09 November 2009
Profitability and moving up in the value chain in IT services are the primary objectives of Fujitsu Technology Solutions (Holding), the recently rebranded company that was, until the beginning of this year, known as Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
The company, which is now a 100 per cent subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, wants to refocus on its profit margins and play a smaller role in the volumes segment.
The new company operates jointly with Fujitsu Services and a unified management under the Fujitsu brand. Emirates Business spoke to Farid Al Sabbagh, Managing Director (Middle East) for Fujitsu Technology Solutions, to learn more:
How is the integration process for Fujitsu Technology Solutions progressing?
A project called 'One Fujitsu' is under way across the company, with teams coming in from Fujitsu to talk to our customers, account managers and basically putting the process in place.
Does this integration impact employees or offices in this region?
As ours is a growth region, there have been no cutbacks and Fujitsu is in investment mode [here]. In fact, we have more bandwidth of people; therefore, we will be able to use our resources more efficiently now.
You said Fujitsu is in investing mode here - where do you see these investments going?
The investments would be spread across the region, across high-end services and will help us move up the value chain, especially in our services segment.
Basically, we come from a platform and solutions background. We now have to move up into the professional services arena.
Will you be addressing new customer segments via your services portfolio?
Cross-selling across our services portfolio was [already] happening. Now, we are moving up a level to maintain the infrastructure and complete the portfolio. In our IT services sales team, a segment approach is taken up but for the back-office operations, we are not talking a different approach.
Will you be hiring for these new developments?
As the integration is not yet complete, it's difficult to give a figure but in Saudi Arabia there will be some staff added. In most of the markets, we work with partners; therefore, expansion would happen at their end.
As the new managing director, what are your top priorities?
The first priority is to merge and position the Fujitsu brand. It is important to have one Fujitsu portfolio, which is our top priority. The legal entities and purchase departments would be integrated by March next year. Enabling the channel with new product positioning will be integral.
What do you see as the main challenges to this process?
Fujitsu Siemens has been operating for 10 years and we have certain countries where Siemens is a stronger brand. In the Gulf, however, it has not been an issue as the Fujitsu brand is more linked to the region. Therefore, we will not have to drive major changes in this region.
What kind of changes will be made to the brand on the product front?
New products are being shipped as Fujitsu and therefore that transition is currently happening.
How has the economic crisis impacted business?
Different countries in the region were affected differently - countries such as Qatar and Kuwait were affected to some extent.
For Fujitsu, it was a combination of renewals and new contracts. Customers still need support on renewals and SLAs, which was not affected. In our business, 80 per cent comprises of renewals and the rest was new contracts.
Has the economic crisis impacted your shipments into the region?
Shipments were affected mainly because of our change in product strategy. The focus is now on playing a major role in the high-end segment. This is mainly because we don't have to play in the volume business and thereby earn higher profits. The higher-end product segment comprises 20 per cent of our business, but is more profitable. The low-end segment is sensitive to market conditions and price. We may loose market share, but at the end of the day, make [more] money.
However, this does not mean we will get out of the entry-level [segment]. In markets such as Levant, all customers don't have [huge] budgets and therefore we cannot exit it completely.
In the high-end segment, Fujitsu wants to position ourselves with Sony, that is, $1,000-plus (Dh3670) [products]. Even in this product category, there is a lot of variety to come in terms of colour, size, weight etc.
There will also be specific products launched for the emerging markets in the price range of $500-$600.
This will happen only by next year as [such products] are being developed at present.
Profitability and moving up in the value chain in IT services are the primary objectives of Fujitsu Technology Solutions (Holding), the recently rebranded company that was, until the beginning of this year, known as Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
The company, which is now a 100 per cent subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, wants to refocus on its profit margins and play a smaller role in the volumes segment.
The new company operates jointly with Fujitsu Services and a unified management under the Fujitsu brand. Emirates Business spoke to Farid Al Sabbagh, Managing Director (Middle East) for Fujitsu Technology Solutions, to learn more:
How is the integration process for Fujitsu Technology Solutions progressing?
A project called 'One Fujitsu' is under way across the company, with teams coming in from Fujitsu to talk to our customers, account managers and basically putting the process in place.
Does this integration impact employees or offices in this region?
As ours is a growth region, there have been no cutbacks and Fujitsu is in investment mode [here]. In fact, we have more bandwidth of people; therefore, we will be able to use our resources more efficiently now.
You said Fujitsu is in investing mode here - where do you see these investments going?
The investments would be spread across the region, across high-end services and will help us move up the value chain, especially in our services segment.
Basically, we come from a platform and solutions background. We now have to move up into the professional services arena.
Will you be addressing new customer segments via your services portfolio?
Cross-selling across our services portfolio was [already] happening. Now, we are moving up a level to maintain the infrastructure and complete the portfolio. In our IT services sales team, a segment approach is taken up but for the back-office operations, we are not talking a different approach.
Will you be hiring for these new developments?
As the integration is not yet complete, it's difficult to give a figure but in Saudi Arabia there will be some staff added. In most of the markets, we work with partners; therefore, expansion would happen at their end.
As the new managing director, what are your top priorities?
The first priority is to merge and position the Fujitsu brand. It is important to have one Fujitsu portfolio, which is our top priority. The legal entities and purchase departments would be integrated by March next year. Enabling the channel with new product positioning will be integral.
What do you see as the main challenges to this process?
Fujitsu Siemens has been operating for 10 years and we have certain countries where Siemens is a stronger brand. In the Gulf, however, it has not been an issue as the Fujitsu brand is more linked to the region. Therefore, we will not have to drive major changes in this region.
What kind of changes will be made to the brand on the product front?
New products are being shipped as Fujitsu and therefore that transition is currently happening.
How has the economic crisis impacted business?
Different countries in the region were affected differently - countries such as Qatar and Kuwait were affected to some extent.
For Fujitsu, it was a combination of renewals and new contracts. Customers still need support on renewals and SLAs, which was not affected. In our business, 80 per cent comprises of renewals and the rest was new contracts.
Has the economic crisis impacted your shipments into the region?
Shipments were affected mainly because of our change in product strategy. The focus is now on playing a major role in the high-end segment. This is mainly because we don't have to play in the volume business and thereby earn higher profits. The higher-end product segment comprises 20 per cent of our business, but is more profitable. The low-end segment is sensitive to market conditions and price. We may loose market share, but at the end of the day, make [more] money.
However, this does not mean we will get out of the entry-level [segment]. In markets such as Levant, all customers don't have [huge] budgets and therefore we cannot exit it completely.
In the high-end segment, Fujitsu wants to position ourselves with Sony, that is, $1,000-plus (Dh3670) [products]. Even in this product category, there is a lot of variety to come in terms of colour, size, weight etc.
There will also be specific products launched for the emerging markets in the price range of $500-$600.
This will happen only by next year as [such products] are being developed at present.
By Nancy Sudheer
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009
