Commonwealth Bank of Australia Extends EDS Contract in US$310 Million Deal
SINGAPORE – EDS has strengthened its relationship with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia after significantly revamping a $US310 million service-based contract to deliver desktop and other end-user computing services for the next five years.
The new contract covers all end-user computing services, including desktop, service desk, ATM services, managed output, email, messaging, Outlook web access and mobile information protection. The new contract is focused on significantly enhancing business outcomes through improved service delivery.
The deal follows last year’s $US350 million signing of a new master IT&T Agreement involving Enterprise Processing Services (EPS) for mainframe, midrange and data storage until 2012.
Chris Mitchell, EDS vice president for Australia and New Zealand, said the agreements were in line with a more collaborative and strategic relationship being developed between the two organizations to decouple arrangements and deliver specific business outcomes.
“When we signed the EPS agreement last year we also agreed to a joint Charter as a foundation for further enhancing our ongoing business relationship,” Mr Mitchell said. “We support the Bank’s business every day and the Charter reinforces our close involvement in helping it achieve its goals.”
Mr Mitchell said the latest contract renewal was a reflection of the hard work that had gone into meeting the quality and service challenges that underpin the relationship.
“The EDS teams continue to work with the Commonwealth Bank to ensure it achieves its strategic vision of excelling in customer service,” he said. “We can help the Bank realize this by delivering the most reliable financial services infrastructure in Australia.”
Under the new end-user computing services contract, EDS will be responsible for supporting the Bank’s 44,000 desktop devices, 3,300 ATMs, 4,000 printers and 1,000 facsimile machines.
CBA group executive CIO, Michael Harte, said the collaborative approach was enabling EDS to find new ways of providing value to the Bank through enhancing and meeting end-user expectations.
“EDS has stepped up to the quality and service challenge, adding simplicity, stability and improved delivery to the IT services offered to the bank,” he said. “The latest re-signing is a reflection that EDS has raised the bar and will deliver significantly enhanced business outcomes.”
The partnership between EDS and the CBA began in 1997 with a 10-year agreement for IT services.
About EDS
EDS (NYSE: EDS) is a leading global technology services company delivering business solutions to its clients. EDS founded the information technology outsourcing industry 45 years ago. Today, EDS delivers a broad portfolio of information technology and business process outsourcing services to clients in the manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, communications, energy, transportation, and consumer and retail industries and to governments around the world. Learn more at eds.com.
The statements in this news release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding the amount of new contract values, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond EDS' control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For information concerning these risks and uncertainties, see EDS' most recent Form 10-K. EDS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact
Rosalind See
EDS Malaysia
603 8686 5309
rosalind.see@eds.com
Kimberly Nelson
EDS, Marketing and Communications Director Asia
Hong Kong
852 2953 7678
kimberly.nelson@eds.com
Vincent Leong or Wang Huibin
Upstream Asia (Singapore)
65 6323 7377
vincent.leong@upstreamasia.com
huibin.wang@upstreamasia.com
More: Australia | Client Releases | EDS | Singapore
Catwalk looks conceal boardroom powers
O2’s multimedia Xda Atom Life White PDA makes colourful entrance
Sydney, 10 July 2007 - O2 today introduces the Xda Atom Life White, a pure white PDA-phone that packs a heavyweight multimedia punch. Aimed at people who want to get the job done with style, the new Xda Atom Life White lets you get the most out of every moment, wherever you are.The Xda Atom Life White gives you:
- Clean lines and chrome accents that attract envious looks
- Rich connectivity that makes business a pleasure
- A multimedia powerhouse for personal entertainment
- A tool that lets you work, have fun and be creative
- The ability to express your lifestyle, your way
The limited edition Xda Atom Life White has a polished white cover, enhanced with chrome band, and comes equipped with stereo Bluetooth® headset and stylish white leather pouch. Weighing only 145 grams - smaller even than the popular Xda Atom - this ultimate lifestyle tool is your portable dashboard for wherever life takes you, powering you at home, at work and at play.
Entertainment in your hand
Designed as a multimedia device for the best in personal entertainment, the Xda Atom Life White has a brilliant 262k-colour 2.7” LCD screen with revitalised O2 MediaPlus interface. Immerse yourself in vibrant video games – delivered in SRS WOW HD surround sound – or go trigger happy with the in-built 2.0 megapixel camera to capture every moment.
You can even create the soundtrack to your life with instant MP3 music playback and stereo Bluetooth® headset, or use the dual stereo speaker to share your tunes.
A connected life
Keep up to speed with the latest gossip, news, music, clips and sports with stunningly fast connectivity. The HSDPA and 3.5G-enabled Xda Atom Life White lets you add the latest music podcasts to your library, watch YouTube clips or stream sports clips smoothly. Express yourself by making your own music and home videos, or make 3G video calls on the go.
