Demand grows in HK and Asia for I.T.-MANAGED services

The past twelve months have been tough for many organizations. Faced with a weak global economy and an increasingly competitive marketplace, enterprises across various sectors are leaning towards trimming expenditure on information technology as they strive to keep operating costs low and reduce capex.

Amid this backdrop of challenges in the operating environment, demand for IT managed services has been steadily increasing, as enterprises realize the potential to increase productivity while minimizing risks and reducing costs. In Hong Kong alone, the predicted growth rate for these services through 2012 to 2013 is 8-9%, according to IDC.

Increasing agility, lowering costs

IT managed services is an area in which Fujitsu Hong Kong has extensive experience, ranging from managed data centers and migration services, to end user services and infrastructure support.

Derek Yiu, General Manager, Solutions and Services Business at Fujitsu Hong Kong, points to many factors fuelling the march of IT managed services, such as customers’ desire for higher levels of service to sharpen their competitive edge, as well as enterprises’ need for improved site effectiveness. Underpinning this is the widespread drive to maximise cost savings by reducing total cost of ownership.

Yiu explains that there has been a noticeable surge in interest for two particular areas of IT managed services – onsite and desktop managed services, and data centre services.

The traditional work environment can result in a tricky equation, namely the upfront and ongoing costs associated with laptop and PC installation and management, compounded by prevailing difficulties surrounding system downtime and support. As such, many organizations are deploying onsite and desktop managed services, specifically leveraging virtualized client infrastructure, to reduce costs, increase productivity and improve operational efficiency.

The number of businesses requesting data centre services is also on the rise as many enterprises seek to embark on a journey into the cloud. Research firm IDC estimates that in Asia Pacific, the cloud market will swell from US$2.9 billion in 2011 to US$32 billion in 2020 at a 31% compound annual growth rate. Again, the potential for significant cost savings and efficiency gains are the key drivers.

Industries as diverse as financial services, telecommunications, supply chain and Macau gaming are all clamoring for data centre and virtualization services given the benefits on offer, from huge scalability to greater control and tighter data security. Companies in these sectors are keen to find cloudbased IT managed services partners who can be the architect, developer and operator of private clouds.

Driving value through effective, efficient and flexible IT services

Yiu says this is an area in which Fujitsu excels. Fujitsu operates more than 100 data centres globally with worldwide service desks that support over 30 languages. Fujitsu is responsible for the integration, enhancement and evolution of IT assets and business applications. Besides, Fujitsu wraps its leading infrastructure products and solutions with world-class data center and managed services to deliver greater value to enterprises across a multivendor environment, Yiu adds.

Fujitsu remains vendor-neutral and implements solutions tailored to suit the specific needs of individual enterprises, offering greater scalability, flexibility, resilience and efficiency. “As Hong Kong serves as a key regional data centre and information hub, Fujitsu leverages global capabilities and best practices coupled with extensive local experience to support multinational companies to design and implement a world-class cloud platform,” Yiu says.

Enterprises from finance, telecom and logistics will increasingly adopt private cloud technologies, including software-as-a-service and infrastructure as-a-service, to enhance customer experience and become more agile. One of the sectors which has benefited from Fujitsu’s expertise is Macau’s gaming industry. As Macau rapidly expands, companies are struggling to find the right candidate to support their IT needs. The IT skills shortage will also haunt companies in Hong Kong and Greater China. As a result, companies are looking to leverage Fujitsu’s expertise in IT managed services to provide them with a robust but easily manageable system, to ensure that the best available technologies are applied in the most appropriate way to enhance business performance.

The path to successful IT transformation

Yiu explains that the heavy cost burden is driving businesses to consolidate their IT systems through virtualization and the cloud to eliminate much of the space and power required, reduce costs and improve IT service levels for business users. A recent study by Forrester has shown that businesses in Asia Pacific and Japan see cloud computing as an integral part of their strategy, with 68% of organizations saying that unless they opt for cloud initiatives, they could fall behind the competition.

In 2013, Yiu says, Fujitsu expects an even greater focus on virtual applications and cloud spending, as enterprises understand the long-term benefits of the cloud. A virtual ecosystem will emerge as virtual appliances gain traction in IT operations, replacing a lot of the physical components. Research firm Gartner has forecast that the worldwide cloud services market will reach US$150.1 billion in 2013 and Fujitsu believes that spending on enterprise class cloud services will increase.

Traditionally, most managed services platforms were designed with the management of remote servers located on a customer’s premises in mind, Yiu explains. But in the age of the cloud, those servers are rapidly being moved, either into a data centre owned by the solutions provider or another facility managed by the hosting provider. In either scenario, the need for users to manage their own servers remotely has been reduced. The only thing that really needs to be remotely managed is the network that provides access to those servers.

The cloud provider is obliged to provide a dependable and seamless data centre operation and uphold enterprise level SLAs. This enables chief information officers to de-risk their IT and focus on higher-value work and innovation. Depending on individual business needs, enterprises can adopt IaaS, PaaS, SaaS or even the private cloud.

Yiu says a trustworthy and reliable service provider should study and understand the client’s business needs, facilitate change management and customize the most suitable solutions to help the client achieve long-term business success.

FAST FACTS

• Fujitsu is the world’s third-largest IT services provider, with over 170,000 professionals, serving customers in more than 100 countries. As a leader in ICT solutions and services for 78 years, the group pursues strong innovation initiatives to create new value for customers with R&D investment at USD 2.9 billion.

• Operating in Hong Kong for over 50 years, delivering real business value for customers across various industries by combining global expertise with local experience and facilities. The Hong Kong office also serves the Macau market, further extending the outreach of the company’s world-class services and solutions to the gaming and hospitality industries.

• In 1997 and 1998 respectively, Fujitsu Hong Kong merged with ICL Hong Kong, a leading computer hardware and services company, and Amdahl, a well-known mainframe computer provider, further strengthening our capabilities in offering mission-critical solutions and services.

• Fujitsu has established more than 100 data centres globally, exceeding 1 million square feet of raised floor space. Offices have been set up in principal business areas and the service desk centres support over 30 languages, enabling Fujitsu to provide a seamless service to customers worldwide.

• Nominated as the Best Virtual Desktop Solution provider in e-brand Award held by e-zone and Business IT Excellence Award organized by PC Market. These awards recognize outstanding computer and digital products (or services) providers.