Fujitsu Siemens – Primed To Attract Attention

When one is asked to name vendors that deliver a full range of offerings, everything from large enterprise servers, mid-range platforms, desktops and laptops plus a range of storage systems and interesting middleware, the usual suspects spring to mind, namely IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems. However, one name, Fujitsu Siemens, has not heretofore garnered the visibility that it rightfully deserves. That may be about to change.

Fujitsu Siemens is clearly an organisation with much to offer. A quick glance at its server platforms reveals a breadth of capabilities that has been overlooked by many potential customers. For example, the company offers a broad range of ‘open systems’ servers based on the x86 architecture, including systems running on both Intel and AMD processors. These servers typically run Windows, Linux or Solaris x86 operating systems.

Moving up in scale, Fujitsu Siemens supplies mission critical Itanium platforms with its PrimeQuest servers. Not only have these systems been built to incorporate many of the attributes usually only found in large enterprise servers, but Fujitsu Siemens is now making them available to Windows and Linux environments based on its own extensive data centre experience and know-how. To this end, the company has put in considerable efforts to harden the Linux operating system and also works closely with Microsoft in its labours to add data centre characteristics to Windows platforms.

Fujitsu Siemens also sells, in large numbers, Unix servers running the Solaris operating system. Indeed, its PrimePower platforms are very widely deployed, especially in Europe, supporting high end systems. Once again, the company has brought to bear many years of practical experience to ensure that its servers are flexible and easy to manage.

And at the very high end of computing, Fujitsu Siemens is one of the very few vendors still able to supply mainframe class servers with its BS2000/OSD servers. It should be noted that Fujitsu Siemens remains committed to its mainframe offering. At an analyst meeting last week, Joseph Reger, the company’s CTO, stated that he expects that the BS2000, which is currently delivered on the IBM 390 architecture, “will live for eternity, a time frame of at least 15 years or so”.

Beyond servers and one of the most comprehensive range of desktops and laptops, including some of the most sophisticated Tablet PCs currently available, Fujitsu Siemens also offers a wide range of storage solutions. Indeed, its steadily growing storage business is one of the largest in Europe and delivers everything from small and mid size storage devices through to sophisticated virtualised solutions, including virtual tape platforms. These systems are built using both its own intellectual property along with platforms OEMed from a number of well respected storage vendors. The company also boasts a thriving thin-client business based around its Futro platform.

Today Fujitsu Siemens is actively seeking “differentiation in the right places” through introduction of new technologies, some designed and developed at home, others brought in or licensed from elsewhere. The company no longer wants to be seen as just ‘a follower’. To this end, innovation is being targeted at the Dynamic Data Center (DDC), Mobility and the Digital Home areas. Fujitsu Siemens is very well placed to exploit its great knowledge of Virtualisation technologies and their management and administration, Automation, and Monitoring to deliver the IT service flexibility increasingly being sought by organisations of all sizes. Based around the Triole strategy for DDC, Fujitsu Siemens is building dynamic IT solutions that use pre-integrated, pre-tested building blocks to reduce the risk associated with modern IT projects and to ensure faster delivery. Pragmatism and a desire to work with partners are to be found at the heart of its approach to delivering solutions.

Fujitsu Siemens is looking to be far more active in the promotion of its offerings and is engaging its extensive partner community to reach out to a much broader range of customers than it has so far gathered. It has the technologies and the experience to make a much bigger impact than it has thus far achieved. Watch out for much more news as Fujitsu Siemens launches a range of attractive offerings over the coming months.