Shake-Up Expected At Olsy Sale Of Local Operations To Wang Portends Changes

The just completed purchase of Olsy North American by Wang Laboratories Inc. portends a shake-up at Olsy’s Liberty Lake operations, but how sweeping the changes is not yet known, spokesman Leonard Salvaggio said Tuesday.

Wang and Olsy officials met with workers last week to discuss the $390 million deal’s implications, he said.

Although the review of the combined companies is ongoing, Salvaggio said, “The company is committed to having a significant Spokane presence.”

Olsy employs 450 in Spokane, of about 1,150 total in North America.

The former subsidiary of Olivetti S.p.A. has 12,000 employees worldwide.

Wang, based outside Boston, employs 8,900, most in North and South America.

The combined companies, which will be renamed Wang Global, specialize in computer services. In addition, Olsy provides computer systems to the banking industry and the McDonald’s restaurant chain.

Salvaggio said banking systems, which were the foundation of Olsy when it was founded as ISC Systems Inc. in the late 1970s, will likely remain in Spokane.

The company continues to advertise openings in those operations, he noted, adding “We’re still very committed to the banking industry.”

Banking systems contributed 70 percent of total revenues in 1997, the first profitable year for the company since 1990.

In recent years, Olsy has rapidly expanded into providing support and desk help for a variety of clients, including Hughes Electronics.

When problems occur, dispatchers based in Spokane take the service calls and notify crews scattered all over the nation.

Salvaggio said Wang is testing a new dispatch system overseas and no decision has been made on where to position such a system in the U.S.

Salvaggio said Wang, with a similar network, and Olsy are looking for ways to consolidate crews at a single leased site in communities where their systems overlap.

General and administrative services, as well as information services, are also candidates for streamlining, he said.

Salvaggio said executives are reassessing the future of Olsy’s 300,000-square-foot facility at Liberty Lake. Officials had decided against a sale last summer, he said, but Wang has a policy of not owning real estate.

If restructuring of the Spokane operations makes a move to smaller quarters possible, the company could move or lease some of its existing space if the building is sold, he said.

, DataTimes