May 27, 2002 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Communication solutions provider AT&T (ATT.com) announced on Monday that print media solution provider Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (Heidelberg.com) has chosen AT&T to consolidate its telecommunications service, currently supplied by more than 30 other companies.
AT&T says it will become Heidelberg?s preferred supplier of business data communications and networking worldwide.
According to the three-year, $12 million agreement, AT&T will provide a fully managed global wide area network (WAN) service, connecting 150 Heidelberg locations in Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. AT&T will also provide managed Internet services, migrating Heidelberg?s current frame relay network to the latest IP-based Multi Protocol Label Switching infrastructure.
Ina further $5 million agreement, AT&T will provide Heidelberg with a fully managed hosting solution. The company also uses AT&T?s local, long distance, teleconferencing, video conferencing, frame relay and private line services in the US.
AT&T says it expects this new structure to result in cost savings of up to 40 percent versus Heidelberg?s current solution, and emphasizes the company?s long-term commitment to cost reductions in communication and IT.
“We recognize that if we are to maintain our global leadership in our industry we need to grasp opportunities for change and innovation ahead of our competitors,” says Dr. Herbert Meyer, Heidelberg?s CFO. “This new network solution enables us to introduce new, innovative networking technologies and cost effective management processes while considerably reducing our budget. We chose AT&T as a networking partner as it is able to provide us with a global network that can deliver optimal performance for a wide mix of enterprise applications.”
Heidelberg decided to appoint AT&T after developing its strategic plan, “Heidelberg Global Network,” which defines the company?s demands for networking capabilities based on future business developments and processes. In recent years, says AT&T, the group has made investments in enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and customer relationship management, introducing the need for a highly flexible networking solution.
