"We’re looking to grow the level of services we deliver and the number of enterprise clients we deliver these services to” he says.

“We are also working more closely with many of our smaller to medium customers as we bring capability onshore, which we think will open some doors to new opportunities.” Fujitsu Australia recently won a major managed services deal with Qantas, taking on their entire global desktop infrastructure, email, storage and collaboration requirements. It’s a multi-million dollar deal stretching over five years. Bourke says he sees an opportunity for a positive flow of work through to the New Zealand operation on the back of this.

There is a lower cost structure in New Zealand and
also some tax benefits, he says, but New Zealand offers
some other unique advantages.

“While it’s not quite as cost-effective as some Asian
options, the time zone, language and cultural alignment
with Australia differentiate operations out of New Zealand
to make it a compelling option.”

The company has a strong history in managed services.

In New Zealand it has a network of service desks and hosting facilities in Auckland, Wellington and Gisborne.

Hosting is an area that the company is looking to expand in New Zealand as it is doing in Australia. Bourke has no set preference for how to grow the data centre business. He’s open to building data centres or partnering. He says Fujitsu would also consider acquisitions.

The recent acquisition of Kaz in Australia makes Fujitsu A/NZ the third largest IT services provider in Australasia with over 5,000 employees.

Originally Sydney-based, Bourke has 20 years experience
in IT managed services delivery, the past 10 years with Fujitsu. Bourke has drawn on his significant experience
with various delivery models to bring current best practice to the New Zealand operation. Bourke moved to Wellington in February.

“I could see a good opportunity if we reshaped the business slightly. Our managed services business in New Zealand had some inefficiencies, which needed a slight readjustment to take better advantage of our resources and skills, and I am implementing some additional global and regional practices that have been tried and tested.”

“We had very customer-based structures but we’re moving to a model where resources are shared across clients in a more hybrid model that operates more efficiently.”

“We employ 1,000 people in managed services in the region. What we’re doing here sets us up to grow that even more with a complete service offering across SME and enterprise clients.”

A large part of Fujitsu’s internal support for Australasia will be delivered from New Zealand.

Bourke, 40, began his working life as an electrical engineer
for a big US healthcare company’s Australian operation.

He eventually moved into IT and ran the company’s network across Australia and New Zealand. Bourke then sought a change in direction.

“I felt it was time to gain some experience with a vendor and the opportunity became available at Fujitsu.”

Over his 10 years he has filled a number of roles there, including architect, account management, service delivery
management, and now managed services. In the numerous
client facing positions he has gained a depth of understanding in what clients want – and what they need – and also how Fujitsu’s capability is best utilised to deliver on customer requirements.

“Managed services means robust systems management
and strong infrastructure that is secure and reliable.”



He sees Fujitsu’s differentiator as its maturity of processes
and its flexibility. “Some managed services vendors can be quite inflexible. We work on an 80/20 basis – where 80% of services are close to generic and 20% is specifically
tailored for the customer.”

A couple of years ago Fujitsu New Zealand bought Infinity Solutions, which opened up opportunities in the small to medium business market that is important in the New Zealand environment, and also provided capability across the country.

Bourke says Fujitsu’s main drivers are certainty of cost
and reliability of service. “We provide access to skills that
customers would not be otherwise able to tap into.”

As with all businesses, there are some pitfalls around
managed services. Bourke says the first one is to ensure
fair and reasonable negotiations around contracts. “Some
organisations believe price is everything, but they end up
paying more when they need services that are outside the
scope of support contracts that have been negotiated down;
it’s much more important to think about what the organisation needs and plan it in up front”.

The second major pitfall for customers is wanting too
much customisation, which is costly. “They should choose
standardised services where they are appropriate.”

Increasingly, many organisations are operating multivendor
arrangements and Fujitsu is meeting the market with flexibility in working with other vendors, negotiating on contract length and offering sensible SLA levels.

Currently, managed services engages 130 of the 450
staff in Fujitsu New Zealand. Paul’s focus is to grow that
share significantly and by so doing deliver growth across
the entire New Zealand business.

“I’m committed to this business and will be in New
Zealand for the long run,” Bourke says.

For more information
FUJITSU
Paul Bourke
paul.bourke@nz.fujitsu.com
Ph: 04 495 0700
www.fujitsu.co.nz





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By Randall Jackson