Fujitsu America: created to deliver true end-to-end IT solutions
On April 1, 2009, Fujitsu America begins operations, led by President and CEO Farhat Ali. The new business unit of Fujitsu Limited consolidates the application services of Fujitsu Consulting, the system platforms of Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation, and the retailing solutions of Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. under a unified corporate structure. The new company is designed to expand offerings and provide North American clients a single resource for all their computing technology and IT services needs.
The introduction of Fujitsu America creates an agile, local organization that leverages more than 70 years of technology innovation -- including 32,000 patents -- and the fourth largest global IT services firm to deliver to North American clients true end-to-end IT solutions.
According to Farhat Ali, Fujitsu America president and CEO, "Fujitsu America now ranks among the top North American IT services and solutions companies, and we are poised for growth with the addition of a greater range of managed services offerings. Fujitsu America is uniquely positioned in North America, combining the industry-specific solutions, expertise, resources and scale of a global IT leader with the direct accountability, intimacy and responsiveness of a local service provider."
To get all the details about this significant new merger, go to the press release.
The new Fujitsu America organization provides a complete portfolio of business technology services, computing platforms, and industry solutions. Fujitsu platform products are based on scalable, reliable and high-performance server, storage, point-of-sale, and mobile technologies. Fujitsu combines its renowned platform offerings with a full suite of system integration, outsourcing, and datacenter services covering applications, operations, infrastructure, customer service, and multi-vendor lifecycle services. Fujitsu continues to provide industry-specific solutions for retail, manufacturing, healthcare, government, education, financial services, and telecommunications sectors. For more information on Fujitsu America's business scope, visit http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/.
Fujitsu America: combining local sales and services with global support
In a video announcing the new company, Mr. Ali describes the benefits that the new organization provides for North American clients, as well as the positive impact it will have on our global clients. In the video, he emphasizes that our customers will continue to receive the “unparalleled customer service of a localized partner combined with the expertise, resources, and assurances of a global IT leader.” To view the entire video presentation by Mr. Ali, please click on this link.
Fujitsu Siemens integration plan announced
On March 30, Fujitsu held a press conference to outline its strategy for transforming its IA server business and its global business outside Japan through the integration of Fujitsu Siemens Computers into Fujitsu Technology Solutions.
Through this integration, Fujitsu will accelerate the expansion of global Technology Solutions driven by innovative IT services and products.
The press conference was divided into three sections. Kuniaki Nozoe, president of Fujitsu Limited, spoke first on the subject of transforming the Fujitsu business portfolio. In his presentation, Mr. Nozoe explained the growth strategy behind the transformation of Fujitsu Siemens Computers into Fujitsu Technology Solutions. He delivered a shared goal for the entire Fujitsu Group: To double the annual IA server sales to 500, 000 in two years, and to grow the global market share to more than 10% in long term.
Tatsuo Tomita, corporate senior executive vice president of Fujitsu Limited, spoke second. His subject concerned the transformation of the Fujitsu IA server business. Mr. Tomita explained that Fujitsu intends to continue support for a complete server lineup to support the needs of its customers in the long term. He pointed out that Fujitsu is gradually shifting from mainframe/UNIX architecture to Windows/Linux architecture (in alignment with the worldwide trend). Further, he described how the integration of Fujitsu Siemens Computers would result in a strengthening of the Fujitsu IA server business.
The final part of the press conference was a presentation by Richard Christou, corporate first senior vice president of Fujitsu Limited, who spoke on the transformation of the Fujitsu global businesses. He described the plan for building a global server business, and explained that the Global Business Group will be reorganized into four functions: Marketing, Delivery, Client Management, and Finance & Compliance. He finished his presentation by noting that “Fujitsu is expanding its business globally around Technology Solutions driven by platform products and IT services”.
To read the entire presentation or to play streaming audio of press conference, please visit the Integration of Fujitsu Siemens Computers page.
Fujitsu Frontech formed to more closely tie people with IT activities
On March 27, Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Frontech Limited announced that beginning April 2009, the Fujitsu Group will gradually centralize the development and manufacture of technology solutions tying people and IT together, such as point of sales systems, automated ticket vending-refunding machines, RFID tags, and palm vein biometric authentication equipment, into the front-end technology business of Fujitsu Frontech.
In addition, sales and delivery capabilities will be enhanced by augmenting the sales activities of Fujitsu and establishing a new framework within Fujitsu Frontech enabling the development of new areas of business as well as providing customers with fine-tuned support that is responsive to changes in the business environment.
