Port and rail operator Asciano has announced it has commenced a major investment program to upgrade its ICT capabilities.

 

The investment will see the company run an 18 month program at transforming its end-of-life infrastructure into business aligned IT systems, which it says will significantly improve the way the company works, its service delivery and way it interfaces with customers.

 

The program will deliver an upgrade of Asciano’s entire IT infrastructure and applications utilizing enterprise grade cloud services.

 

As part of the upgrade, Asciano has partnered with provider Fujitsu Australia to acquire a suite of cloud services including desktop infrastructure, messaging, collaboration, unified communications and database services.

 

As part of the five year contract, Fujitsu will provide consulting services and on demand services on a usage basis. The rollout of services will commence with:

  • Virtual desktop implementation and replacement of all existing hardware including phones, desktop computers and other end user devices;
  • A single email and messaging system across Asciano and its Divisions using the latest Microsoft Exchange and Office products;
  • Collaboration, document management and search capabilities across all of Asciano’s information assets; and
  • Improved communications platforms across the geographically diverse organisation, integrating desktop, voice video and messaging.

 

According to Mr Kelvin McGrath, Chief Information Officer for Asciano, “The guiding principle for the new service is to deliver faster and more flexible systems and services which are not only better tailored to suit the ways in which our people work but create an ecosystem  to enhance Asciano innovation”.