Unisys Corporation has revealed that Bytes Technology Group has chosen the Edge Service Management solution from Unisys to provide IT support services across various divisions within the group and to its major customers.
In a press statement, Bytes says it chose the cloud-based Edge solution to consolidate the management of IT systems and delivery of support services for its 41 business units and a number of its existing managed-services customers across Africa.
The company will also use Edge to provide a standardised approach to IT service management (ITSM) for new customers across the region.
Unisys will implement Edge at Bytes' operations centre in Johannesburg so the company can deliver the new solution to its business units and customers as a private cloud service to replace a wide range of incumbent ITSM solutions. By moving to an on-demand, subscription-based ITSM solution, Bytes expects to streamline its services delivery and reduce costs associated with maintaining disparate service desks.
"CIOs today must provide services that enable individual workers to do their jobs more efficiently, avoid down time and drive revenue by improving customer service," says Rob Griggs, MD of Bytes Systems Integration at Bytes Technology Group.
"We believe that Unisys' Edge solution gives us and our customers a standards-based solution that can be implemented quickly, managed consistently and expanded easily to address those crucial business challenges."
Experts from the Unisys ITSM Advisory Practice will implement the Edge solution for Bytes and assist in the transitioning of current and future Bytes customers. The Advisory Practice will also provide training as new capabilities are added to the Edge platform.
Paul Gleeson, global vice president, Edge Services and Client Experience, Unisys, says: "With its pre-built components and cloud-based access, along with Unisys' services delivery expertise, Edge enables Bytes and its customers to realise the operational and cost benefits of ITSM more quickly than they could with competing solutions. Plus, they will be able to add new services quickly and easily to keep pace with continually evolving business requirements."
In an interview with ITWeb, Allan Wattrus, director for outsource optimisation at Bytes, noted that Bytes is the exclusive distributor for Unisys in SA and designated African territories. This appointment came about as part of the sale of Unisys Africa (which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Unisys corporation) to Bytes Technology Group, he explains.
Wattrus added that Bytes is a level 2 BBEEE company and the Bytes instance of Edge is 100% South African.
"The cloud offering is hosted in a high security facility owned by Bytes and located east of Sandton. This gives our clients the assurance that their data is in a secure environment that is trusted even by the top financial institutions in this country. Data sovereignty is a serious consideration that Bytes has taken into account," says Wattrus.
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