Transpower IT and telecomms support in Hamilton and Christchurch, which was previously provided by Compaq, is passing to Fujitsu.
Fujitsu already has an existing Wellington support contract for the the owner and operator of New Zealand’s national electricity distribution network.
Transpower’s Hamilton and Christchurch centres house real-time systems that are substantially responsible for diagnosing and remedying faults in the network and hence effectively “keeping the lights on” throughout New Zealand, says Transpower IT and T operations manager Ian Harrop.
Dropping Compaq was no negative reflection on that company, says Harrop. “It gave us very good service.”
Like all “quasi-government organisations”, Transpower is required to re-tender periodically, to test the market for possibly more economical solutions. On this occasion Transpower decided it could save money by amalgamating the support services at head office and the other centres under the same provider, Harrop says.
Fujitsu won, he says, “because of the strength in the scope of the call-centre services it could provide and its understanding of Transpower’s IT and T’s support services”.