Fujitsu Siemens Computers has launched a finance package aimed at assisting companies wanting to undertake IT consolidation projects.
IT consolidation is set to remain a key issue for IT management until at least 2005, says Ian Stewart, Fujitsu Siemens director of enterprise initiatives for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Stewart, who is speaking at a seminar on the subject in Midrand today, says the need for consolidation is driven out of the legacy of client service 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."
Stewart says while consolidation is the solution, there is typically a lack of funds to achieve this.
Fujitsu Siemens has launched a fusion consolidation initiative to allow companies to undertake such projects by supporting them with finance packages.
In essence, Fujitsu Siemens will buy companies` equipment at book value, then lease it back to them while providing services aimed at computing on demand. The equipment is later replaced with new equipment and after three years customers can choose whether to renew their contract.
"We recognise that migrating to a new architecture is a complex undertaking," Stewart says. "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."
He says while the replacement of many small servers with fewer large servers has its place, Fujitsu Siemens offers differentiation in its choice of industry standard platforms on which companies can build the best infrastructure.
Stewart says platform consolidation delivers increased availability, reduces planned downtime, allows automated backup and enables consistent disaster recovery, which means better service levels.
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