Centrica has awarded Fujitsu a five-year contract to provide Desktop Managed Services (DMS) for 25,000 users across Centrica’s UK business.

Fujitsu will transform the desktop infrastructure to deliver an improved experience for end-users in terms of desktop performance and access to the latest e-mail and instant messaging solutions. Fujitsu’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution is delivered using Fujitsu high end servers and storage and will provide Centrica with a reliable IT infrastructure and a reduced carbon impact. It will be hosted in one of Fujitsu’s UK datacentres, recently awarded The Uptime Institute’s (TUI) Gold Standard in Operational Sustainability.

Centrica’s Group CIO, David Bickerton, commented: “As Centrica grows both organically and through acquisition, the IT capabilities and support we provide our people in doing their jobs is critical. Therefore our desktop services, which increasingly involve adoption of mobile devices, become ever more critical to the efficient running of our business and the IT experience we provide our people. In July 2010 we appointed Fujitsu to run our internal IT service desk. This new contract builds upon that existing partnership and is aimed at further improving the IT service and experience for our people.”

Gavin Bounds, chief operating officer for Fujitsu UK & Ireland’s private sector division, added: “For a long time DMS was seen by the market as a commoditised service, but it’s clear now that customers are seeing the strategic opportunity – offering significant cost reductions, improved user productivity, greater peace of mind and considerably more flexibility for their desktop estate. The virtualised environment is now giving even greater opportunity to realise the benefits that DMS can bring.”