half, making more than 1,000 jobs this year.