Wherever you are, you’ll be able to share multimedia files and photo-video blog your latest adventures and share them with the world! Built-in Bluetooth® and Wireless LAN connect you to the convenience of wireless networks everywhere and a whopping 1GB of onboard memory means you can store all your multimedia files with ease.
A productive life
The turbocharged Xda Atom Life White is the fastest Windows Mobile PDA-phone available; complete with Windows Mobile 6 and Intel XScale® PXA 270 processor. Stay up-to-date with your Microsoft® Office Outlook® Mobile everywhere you go and enjoy superb device data protection with Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack so you can safely take care of every work and lifestyle need.
Pricing & availability
The Xda Atom Life White will retail at AUD$1,299, inclusive of GST and a one-year local warranty. It is available from selected IT and phone distributors and retail outlets throughout Australia.
More information is available at SeeO2.com.
About O2 Asia Pacific and Middle East
O2 Asia Pacific and Middle East (“O2 AP & ME”) is a member of Telefónica O2 Europe, a leading provider of mobile communications services in Europe with more than 37 million active customers. Part of the Telefónica group, O2 AP & ME provides customers throughout Asia Pacific and Middle East with innovative, premium mobile data devices and services that enhance everyday business solutions and lifestyle needs.
The company is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Australia, Malaysia and Korea and a sister company in Hong Kong; apart from Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Hong Kong, it also distributes in Indonesia, Thailand, India, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Taiwan, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam.
Press Contacts
For more information, please contact:
Kenny McGilvary or Carolyn Coon
Upstream Australia
E: kenny.mcgilvary@upstreamaustralia.com
Tel: +61 2 9377 1111
More: Australia | O2
Skype Lets You Call A Billion People For Less Than The Price Of A Postage Stamp
Sydney, 3rd July 2007 – Skype today announced it has lowered the cost of calling India or Pakistan for the month of July. Now anyone in the world can call India or Pakistan for less than the price of a postage stamp with Skype’s new ‘To Bangalore or Lahore’ calling promotion. So wherever you live in Australia, you can call your friends, family and business colleagues in India or Pakistan for hours on end using Skype™ and pay very little for the privilege.Calls cost 10.9 cents excluding GST per minute to India and 7.8 cents excluding GST per minute to Pakistan and can be made to both landlines and mobiles registered in India and Pakistan. Connection fees apply. Skype’s ‘To Bangalore or Lahore’ promotion runs from 2nd July 2007 and ends on 31st July 2007.
˝Skype wants to open up the world of communications and make the world a smaller place,˝ said Stefan Oberg, VP & GM telecoms at Skype. ˝We make it easy for people to stay in touch with one another all over the world. Today on Skype, you can talk and see each other for free. At the same time, we’re working very hard to make it even cheaper to call your friends and family – even if they aren’t on Skype. With our new promotion, you can now make calls to Indian and Pakistan landlines and registered mobiles for incredibly cheap rates, making it possible talk to the ones you love for next to nothing.’
In the first quarter of this year, people all over the world spent over 7.7 billion minutes on Skype. And today, Skype’s 196 million strong user community does the equivalent of 7% of the world’s long-distance minutes. Calling India and Pakistan can cost as much as $1.50 per minute from a traditional landline but on Skype, you pay a much lower price.
Making a call is easy. Simply download Skype, buy Skype credit from skype.com and click on the green button to start calling.
Skype’s popularity comes from letting people make free and very cheap calls over the internet, setting conversations free at home, at work and on the move.
Footnote:
All SkypeOut™ calls, including calls made by Skype Pro subscribers, are subject to a connection fee. For details on the connection fee, go to http://www.skype.com/products/skypeout/rates/connection_fee.html.
About Skype
Skype sets conversations free by providing new and easy ways to stay in touch over the internet. Millions of people every day make free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls and send instant messages using our software. Some pay a little per minute for long-distance and international calls to phones and mobiles and for SMS, voicemail and call forwarding, or they buy subscriptions that give unlimited calls nationwide.
We certify and sell hundreds of hardware products from more than 50 partners and work with third-party developers to create software to extend Skype's functionality. Skype has been downloaded more than half a billion times and over 196 million people from almost every corner of the globe have registered. Make your world a smaller place: talk, share and do more with Skype.
Skype is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY), and you can learn more and get Skype at www.skype.com.
Access to a broadband Internet connection is required for Skype and all Skype Certified devices and accessories. Skype is not a replacement for your traditional telephone service and cannot be used for emergency calling.
Skype, SkypeIn, SkypeOut, Skype Me, Skype Certified, Skypecasts, associated logos and the “S” symbol are trademarks of Skype Limited.
