By
Phil Britt
As cloud computing and other IT services become more centralized, managed services, video, and other new business models are providing more revenue and more potential for service providers.
According to a survey from UK-based Teneo, an infrastructure itemization company, over half (52 percent) of all IT managers polled are planning to increase the use of managed services in order to thaw deeply frozen IT budgets and reduce total cost of ownership.
Jack Schwab, IT infrastructure practice co-leader for Seattle, Wash.-based consulting firm Point B, added that companies have downsized staffs but need to keep up with technological advancements, and managed services provides them a way to do this while focusing on their core competencies rather than on the vagaries of the technology.
That’s why, for example, Australian-based Sensis, an online advertising and digital mapping business, in late July inked a deal with Amdocs to support and develop its customer relationship management, production and provisioning platform and other associated IT managed services. The new agreement includes application support, data-center services and additional managed services in Sensis. This new contract expands the relationship between Amdocs and Sensis, which have worked together for more than 20 years.
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“1.7 million consumers bought iPhone 4s in its first three days of sale, worth more than $9 billion over the next five years.” |
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China Mobile Hebei, China Mobile's subsidiary in the country's sixth most populated province, is one of Ericsson's most important customers and strategic partners. The two parties have had a partnership for more than 23 years.
In a similar vein, AT&T will be managing wireless and Internet services for Hilton Worldwide, which includes more than 3,2000 properties in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
AT&T will manage and operate Hilton Worldwide’s “Stay Connected” program, which provides guests with access to high-speed Internet services. Hilton Worldwide’s properties will receive fast AT&T wireless and wired connectivity over a common high-speed Internet access platform.
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In Asia, China Mobile Hebei, a provincial company of China Mobile, selected Ericsson as the sole managed services partner for all its 22,000 2G/3G (GSM/TD-SCDMA) base station sites through a three-year field maintenance agreement. The Hebei province has a population of 70 million and its area is almost the size of the UK.
The agreement enables China Mobile Hebei to improve its network quality and operational efficiency and further increase its focus on its core business, the subscribers, while Ericsson takes full responsibility for the field maintenance work of all the base station sites.
The cooperation between China Mobile Hebei and Ericsson has also gained support from the Government of Hebei Province, which has expressed its hope that Ericsson will make the best use of this opportunity and set a benchmark for field maintenance services in China as well as a base in northern China.
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AT&T has provided Hilton Worldwide with network equipment, design and installation since the inception of the “Stay Connected” program in 2005. Over time, Hilton Worldwide will systematically transition to AT&T all management and support functions for its online operations across its portfolio of hotels in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. AT&T will oversee network operations, guest Internet support, network engineering, software development, and 24/7 network monitoring for Hilton Worldwide’s wireless and Internet services.
With this agreement, AT&T becomes part of the Hilton Worldwide Innovation Collaborative. Through the Innovation Collaborative, Hilton Worldwide is joining with world-class technology providers to maintain its position as the leader in hospitality technology.
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