Fisher & Paykel Appliances, one of New Zealand’s best known companies and a leading manufacturer of “white goods,” has entrusted the roll-out of its new fully managed global network to AT&T. The new network is designed to support the aggressive business expansion of Fisher & Paykel Appliances, especially in North America where the company is enjoying unprecedented growth.
Utilising its unparalleled MPLS-based global network, AT&T is providing Fisher & Paykel Appliances with a fully integrated solution based on its Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) service. The solution provides for complete end-to-end management, from the customer site in New Zealand to all of Fisher & Paykel Appliances’ 19 remote locations around the world, with AT&T managing all aspects of network quality and availability.
Other services being provided under the agreement include voice services in the United States and a global managed Internet service.
When the company issued a request for proposals last August, Andrew Cooke, Fisher & Paykel Appliances General Manager – Information Technology, said that they were looking for a networking provider who could support the company not only in existing markets, but also in key markets targeted for expansion, such as North America and Europe.
“The operation of our network is truly mission-critical. With all those remote sites working through our base in Auckland, we have very tough standards to meet for reliability and we need a low latency solution. We also needed a standardised approach throughout all the countries where we operate, so that we could keep things simple ““ we wanted to take away some of the complexity from our previous network solution.”
Known for its quality, innovation and well-designed products, Fisher and Paykel Appliances acquired Dynamic Cooking Systems Inc. of California late last year and now has manufacturing, sales and warehouse facilities in Vancouver, Canada, as well as five states in the U.S.
In addition to its rapidly growing business in North America and New Zealand, Fisher & Paykel Appliances now has a presence in Australia, Singapore, the U.K. and Europe. All locations act as remote sites and access the company’s data centre in New Zealand for every aspect of its business, including all transactions for sales and distribution.
“One of the most important aspects of our new network is AT&T’s class of service. It means we can manage traffic, optimise various applications according to traffic classification, reserve bandwidth for specific applications and prioritise appropriately for our business ““ that’s vital for us,” Mr. Cooke said.
The two companies anticipate a long-term relationship. The initial contract period is for three years and Fisher & Paykel Appliances says it is looking for a close relationship that can help it grow as their business does and that can add real value to the process, rather than a standard vendor customer relationship.
“We strive for a collaborative approach when working with our customers and this involves engaging with the customer’s business at a much more sophisticated level than the standard vendor relationship,” said Roger Payne, General Manager of AT&T New Zealand.
Mr. Payne says that the two companies are now looking at a range of other relevant applications. Already, since the initial network has been deployed, Fisher & Paykel Appliances have contracted additional sites in the U.S. and they are exploring other opportunities around VoIP and enhanced security products.
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE ‘T’) has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
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