Heinz is going live with a
global videoconferencing roll-out. The deployment has been made
possible by improvements to a corporate-wide converged network that
is already reaping big savings for the food
manufacturer.
The company has been using Cable & Wireless to manage and develop its
network since 2000. In that time, operational running costs have
been reduced by about half, and bandwidth has increased
considerably.
In the past year, Heinz was upgraded by Cable & Wireless
onto a new network configuration to improve localised management of
its voice, data and video traffic across nearly 100 locations.
Chris Middlehurst, head of shared services at Heinz, told
Computer Weekly that the move towards videoconferencing had been
made possible by the maturing of IP technologies.
"As the Cisco technology evolves we are seeing more features
that enable collaboration.
"Webcams are now a very simple add-on, and we are already seeing
big benefits from video collaboration, particularly between
different cultures within the business. The face-to-face meetings
enabled by webcams are improving colloboration as well being cost
effective."
A report by analyst firm Yankee Group found that, since the
converged network's original installation, Heinz has accumulated a
10% operational saving from the European network alone.
Middlehurst said videoconferencing would be particularly helpful
to Heinz because it is pursuing an acquisitive strategy. The drive
for new businesses has led the company to expand into countries
including China.
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