Fujitsu is to invest £4.5m in a Centre of Excellence (CoE) that will see its staff work ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with Microsoft experts. The investment will largely cover labour costs for the combined specialist team, which will be based out of Fujitsu’s offices. Microsoft is also making an investment in the CoE.
Although the two firms already work closely, the idea behind the CoE is to accelerate the adoption of their respective technologies and services by focusing their efforts around complex IT solutions. Fujitsu will bring its experience in delivering large end user solutions to the Microsoft team’s deep product knowledge. Without doubt, one key challenge for enterprises is the development of desktop strategies that are fit for the 21st Century, and identifying which combination of technologies and approaches should be applied. For example, how do you blend BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology), with thin client, VDI and mobile technologies? This represents a clear opportunity for the Centre of Excellence team, which will offer consulting services to clients to guide them through complex changes.
With new releases coming to market for almost every product in its portfolio (including Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Office 2013 and Office 365, and Windows Server 2012), Microsoft is seeking ways to maximize these. The CoE will be targeting opportunities across industry sectors, but clearly Fujitsu has strengths in public sector and financial services in the UK. Over the coming three years, Fujitsu says its partnership with Microsoft will drive revenue of £500m.