Fujitsu Wins GSM Retail Contract; Completes Fastest Deployment of SAP in ANZ

Sydney, December 04, 2007

Fujitsu Australia & New Zealand completed deployment of an integrated SAP-based ERP solution across 20 new GSM Retail sites in just nine weeks. The first retail site went live only four weeks into the project, which is a record delivery timeframe for an SAP project in Australia and New Zealand.

The final integrated solution encompasses all the core business functionality for the entire organisation, including modules for operations, sales, inventory and procurement, along with complete financials. The SAP system provides a complete, unified view of all business transactions and relationships to support GSM Retail in growing the enterprise.

A national reseller of Vodafone mobile solutions, GSM Retail went to market in July 2007 with an urgent requirement to support 20 new concept stores with an ERP solution before Christmas. The company chose Fujitsu and its SAP proposal in a competitive tender against Oracle, Microsoft and Netsuite.

The new concept stores are all Vodafone branded retail outlets located nationally within Myer department stores. In addition to the first 20 concept stores opened this year, GSM will continue its aggressive roll out with 30 more stores early next year and thereafter keep pace with Myer’s expansion to 75 stores.

After signing the contract in July, Fujitsu and GSM put the first site into production on 22nd August and finalised the entire roll-out by 28th September.

“We have plans for rapid growth and needed an ERP system that was not only capable of supporting our expansion in the lead-up to Christmas, but also of providing the functionality, flexibility and scalability to handle increasingly diverse business and product streams over time,” said GSM Retail’s Group Financial Controller, Alexis Phitidis.

“We were impressed by Fujitsu’s professionalism, their demonstrable expertise and skills with SAP, and their ability to work with us in meeting our aggressive timeframes with a best practice solution. The team readily adapted to our business requirements to ensure the project was delivered on time, within budget and to the agreed scope. Working with Fujitsu gives us a single point of accountability for the software, hardware and services relating to our ERP system,” he said.

“Despite the short time frame, we did not compromise on the quality of the solution and worked closely with Fujitsu to deliver a reliable foundation using a staged approach to mitigate material risk. Due to successful implementation and proven stability of the system with the new stores, we brought forward the planned conversion of our existing stores. We now have an integrated solution across our organisation and are maximising the return on our investment sooner than expected”.

Fujitsu proposed an SAP baseline solution using SAP Best Practice™ building blocks with pre-configured processes installed. This allowed the Fujitsu consultants to leverage existing best-in-class processes and templates to expedite the implementation rather than starting from scratch.

Fujitsu Executive General Manager, Sales, Dan O’Hara said the successful deployment is a strong endorsement of Fujitsu’s knowledge and experience of SAP, and its close partnership with the software vendor both nationally and globally. Fujitsu is an SAP Channel Partner Australia and global Services, Hosting and Technology Partner.

“The project involved a high degree of consultation and adaptation to meet GSM Retail’s demanding requirements. As a mobile solutions provider, GSM Retail has to manage a very complex matrix of pricing plans and service options for customers. Our ability to manage that within the core product was definitely a major strength.”

As a result of its successful delivery of the initial implementation, Joe Landsman, CEO of the GSM Retail Group, has commissioned Fujitsu to further expand its solution footprint in New Zealand, Fiji and Japan.