It's the areas of applications and project delivery where Carline will turn his attention to next.

"We have a portfolio I can't handle internally, so we will look at this over the next one or two years," he said.

Carline said the industry shift towards selective sourcing involves a balancing act between driving competition and not having a multitude of suppliers.

"I want to count them on one hand," he said. "You need to develop personal relationships with suppliers - from the [chief executive officer] to the staff at coalface [and] IBM knows about our business."

Carline also recommends flexibility in contracts and acceptance that deals will evolve over time.