This move will allow the Fujitsu Group to enhance the competitiveness of its products and services through timely decision-making and increased operational efficiency, ensuring that Group can continue to rapidly deliver solutions that serve customer needs.
According to Kuniaki Nozoe, president of Fujitsu Limited: “The products and related services that tie our customers with IT play important roles in helping us realize a rewarding and secure future. By integrating the development and manufacture of key products and related services used in technology solutions within Fujitsu Frontech and enhancing our sales organization, we intend to make our operations more agile and efficient as well as strengthen the competitiveness of our products. These moves are the best way to strengthen the foundations of the Fujitsu Group's Technology Solutions business and deliver high-quality products to customers in a timely fashion.”
To read more about the goals and implementation of the new group, go to the Frontech press release.
BBVA uses Automated Process Discovery to uncover new, detailed process insight
On March 23, Fujitsu announced that the Spain-based global financial services firm, BBVA, has used its Automated Process Discovery service to develop a complete, accurate picture of one of its loan provisioning processes. Using the service, BBVA successfully gained new and detailed insight into existing processes. BBVA gave a presentation on the benefits of the Automated Process Discovery service at the Gartner BPM Summit in San Diego on March 23.
Based on the Fujitsu Business Process Management by Evidence (BPM-e) process mapping and analysis tool, the Automated Process Discovery service quickly reconstructs real-world processes based on factual information, creating a dynamic diagram that can move from high level to detail aiding the analysis of exception paths, repeated steps and loop-backs, transition times between steps, as well as the associated costs. Designed for companies embarking on process improvement and governance initiatives, the Fujitsu Automated Process Discovery service helps enterprises visualize and optimize complex processes. It illuminates exposure to compliance failure, fraud, and other legal and efficiency issues lying hidden in a company's operational workflows. The cost-effective service eliminates labor-intensive exploration that organizations typically require and immediately reveals what often remains completely invisible even after months of work.
To learn more about the APD service in general and the BBVA implementation in particular, please follow this link.
Taming the chaos of your server cabinets
In a recent issue of Processor.com, Christian Perry solicited advice from Richard McCormack, senior vice president of marketing at Fujitsu on tips for organizing server cabinets and eliminating potentially dangerous practices.
McCormack's tips include putting the larger, heavier servers at the bottom, putting highly loaded servers and storage at the bottom, and placing network gear in the middle for easy cable management or on top for top-down data centers. He also explains that KVM switches should be placed in the middle for easy access, while power strips and gear can be in "cubbies" on the sides of the cabinets to reduce cable management problems and how rack dummy panels help avoid hot-aisle/cold-aisle contamination and ensure ventilation and airflow.
To read the entire article with helpful tips from a variety of professionals, go to page 22 of Processor.com.
XBRL highlighted as an important tool for financial reporting
The February issues of IR magazine include a series of articles on the promise and importance of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) tagging and reporting mechanisms for financial reporting. Championed by Fujitsu and mandated by the SEC, XBRL is transforming financial reporting and will do the same for the communications between companies and their investors and analysts.
In "Time is Now," Anna Snider lays out the impact of adopting XBRL: "For filers, a move to XBRL is expected to bring process improvements, and easier and faster compliance. But there is wider potential to use the technology for better analysis of the firm’s own business. If companies don’t look past using XBRL for filing, ‘the big picture is missing,’ says Jaideep Shah, a senior product manager for Fujitsu, which has developed XBRL tools for the market and deployed them in a range of ways for itself."
In "Keeping up with the Joneses," writer Clare Harrison quotes Fujitsu customer John Stantial, assistant controller of financial reporting and analysis at United Technologies Corporation, on how XBRL will eliminate distortions based on inaccurate assumptions about competitive information. "In the past, if we wanted to compare our general and administrative spending to that of our peers without using XBRL, I would have to assume that what we include in general administrative is the same as our competitors, which may or may not be true. Under XBRL, assumptions are not required because the data is tagged using standard tags that apply to everyone and are defined within the taxonomies."
In "XBRL Borders," Fay Sanders quotes Masatomo Goto of the Fujitsu XBRL research team on the delay between XBRL system development and adoption in Japan: "Although the technology has been available in Japan for the past decade, it was better to wait until now, because XBRL only really becomes efficient when other companies begin to use it, too." Today, the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Financial Services Agency in Japan are using Interstage® XWand for their XBRL deployments.
To view the complete series of articles, please visit the XBRL Unlocked index page.