Fujitsu expands business application capabilities with acquisition of Atos Origin Australia

Sydney, October 21, 2004

Fujitsu Australia Limited today announced the acquisition of the Australian operations of Atos Origin. Globally, Atos Origin is a €5-billion (A$8.5 billion)-a-year, Paris-based provider of business application and IT outsourcing services.

The acquisition signals the next phase in Fujitsu's campaign to position itself as the preferred technology partner for enterprises that use information technology to drive business transformation. It strengthens Fujitsu's end-to-end capabilities in packaged business software solutions and managed services.

"Business transformation is about speed and agility, so enterprise applications like SAP are critical to the future competitiveness of most complex organisations," said Fujitsu Australia Chief Executive Officer Rod Vawdrey.

"Increasingly our customers are looking to Fujitsu to provide applications expertise in addition to our proven capabilities in strategic consulting, systems integration and infrastructure management. Acquiring Atos Origin's Australian operation represents an immediate and dramatic expansion in the scope of Fujitsu's services."

Mr Vawdrey said the award-winning local operation of Atos Origin was acknowledged as one of the most capable and pragmatic SAP partners in Asia Pacific.

"Atos Origin Australia has a proven track record of delivering results and achieving them much quicker than its competitors. That's what our customers are demanding. That's why we went after this company," he said.

The Atos Origin SAP team recently won recognition when it was named by SAP as having delivered the 'Best ERP Implementation for 2003' in conjunction with its client Airservices Australia.

"I can understand why Fujitsu would value Atos Origin's results-based approach that was in evidence during our wide-ranging, successful 22-month SAP implementation project," said Airservices Australia's Program Manager, Graham Beer.

According to the July 2003 report, Should Firms Outsource ERP Apps?, from Forrester Research, "companies are exploring applications outsourcing at higher rates than ever before." This reflects both the maturity of the application platforms themselves and increasing customer interest in the cost-efficiencies offered by application outsourcing.

The strengthening of Fujitsu Australia's enterprise solutions capabilities across SAP and other specialised application platforms enables local customers to take full advantage of the global relationship between SAP and Fujitsu, the world's third-largest IT services organisation.

One early example of the benefits of this alliance is Fujitsu's FlexFrame solution, which has been shown to reduce the cost of SAP deployments by more than 35 per cent.

"Speed, agility and lower cost - it's a very compelling equation for our customers," Mr Vawdrey said.

A boost to managed services

The acquisition further strengthens Fujitsu's capabilities in managed services and IT infrastructure outsourcing. Atos Origin Australia currently provides managed business application services from a state-of-the-art data centre in Melbourne. This data centre will provide a valuable addition to Fujitsu's world-class Internet Data Centre in Sydney.

"Our combined managed services capacity provides cost-effective application and infrastructure outsourcing options for companies that want to lower the cost of packaged software," said Mr Vawdrey. "That's great news for our clients."

Strong management continuity and cultural alignment

Atos Origin Australia Managing Director, Jean-Pierre Deruddere, will join Fujitsu as Executive General Manager, Enterprise Solutions, reporting directly to Mr Vawdrey.

Mr Deruddere said he was excited by the opportunity for Atos Origin staff to work with their Fujitsu colleagues to provide customers with a complete and compelling range of services.

"There is a strong cultural alignment between Fujitsu and Atos Origin," said Mr Deruddere. "That will ensure a smooth transition process for our staff and seamless service for our clients. The end result is a vastly expanded range of integrated business services for enterprise customers."

Mr Vawdrey said continuity of service to existing Atos Origin customers was a priority, backed by the depth and capability of Fujitsu in Australia and New Zealand. "With more than 2,600 people delivering services from consulting through to application, technology and infrastructure services, the addition of Atos Origin positions Fujitsu to offer true end-to-end services for its customers," he said.