Media Contact:
Kenny McGilvary or Carolyn Coon
Tel: 02 9377 1111
E: kenny.mcgilvary@upstreamaustralia.com
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More: Australia | Client Releases | Skype
O2 Embraces Microsoft Windows Mobile® 6
Free upgrades available for Xda Atom Life and Xda Zinc
Sydney, Australia, 03 July 2007 – O2 Asia Pacific and Middle East (“O2 AP & ME”), the leading provider of innovative, premium mobile data devices and services in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets, has announced plans for launching the new Windows Mobile® 6 operating system across its family of devices.O2 has already completed testing of Windows Mobile 6 on the multimedia powerhouse Xda Atom Life and champion messaging device Xda Zinc. Registered users will be immediately able to access free downloads of Windows Mobile 6 Professional from O2’s portal: www.SeeO2.com. O2’s helpdesk will also be able to guide users through the download. O2 will honour prevailing warranty terms and conditions if the upgrade is performed via the above authorised channels.
“O2 typically initiates a stringent testing process to ensure that all software incorporated into our devices work efficiently and effectively. This is to prevent possible software faults and integration issues,” explained Mak Min Huey, Marketing Manager O2 Oceania. “We need to ensure that the special applications that O2 has developed for an improved user experience, like O2 SMS Plus and O2 MediaPlus, work seamlessly on the new operating system.”
In the meantime, O2 has begun testing the new Windows Mobile platform on its upcoming products, including the Xda Flame, the first PDA-phone to offer a dedicated graphics processor for better business performance and multimedia capability. It plans to move the rest of its 2007 product roadmap onto the Windows Mobile 6 platform and will announce them throughout the rest of the year.
Delivering Great Performance and Value
With a host of new features and enhancements, Windows Mobile 6 provides improved value for customers in several key areas, including messaging and collaboration, infrastructure interoperability, security features and platform development.
Windows Mobile 6 delivers the ability to view email in its original rich HTML format with live links to Web and SharePoint® sites. This means text and images are displayed as they would be on a PC, and are available from a corporate email server such as Exchange Server 2007, from Web-based accounts such as Windows Live™ Hotmail or from a myriad of other popular service providers. Windows Mobile 6 also includes Windows Live for Windows Mobile, which provides customers with a rich set of Windows Live services. For example, now through Windows Live Messenger, users can chat with more than one person at one time, express themselves through animated figures, quickly send a file or image, or record and send voice notes.
This platform also offers the most genuine Microsoft Office system experience in mobile versions of Office Outlook®, Office Word, Office Excel® and Office PowerPoint® by bringing capabilities once available only on the PC versions of these products to the small screen. This allows users to neatly view, navigate and edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets in their original formatting, without affecting tables, images or text, and to view presentations on their mobile device.
All Windows Mobile 6-powered devices include Direct Push Technology for up-to-date email delivery and automatic synchronisation of Outlook calendars, tasks and contacts through Microsoft Exchange Server, as well as a set of important device security and management features, such as a remote wipe capability for stolen and lost devices.
“O2’s aim is to embrace technology innovation that enhances the user experience, whether hardware or software,” said Mark Billington, CEO, O2 AP & ME. “Windows Mobile 6 promises to offer significant benefits including improved ease of use, higher productivity and efficiency for our customers.”
For more information on the free Windows Mobile 6 upgrade, please log on to SeeO2.com.
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About O2 Asia Pacific and Middle East
O2 Asia Pacific and Middle East is a member of Telefónica O2 Europe, a leading provider of mobile communications services in Europe with more than 37 million active customers. Part of the Telefónica group, O2 AP & ME provides customers throughout Asia Pacific and Middle East with innovative, premium mobile data devices and services that enhance everyday business solutions and lifestyle needs. The company is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Australia, Malaysia and Korea and a sister company in Hong Kong; apart from Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Hong Kong, it also distributes in Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Taiwan, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam.
Press Contacts
For more information, please contact:
Kenny McGilvary or Carolyn Coon, Upstream Australia
E: kenny.mcgilvary@upstreamaustralia.com
T: 61 2 9377 1111
More: Australia | O2
Informatica Debuts On-Demand Data Replicator
More: Australia | Client News | InformaticaExpanded Network to Capture New Revenue Opportunities
More: Australia | Client News | Expansion
Upstream's Asia-Pacific network has been extended through the acquisition of an Australian PR business with major clients such as Linksys and Skype. The £800,000 cash and paper acquisition is in line with Upstream's aims of positioning large overseas corporations moving into China while building a stronger presence in the wider Asia-Pacific region. The deal completes March 31 and the firm will be called Upstream Australia. Upstream Australia Wins Linksys Award (Australia)
More: Australia | Client News | Linksys
Upstream Australia is proud winner of the Linksys "Outstanding Agency of the Year" award at the annual Linksys Global PR Summit held in Madrid, Spain on 7 September. Upstream secured the inaugural award against 15 other countries served by local and international agencies. Gabriel Wong received the award on behalf of the agency from Karen Sohl, Director, Worldwide Corporate Communications at Linksys.Voice and Data Events (Australia)
More: Australia | Client News | Voice and Data
Business to Business technology publication Voice and Data and Upstream Australia will work together to hold a series of six events, following the success of an initial event in July. The half-day, seminar-style events will be sponsored by some of the largest technology companies in Australia and will be hosted by Voice and Data's editor, Merri Mack.