Fujitsu Siemens Computers has launched a strategic initiative that enables companies to undertake IT consolidation projects by supporting them with innovative finance packages.
Speaking on the eve of a seminar focusing on the trend towards IT consolidation, Ian Stewart, EMEA Director of Enterprise Initiatives, announced the fusion consolidation initiative.
"We recognise that migrating to a new architecture is a complex undertaking. The fusion approach requires a significant mindset shift from an investment model to one where technology is seen as a utility. Our finance packages are designed to enable consolidation through removing obstacles such as the existing investment in inefficient assets," says Stewart.
The need for consolidation is driven out of the legacy of client server computing, where companies typically run one application on each server.
"In the past, companies were typically just throwing hardware at IT problems. In today`s environment, with IT budgets under increasing pressure, companies demand increased efficiency from their IT departments. Consolidation is the solution, but the catch-22 is that there is typically a lack of funds to achieve this. This is once again where our innovative finance packages come into play.
"IT consolidation is a major issue for today`s IT management and is set to remain one of the key items on their agendas until at least 2005. Consolidation not only addresses and repairs legacy problems within companies, it provides a solid, future-proof platform on which the company can deploy new applications that support business growth.
"The typical perception of consolidation is that it entails the replacement of many small servers with fewer large servers. This has its place, but Fujitsu Siemens Computers offers real differentiation in its choice of industry standard platforms upon which companies can build the optimum infrastructure. We advocate a process of assessing the company`s infrastructure as the starting point of any consolidation project. Through our experience in this approach, we have assisted companies to reap cost savings of between 15% and 30%."
Consolidation centres mainly on server hardware, storage systems and management processes, but can be extended to embrace applications, databases, networks and business processes. Our fusion consolidation initiative combines best in class servers, storage, professional services and innovative financing to deliver the fastest return on investment. Through our fusion campaign, we have successfully delivered consolidation benefits to several large corporate clients across Europe," says Stewart.
"Through the latest developments in our business critical computing portfolio, we have the capability to deliver consolidation platforms across all computing environments. Our platform consolidation approach is broad in scope and deals with the complexities of today`s server and storage landscape. This approach reduces complexity and minimises support overheads through standardising on fewer hardware architectures, fewer operating systems, and by implementing networked storage. It has enabled organisations to significantly cut administration, software licence and maintenance costs."
Platform consolidation delivers increased availability, reduces planned downtime, allows automated backup and restore and enables consistent disaster recovery. This means better service levels with users enjoying improved productivity through increased uptime.
In SA to share his knowledge and expertise in the consolidation arena, Stewart is of the opinion that it is not an issue of whether a company should look into consolidation, it is a matter of when. "The sooner an assessment is conducted and a project is commissioned and implemented, the sooner the company will start reaping the rewards."
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