Balfour Beatty enlists Fujitsu to build foundations for future innovation and growth

Global infrastructure company, Balfour Beatty, has enlisted Fujitsu to transform its IT infrastructure. The new partnership signals a move by the organisation to invest in technology to support its wider business strategy of improved efficiency, customer centricity and growth – and will enable the business and it's customers to operate in a much more informed, flexible and agile way. The project with Fujitsu is fundamental in creating a standardised IT infrastructure for Balfour Beatty’s UK business, while driving down IT costs.

A global organisation, operating in over 80 countries, Balfour Beatty brings together designers and planners, engineers, builders, project and facilities managers, analysts, consultants – across a multitude of locations. As a result of a reorganisation of its UK business, combined with significant growth in recent years – Balfour Beatty was faced with disparate and fragmented systems. It recognised the need to provide a more joined-up and improved service to its customers – and that IT would be an enabler to achieving this. Balfour Beatty looked for a partner with a proven track record in delivering projects of a similar scale. Fujitsu was selected as supplier of choice following a rigorous tender process.

Under the terms of the multi-million pounds, five-year contract, Fujitsu will host and manage the company’s data in a shared storage environment, using a combination of physical and cloud-based virtual data centres. It will also provide desktop services and support for 14,000 users in the UK, across approximately 450 permanent locations and 450 temporary sites – supported by Fujitsu hardware. This move will see Balfour Beatty’s employees use standardised equipment – and also enjoy a much smoother user experience for support, with much faster response times.
“We create the infrastructure that enables societies and economies to grow,” said Danny Reeves, CIO of Balfour Beatty’s Services Division. “Fujitsu’s experience in working with public sector organisations made it a natural choice. Its global expertise also played a big part in the decision making process, as the customers that we serve are based in multiple locations across the globe. We are taking great strides forward in the way that we use technology as a business – and to help us better engage with our customers. As both a technology champion and an innovator, Fujitsu is well placed to join us on this journey.”
Richard Bull, Executive Director End User Services at Fujitsu UK & Ireland, commented: “The objective here is to create an agile and scalable IT environment, that provides Balfour Beatty with the ability to flex according to its customers requirement - as well as helping to reduce IT costs. It is also giving Balfour Beatty the opportunity to truly innovate its business – and to future proof for trends such as Bring Your Own Device. We are confident that we’ll achieve that – and are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with Balfour Beatty.”
Balfour Beatty’s complex and diverse IT estate currently comprises over 1500 servers in the UK, spread across 10 data rooms. The consolidation and rationalisation of this estate into Fujitsu’s North and South London data centres will drive down costs and significantly reduce Balfour Beatty’s energy consumption. Furthermore, the organisation is also planning to significantly rationalise the number of apps it uses, which currently stands at around 5500.
All future end user devices will be based on Fujitsu technology – the standard laptop machine will be based on the Fujitsu LIFEBOOK series whilst the standard desktop offering will be delivered by the ESPRIMO range.
In the data centres Fujitsu’s PRIMERGY servers will be utilised and supported by its ETERNUS enterprise storage range.
The project will involve TUPE transfers for a total of 67 Balfour Beatty employees into Fujitsu. Fujitsu’s focus on nurturing its people and harnessing talent was very appealing to Balfour Beatty, particularly with its proven staff retention rates.
The transfer and transform programme is expected to be carried out over 18 months and is currently in its design phase.