Schiphol Group

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Schiphol Group

“It is essential for us that Fujitsu adopts a proactive attitude, and takes the viewpoint that prevention is better than cure. That is the key to success.” Kees Jans - Chief Information Officer (CIO) / General Manager ICT, Schiphol Group

Customer Challenge

Schiphol Group is an owner and operator of airports. In the Netherlands, the Group runs four airports: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam Airport, Lelystad Airport, and Eindhoven Airport. In addition, it also develops so-called ‘AirportCities’; dynamic junctions of air, rail and road connections, where people and companies, logistic activities and shops, information and entertainment come together and reinforce each other. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is Schiphol Group’s showcase; the AirportCity formula is presented here in its optimum format.

To consolidate and standardise its IT services at the Schiphol location, Schiphol Group decided to outsource the desktop management and help desk support to a professional IT service provider who had, in practice, demonstrated its ability to provide high value support on a large scale. “Important objectives were to improve system availability and increase user satisfaction, in combination with an increase in efficiency and lower costs,” explains Kees Jans, Chief Information Officer (CIO) / General Manager ICT, Schiphol Group.

Fujitsu Solution

In the autumn of 2004, Schiphol Group put together a European tender, in which the greatest importance was attached to the plan of approach and the price to quality ratio of the service provision. Fujitsu came out of this tender as the best potential supplier, and the parties signed a contract for three years, commencing from 1st January 2004, with an option to extend each year for a total of two years. At the end of 2007 this option was removed, and the contract was extended for a further two years.

The main reason Fujitsu was awarded the contract was because of its own clear vision. “We didn’t want a partner who provided us with a choice of various options, but a partner who, on the basis of proven expertise, would be able to convince us that their approach was the best. Therefore, we agreed to contract for remote help desk support, something we initially had our doubts about,” says Kees Jans. “Furthermore, the attitude of Fujitsu towards customers, performance and future developments appealed to us. Fujitsu convincingly proved to have the knowledge and experience to be able to take our IT infrastructure to a higher level.”

The contract comprised three parts. Firstly, the management of all 2,300 desktops at the Schiphol location; secondly, the provision of professional help desk support via a single point of contact (Fujitsu’s International Service Desk in Maarssen); and thirdly, providing, configuring, implementing and maintaining all new desktops, laptops and PDAs required, including the associated Installations,Moves, Adds and Changes (IMACs).

“Fujitsu started with a lot of enthusiasm,” recalls Kees Jans. “The migration of the management activities was carried out within five or six weeks. The next six months following the implementation proved to be a more difficult period, which was not really surprising given the complexity of the location. In close consultation with each other, however, we resolved the difficulties, and since then co-operation has been smooth. All Service Level Agreements (SLAs) related, for example, to response times at the help desk for incidents and changes, are easily being met.”

Also, user satisfaction, a key indicator for the Schiphol Group, related to the accessibility of the help desk and the expertise, speed and friendliness of the help desk employees is better than expected, leading to a number of positive consequences. “ICT is more and more an integral part of the daily operations. Our employees expect the equipment on their desk to be functioning at all times. If this is not the case, it causes frustration and irritation and, furthermore, work comes to a halt,” explains Kees Jans. “By completely outsourcing the management and care of our desktops, we are able to concentrate more on airport specific issues, such as luggage and flight information systems, gate planning and access security.”

As the desktop managed service provided completely meets the high expectations that Schiphol has of its partners, Kees Jans wants, where applicable, to further extend the partnership with Fujitsu. He explains, “For this reason, from 2008 we are also transferring the Internal Sales unit tasks to Fujitsu. This means that all requests from end users for new equipment will now be handled via Fujitsu. Should other possibilities open up in the future, then we would not hesitate to involve Fujitsu in these.”

Benefits to our Customer

Fujitsu’s desktop management, help desk support and IT purchasing services allow Schiphol Group to:

• Concentrate on core activities – the outsourcing of activities that are not directly related to the business means that more time can be spent on airport specific activities
• Improve the availability of desktops – the implementation of tightly defined ITIL processes and procedures, in combination with the solid technical knowledge and training of the Fujitsu employees, con tributes to better desktop availability
• Reduce the number of incidents and calls – reducing the number of incidents has meant that users do not have to call the help desk as frequently
• Increase user satisfaction – the use of Fujitsu’s Sense and Respond methodology means that users are helped quickly and efficiently
• Improve productivity – proactive prevention and more effective management of problems results in fewer interruptions to work and an increase in productivity
• Gain more insight into the IT management costs of desktops – providing an insight into the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the desktop environment is a prerequisite for reducing the cost per desktop
• Rationalise the procurement process – the simplification of purchasing activities (short term and long term items) makes it possible to purchase hardware more cost effectively.

“It is essential for us that Fujitsu adopts a proactive attitude, and takes the viewpoint that prevention is better than cure,” explains Kees Jans. “That is the key to success.”

Our Approach

Fujitsu’s approach is based on its own in-house developed innovative methodology, Sense and Respond, which ensures that the service provision is not static, but dynamic. By translating IT problems into business problems, and by emphasising the prevention of problems instead of the correction of problems, innovations can be continuously applied. This approach guarantees a reliable desktop environment, a more efficient business operation, lower management and support costs, higher productivity and a greater level of customer satisfaction.

“Fujitsu has a wealth of expertise in the delivery of desktop management services and that is of great value to us. Because Fujitsu makes use of a wide range of best practice procedures and is continuously searching for improvements, we are ensured of a smooth running operation and IT management of a high calibre,” states Kees Jans. “Furthermore, Fujitsu helps us not only to improve our skills by freely sharing its knowledge and experience with us, but also to achieve our objectives by regularly providing us with advice.”

Our Expertise

For more than thirty years, Fujitsu has been meeting the needs of customers in various market segments though the services it provides. In so doing, Fujitsu has proved it can deliver management and system integration services that reduce costs, increase productivity and generate an excellent return on investment.

“A reliable IT organisation is an absolute priority for Schiphol Group,” says Kees Jans. “We are, therefore, looking for professional partners, who can not only offer us top level services, but who also have a clear vision of the future, so that we are able to strengthen our position even further. Fujitsu is just such a partner.”