Fujitsu's management would like the international markets to see the organisation as a credible alternative to US companies.
Executive vice-chairman Saturo Hayashi, delivering a keynote address yesterday morning, at the VISIT 2009 conference in Munich, Germany, stated that Fujitsu has the second-longest history as a global IT infrastructure company, having been founded in 1935.
Despite having had a “terrible” year, due to the global economic downturn and the conclusion of its joint venture with Siemens, Hayashi pointed out that Fujitsu has put a strong emphasis on research and development (R&D), as it moves forward. The company has about 34 000 registered patents and this number is set to increase, he noted.
Annually, Fujitsu spends about 5.4% of its annual revenue on R&D - about $2.6 billion - and has already landed several deals that leverage its R&D capabilities.
Hayashi stated the company will supply servers for the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's supercomputer, which will go online in 2010.
Other innovative R&D, said Hayashi, saw the company develop a submarine transmission device, which facilitates communication between different continents and is sometimes submerged up to 8 000m deep. “The requirement is, therefore, no failures for 40 years.”
Hayashi also pointed out that other innovations driven by Fujitsu include the mouse with PalmSecure, which is a contactless authentication device; and the ENON service robot, which not only serves tea, but can transport goods and perform security patrols. In addition, the company's Primergy TX120 server produces only 32 decibels of noise and is designed with green IT in mind.
Fujitsu CEO and president Kai Flore, also speaking during the keynote, stated the company is well-known for its R&D capabilities and pointed out that it has several “strong” manufacturing sites. Its main manufacturing site is in Augsburg, Germany, where the company produces servers, desktops and storage products.
An innovation centre, to support Fujitsu's cloud computing capabilities, is being developed in Munich, and the company is building Europe's largest data centre (12 000m2 in area) in Augsburg.
“There will be no removal of the company to Japan. It will stay close to its customers,” said Flore, adding that Fujitsu is not seeking to be a centralised company, but to build up a network of partnerships - or alliances - with specialist businesses.
This has already borne fruit as, said Flore, the company experienced a multitude of challenges during the past year and turned to its partners to identify and resolve these challenges.
“Fujitsu used to be a company that was engaged in products and services, but has now extended its portfolio to dynamic infrastructure. This was something that the JV [with Siemens] did not allow.'
Its focus on dynamic infrastructure has seen Fujitsu seek to conclude global alliances with companies that would allow it to deliver best of breed solutions to its customers.
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