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Fujitsu boss claims economic downturn could accelerate uptake of e-commerce solutions

Fujitsu Australia Limited

Sydney, April 12, 2001

In an address delivered to an AIIA Business Briefing in Sydney this morning Fujitsu Australia CEO, Phil Kerrigan, said that in the tough times ahead businesses will start to seriously address their e-commerce strategies as they look for new solutions to protect them in the future. He added there are significant productivity improvements to be gained through implementing e-solutions like B2B and Supply Chain Management.

"Suffering some short term pain will give some businesses the 'boot up the bottom line' they need to seriously address an e-commerce strategy," he said.

Mr Kerrigan, one of the keynote speakers at the AIIA's breakfast briefing, spoke about doing business in an uncertain economy. He said while Australian businesses might cut back on IT spending for new business initiatives, they would budget for technology that can reduce costs.

He advised the vendor community to look at the new opportunities the current economy offers and to offer real solutions that address customers' changing requirements, instead of the same old solutions.

"Companies that win in tough times focus on what they can do for their customers to turn potential adversity into opportunity. Some good came out of the dot bombs - it brought people back to reality - it served as a reminder that you do need to focus on revenue, margins and costs in your business. It reminded us that there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - it was just an unsustainable fantasy in people's mind. It also reminded us you need substance - and any business that is focused on the substance in their customers' business can and will continue to do well even in uncertain times."

Mr Kerrigan said that when times are tough, reputation and brand become even more important and that companies shouldn't cut back on advertising and marketing expenses at this very time.

"In the end, downturns are just part of the economic cycle (otherwise it would be an economic straight line), so this should be business as usual. It always gets down to understanding your customers' business issues and helping to solve them in a way that's meaningful to both them and you. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be in business, irrespective of the economic environment," he concluded.

About Fujitsu Australia Limited

Fujitsu is one of the world's leading e-services organisations. Fujitsu technology solutions, from servers to e-Business applications, are powering the new Internet economy. In Australia and New Zealand Fujitsu is helping corporate and government customers to design, build and operate solutions which offer competitive advantage in the Internet world, from state-of-the-art infrastructure through to complex e-Business solutions. Our portfolio of IT services includes consulting, systems integration, prime contracting and a full range of professional services. Fujitsu Australia Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited of Japan.
For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com.au

About Fujitsu Limited

Fujitsu is a leading provider of Internet-focused information technology solutions for the global marketplace. Its pace-setting technologies, best-in-class computing and telecommunications platforms, and worldwide corps of systems and services experts make it uniquely positioned to unleash the infinite possibilities of the Internet to help its customers succeed. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.48 trillion yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001.
For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com

Gillian Lamrock

Phone: Phone: (02) 9776 4799
E-mail: E-mail: gillian.lamrock@fujitsu.com.au
Company:Fujitsu Australia Limited

Shuna Boyd

Phone: Phone: (02) 9418 8100
E-mail: E-mail: shuna@boydpr.com.au
Company:BoydPR

Date: 12 April, 2001
City: Sydney
Company: Fujitsu Australia Limited