Komatsu consolidates its telco services with Telstra

Komatsu Australia has consolidated its telecommunications services with Telstra including the migration to a new managed ICT infrastructure as a service (Cloud Services) to support the company’s growing construction and mining equipment business.

The five-year, $35 million whole of business contract will see Telstra supply telecommunications services to Komatsu Australia’s 1800 staff spread across 42 branches and 35 service depots at key mining and civil contracting sites in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, including mobile voice and managed data services on the Telstra Next G and Telstra Next IP networks in Australia.

Inside this managed network an enterprise utility computing capability has been integrated, providing security, computing, storage and a geographically disperse real-time robust disaster recovery environment.

The solution includes:

• A managed data network to provide a secure and cost-effective single point of connectivity between each of Komatsu Australia’s metropolitan, regional, rural and international sites. The secure IP data network is extended via Telstra Next G network-enabled Wireless WAN devices where there is limited wireline infrastructure or where Komatsu Australia requires rapid deployment.
• Managed ICT through infrastructure as a service will allow Telstra to manage hardware and software which was formerly managed in house by Komatsu Australia providing both productivity and cost savings.
• Managed ICT products include scalable computing power and storage via a shared environment within the Telstra cloud, which means Komatsu Australia can add new servers or dial up extra storage capacity on demand where it previously took Komatsu Australia up to two months through traditional hardware partners.
• Additional enhanced products including managed security, firewall, VPN service and co-location services.
• 1200 Telstra Next G mobile services to enable increased mobility for sales and field staff.
• 400 wireless broadband devices connected via Telstra’s Enterprise Mobile Broadband Plus (EMB+) to provide a secure private wireless network. These will feature the iPass application to provide cost containment by always connecting via the most appropriate method.
• 150 wireless email devices connected to the Microsoft Mobile Enterprise Solution. 

Komatsu Australia's President,  Bill Pike, said the infrastructure means Komatsu Australia’s move to a managed network would enable the company to improve core business efficiencies and increase overall productivity.

“Put simply, the new approach brings us cost certainty, managed risk and long-term efficiency,” Pike said. “We can focus our attention on growing our business in Australia rather than being distracted by maintaining the physical hardware and software ourselves.

“The reach and speeds of the Telstra Next G network are without parallel and will prove a critical ingredient for our business moving forward, especially given the diverse nature of our workforce,”  Pike said. “For example, our salesforce once had to wait until they are back in the office or hotel to sync their data and process quotes, but with the Telstra Next G network this will happen in real time, improving both customer service and sales.”

Komatsu Australia's General Manager IT, Ian Harvison, said that this new partnership builds on a three-year journey with Telstra. Telstra has transformed Komatsu Australia’s standard carriage environment into a managed network including mobility and Microsoft collaboration tools.

Komatsu Australia required a flexible computing environment to support a number of critical projects including SAP expansion. Following a six-month review, Komatsu Australia’s decision to extend the telecommunication partnership for a further five years and extend the services to include infrastructure as a service with Telstra was founded on the capability of Telstra to deliver on Komatsu Australia’s key business and technology requirements.