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Fujitsu Celebrates 40 Innovative Years in Australia and New Zealand

eBook tells story of evolution, from brash newcomer to industry leader - Fujitsu’s path to success and the strengths underpinning its future

Fujitsu Australia Limited

Sydney, June 28, 2013

Forty years ago, Japanese technology provider Fujitsu arrived in Australia with less than 100 employees. With over 5,000 staff across Australia and New Zealand it is now one of the leading ICT vendors, and continues to experience strong year-on-year growth. From the outset, Fujitsu’s business approach created waves in the local market and it continues to take market share from other major technology players.

As one of a select few enterprise mainframe vendors to have thrived and survived in Australia from the early 70s, the Fujitsu story is an important one that has helped to shape the Australian and New Zealand ICT landscape.

To record its achievements, Fujitsu has created an eBook, The First 40 Years, written by renowned industry watcher Graeme Philipson. The book covers the highlights from the company’s Australasian activities and the strong links to its Japanese heritage. It also provides an insight into the strengths that will carry the company into the future.

In the foreword to the book, The Hon. Stephen Conroy, former Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, congratulates Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand on its lasting contribution to the Australian ICT industry and the economy, saying: “It is companies like Fujitsu that ensure new technologies and new ways of doing things are introduced into business and our broader society.

“As the National Broadband Network continues to roll out across Australia, I am sure that Fujitsu will continue to adapt to take full advantage of what the NBN has to offer. It is already doing this in the area of cloud computing with its major investments in local data centres and cloud infrastructure. Importantly too, Fujitsu is also an export success with its software development facilities taking Australian innovation to the world.”

Mike Foster, Chief Executive Officer of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, said: “The First 40 Years truly captures how Fujitsu delivers on its commitments. We are proudly one of Fujitsu’s most successful subsidiaries and have a firmly embedded culture that is determined to satisfy the evolving technology and service needs of our customers.

“While we have achieved many firsts in our 40 years in this region, the one that is helping to drive our current business success is our early investment in cloud and data centre infrastructure. We have built an industrial-strength cloud offering delivered from both coasts of Australia serving the needs of many high-profile customers. We are capitalising on this early success in cloud and extending our offerings in areas of mobility and virtual end-user computing to satisfy the growing demand from our customers in this area.”

Firsts and highlights from The First 40 Years (www.fujitsu.com/au/history)

Fujitsu has made significant contributions to the Australian ICT marketplace and to the local economy and society:

  • Fujtsu’s 2009 acquisition of KAZ was one of the largest deals of its kind in Australian ICT history, and instantly made Fujitsu a major services player.
  • Fujitsu was the first vendor to provide a contract with a guaranteed uptime.
  • In 1991 the DRIVES system at the NSW RTA was the largest commercial Unix site in the world, running on Fujitsu mainframes.
  • In 1986 Fujitsu sold a game-changing research supercomputer to ANU, the first supplied outside Japan; in 2012 Fujitsu sold another supercomputer to ANU which will take Australia’s research to new levels in areas such as weather and climate modelling, computational chemistry, particle physics, astronomy, material science, microbiology, nanotechnology and photonics.
  • The Australian Bureau of Statistics still refers to Fujitsu as a partner even though the ABS retired its mainframe in 2006. Fujitsu’s historic 1977 ABS tender win marked a new era in enterprise systems in Australia with a large deal on a global scale.
  • Fujitsu took its competition by surprise with a provocative exhibition at Brisbane’s Expo 88, winning the Golden Platypus award for best stand at the show.
  • Fujitsu Australia Software Technology (FAST) was the first major vendor software development centre in Australia.
  • Fujitsu was one of the first companies to invest in cloud in this region. Fujitsu announced its cloud offering in 2010 and has to date completed a total data centre infrastructure spend of approximately A$170 million.

Investment in local expertise

Fujitsu Australia & New Zealand has been a proving ground for Fujitsu technologies, concepts and people. In what was a revolutionary approach for most international vendors, Fujitsu empowered its Australia/New Zealand subsidiary by employing local management talent to build deep relationships with its customers. The history book identifies many instances where Fujitsu technologies were proven in this region before being adopted by other countries. For Fujitsu, the Australia and New Zealand region has also been a launch pad for global talent. Many of Fujitsu’s global executives have spent time in the local subsidiary, including President of International Business Rod Vawdrey, who is a former CEO of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand.

Underpinning continuing customer support and growth, the company has hired in excess of 800 people in Australasia in the last two years. Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand is also able to leverage Fujitsu’s international expertise from its workforce of over 170,000 people worldwide.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 170,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.4 trillion yen (US$47 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013.
For more information, please see: : fujitsu.com

About Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand

Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand is a leading service provider of business, information technology and communications solutions. As the third largest ICT Company in the Australian and New Zealand marketplace, we partner with our customers to consult, design, build, operate and support business solutions. From strategic consulting to application and infrastructure solutions and services, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand have earned a reputation as the single supplier of choice for leading corporate and government organisations. Fujitsu Australia Limited and Fujitsu New Zealand Limited are wholly owned subsidiaries of Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702).
For more information, please see: : fujitsu.com.au

Collin Duff-Tytler

Phone: Phone: +61 2 9113 9346
Mobile: Mobile: +61 409 953 349
E-mail: E-mail: collin.duff-tytler@au.fujitsu.com
Company:Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand
Marketing Programs and Communications Manager

Date: 28 June, 2013
City: Sydney
Company: Fujitsu Australia Limited, Fujitsu Australia Limited