Fujitsu Integration Heralds a Step Up in Enterprise
Competition
Competition
Economic Circumstances Merely Accelerate Trend Already
Underway
Underway
By Roger L. Kay
Today, Fujitsu announced that it has absorbed its German affiliate, Fujitsu Siemens Computers,
and will now market under the Fujitsu brand exclusively. It also increased the degree of
integration among its divisions and pointed toward an enterprise sales strategy that leads with
services, more like the structures of rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard (HP).
Precipitated by the tough economic climate, these steps were necessary for the Japanese
company, which has struggled to increase its market position outside Japan against
entrenched competitors.
Fujitsu Siemens was the remnant of Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG (SNI), itself the
amalgam of the once-independent German computer companies Siemens AG and Nixdorf
Computer AG. Fujitsu bought 50% of SNI in 1999, the same year SNI spun off its silicon
fabrication assets as Infineon Technologies AG. Since then, the diplomatically named Fujitsu-
Siemens has operated as a semi-independent operations hub and research center in Europe.
However, full rationalization never took place because of the continuing shared ownership.
On April 1, 2009, the start of the Japanese fiscal year, Fujitsu will formally take over the
remaining 50% of Fujitsu Siemens Computer it didn’t already own. Thenceforth, the company
will operate as Fujitsu Technology Solutions (FTS), an integrated part of Fujitsu, the mother ship,
and everyone in all regions will use the Fujitsu logo and company name.
FTS, the European branch, will remain distinct in some ways, however, as indicated by its
name. Over time, the German assets of what is now Fujitsu built up a formidable cache of
research scientists, development engineers, and intellectual property. Europe will remain a
major center for worldwide product development, along with labs and operations in Fukushima,
Japan, and will also remain the marketing arm of Fujitsu in the region.
In the United States, Fujitsu will also simplify its structure, combining Fujitsu Consulting
(services), Fujitsu Computer Systems (hardware), and Fujitsu Transaction Solutions (retail,
POS) into a single entity. To bring itself into line with the European group, Fujitsu North America
will invest in managed services. It is this change that most speaks to the competitive pressures
driving the restructuring. In this era of increasing “cloudiness,” the high ground belongs to the
company able to service the large datacenter market best and most flexibly. Companies
competing in this area must offer unified global products, software, and services to win. Fujitsu
has chosen x86 architecture, the only segment growing share in datacenters, as its hardware
base. It needs the rest of an integrated offering if it hopes to gain against incumbents.
Management says this grand unification is the beginning of a multiyear process to turn Fujitsu
into a truly global enterprise. The company will have to remain consistent in its branding and
messaging and sustain investment over that period in order to make this bold and necessary
strategic move succeed.
© 2009 Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
and will now market under the Fujitsu brand exclusively. It also increased the degree of
integration among its divisions and pointed toward an enterprise sales strategy that leads with
services, more like the structures of rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard (HP).
Precipitated by the tough economic climate, these steps were necessary for the Japanese
company, which has struggled to increase its market position outside Japan against
entrenched competitors.
Fujitsu Siemens was the remnant of Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG (SNI), itself the
amalgam of the once-independent German computer companies Siemens AG and Nixdorf
Computer AG. Fujitsu bought 50% of SNI in 1999, the same year SNI spun off its silicon
fabrication assets as Infineon Technologies AG. Since then, the diplomatically named Fujitsu-
Siemens has operated as a semi-independent operations hub and research center in Europe.
However, full rationalization never took place because of the continuing shared ownership.
On April 1, 2009, the start of the Japanese fiscal year, Fujitsu will formally take over the
remaining 50% of Fujitsu Siemens Computer it didn’t already own. Thenceforth, the company
will operate as Fujitsu Technology Solutions (FTS), an integrated part of Fujitsu, the mother ship,
and everyone in all regions will use the Fujitsu logo and company name.
FTS, the European branch, will remain distinct in some ways, however, as indicated by its
name. Over time, the German assets of what is now Fujitsu built up a formidable cache of
research scientists, development engineers, and intellectual property. Europe will remain a
major center for worldwide product development, along with labs and operations in Fukushima,
Japan, and will also remain the marketing arm of Fujitsu in the region.
In the United States, Fujitsu will also simplify its structure, combining Fujitsu Consulting
(services), Fujitsu Computer Systems (hardware), and Fujitsu Transaction Solutions (retail,
POS) into a single entity. To bring itself into line with the European group, Fujitsu North America
will invest in managed services. It is this change that most speaks to the competitive pressures
driving the restructuring. In this era of increasing “cloudiness,” the high ground belongs to the
company able to service the large datacenter market best and most flexibly. Companies
competing in this area must offer unified global products, software, and services to win. Fujitsu
has chosen x86 architecture, the only segment growing share in datacenters, as its hardware
base. It needs the rest of an integrated offering if it hopes to gain against incumbents.
Management says this grand unification is the beginning of a multiyear process to turn Fujitsu
into a truly global enterprise. The company will have to remain consistent in its branding and
messaging and sustain investment over that period in order to make this bold and necessary
strategic move succeed.
© 2009 Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
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