Over 15,000 jobs were cut, last year, from Global Services as part of a bid to cut annual costs by £1 billion.

Veteran analyst Richard Holway , "We understand that Kelly's appointment is very much to do with beefing up BT GS's large programme management expertise - something they have really needed.

Holway also highlighted Kelly's top level customer relationship expertise, something "that EDS was so good at". However, Holway warned "if Kelly's appointment signalled a return to the previous flawed ambitions of BT GS becoming a global competitor to the likes of IBM Global Services or the new HP services operations."