Fujitsu is marrying its Fujitsu Technology Solutions with its
Amdahl IT Services arm in an attempt to combine its open systems
server and storage expertise with a full range of IT
services.
The new entity, also called Fujitsu Technology Solutions, will
offer its customers high-end hardware vendor skills from companies
combined with project services and managed services to enable an
"adaptive enterprise", Larry Fillmer, president and CEO of Fujitsu
Technology Solutions said. The company plans to wrap non-hosted
managed services around its Sun Solaris, Unix, Windows NT, and
Intel legacy and Open Systems offerings.
Steve Taylor, director of interactive marketing for technology at
Southwest Airlines, an Amdahl IT Services customer, said the days
of a single-vendor back-end shop are a distant memory. "We have a
very mixed bag when it comes to our computing environment," Taylor
said, referring to the airline's Sun, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and
Compaq systemsr. "Even if [managed service providers] are not
replacing the machine with one of their own, if they can bring
talent to a problem you're having, then that's [adding] value to
the relationship," he said.
Bill Gannon, senior vice-president of consulting at Meta Group said
the industry downturn has stimulated interest in the services
space, fuelling growth for IBM Global Services, Electronics Data
Systems and Computer Sciences.
Although the Fujitsu Technology Solutions and Amdahl IT Services
merger does not quite catapult the new company into the top-tier,
Gannon said the move does silence any credibility questions. "A
benefit is they have a track record in a Sun environment," he said.