Fujitsu Unicentre

The Challenge

Prior to 1999 the desktop and server environment of Fujitsu (then ICL) was managed by a number of different vendor products with disparate solutions for security, server management, software delivery and inventory management. Fujitsu experienced problems with the decentralised approach including escalating costs, limited monitoring and control, duplication of staff duties and training costs.

Fujitsu identified that there were potential savings of £2.8 million over three years if this complex, multi-vendor solution was removed and the company standardised on Computer Associates’ (CA) enterprise management tool Unicenter and its eTrust Antivirus solution.

The Solution

As part of the process of reintegrating its businesses and standardising the way it manages its own IT infrastructure Fujitsu chose to deploy the following CA solutions:

• Unicenter NSM with appropriate agents - permits Fujitsu to proactively manage its server infrastructure
• Unicenter Software Delivery - enables Fujitsu to install, configure and de-install software throughout the enterprise from a centralised point of control
• Unicenter Asset Management - allows Fujitsu to fully account for corporate IT assets, including hardware, network and software inventory information
• eTrust Antivirus - provides Fujitsu with complete virus protection, including automatic signature file updates and an enforced antivirus security policy.

The Benefits

Marc Silvester, Corporate Technology Officer, Fujitsu Services, says, “Fujitsu recognised that CA’s Unicenter and eTrust solutions are market leaders in terms of range and sophistication of facilities and the number of different platforms supported. By choosing Unicenter and eTrust Antivirus we believe that any additions we make to our continually expanding IT infrastructure can be managed and secured as part of an integrated whole.”

By standardising on CA Unicenter and eTrust Antivirus Fujitsu has achieved cost savings of up to £2.8 million through centralised systems administration, improved staff efficiency, reduced support costs, and improved effectiveness due to less downtime and user intervention following new virus attacks. The proactive management of critical business servers and Microsoft Exchange email systems has also improved their manageability and availability by ten percent.

"We are delighted with the cost savings that CA’s Unicenter and eTrust are bringing to Fujitsu, and we anticipate a return on investment within the next fifteen months," comments Marc Silvester.

The Implementation

Fujitsu consultants undertook a major design and deployment planning project before CA’s solutions were rolled out across Fujitsu’s UK IT environment, comprising of almost 12,000 desktops and laptops and in excess of 1,280 servers in 86 different office locations. Of the 12,000 desktops, 1,000 are home-based workers and 6,000 are mobile workers who have no dedicated office location.

"CA’s solutions have delivered immediate benefits to Fujitsu. The company has reduced management costs through centralised administration, as a result of minimising the need to visit individual desktops for routine management and asset registry of our environment, and we are able to manage remote computers as if they are on a local network," says Tom Roche, Alliances Director, Fujitsu Services.

The Expertise

For over ten years CA and Fujitsu have been strategic partners in the areas of enterprise management, storage and security. Through their close working relationship, more and more customers are experiencing the benefits of centralised IT infrastructure management, including improved reliability and reduced costs.

"We are delighted with the cost savings that CA’s Unicenter and eTrust are bringing to Fujitsu." Marc Silvester – Corporate Technology Officer, Fujitsu Services