ICL becomes Fujitsu

Johannesburg, 03 Nov 2004

As part of an ongoing three-year process, Fujitsu subsidiary ICL, which has operated in SA since 1911, has completed its rebranding to that of its parent company`s name.

According to Fujitsu Services chairman Richard Christou, the image that people have of ICL as a supplier of mainframes and the like is one the company wishes to move away from, as it wants to simply be seen as the local presence of a global multinational.

"The important issue is that Fujitsu does not take lightly to putting its name and branding on a company. It will only take this step if it believes the company and the country it is investing in is worth it, so the rebranding shows how committed we are to SA," he says.

"The rebranding will not only involve a name change, as the local subsidiary will also adopt the Fujitsu core operational model, enabling a standardised delivery of the group`s offerings."

He says the Fujitsu group is a technology-rich organisation with plenty to offer the market, and the local subsidiary will be able to leverage off this to help grow the South African business.

"We have already invested in a new call centre in Johannesburg - the first call centre we have opened in the Southern Hemisphere - which has created employment for the previously disadvantaged, and we have plans in place to further grow the call centre," says Christou.

"The group depends on this call centre support to maintain its high level of service to customers in the EMEA region, enabling them in turn to meet the demand of their external customers.

"There are many factors that have influenced this investment, such as the fact that SA has a stable political climate, English as a major language, a time zone comparable to Europe and a large base of people who can be trained up, while the deregulation of the industry will soon help to reduce costs for the centre."

Speaking on the subject of black economic empowerment, Christou says Fujitsu has no problem with the ICT empowerment charter and the company has always been comfortable with the need to adjust to local requirements.

"We are happy to support the charter, although we feel affirmative action has as much of a role to play as having previously disadvantaged shareholders, since this allows you to empower people at all levels and can thus change their lives."

Christou says ICL South Africa was one of the first IT companies to move in this direction through a 40% shareholding that had been negotiated with Thebe Investments in 1997. "Unfortunately, Thebe recently took the decision to withdraw from its non-core activities of which IT was one, but plans are firmly in place to replace Thebe with a suitable partner," he says.