Building a road map for Jamaica

Global frontrunners in technology, Fujitsu Caribbean is gearing up to make the future bright for Jamaica, building a 'road map' for customers across the region for managing structured and unstructured data.

As international digital leaders, the announcement was made following its recent relaunch of its relationship with California-based data management company Veritas, close behind its split with Symantec. Carlee Chun, Veritas' global system integrators alliance director for the Americas, told The Gleaner that part of the reason for this change is to help customers and partners understand data.

"We help customers be smarter in business. This is our goal. Veritas is a software-driven company. We help manage, track, and secure your application and recover it when you need it; also how to manage information; and how to understand what type of data you have, so you will be smart about the investment you have made in your data and for your business."

In August, Symantec made an announcement that it had entered into a conclusive agreement to sell Veritas' information-management business to global investment firm Carlyle Group after acquiring the company back in July 2005 for US$13 billion. Upon completion of the sale, Veritas became a privately held company, giving both Symantec and Veritas the financial resources to increase their respective strategies.

Applauding the changes, Katia Garcia, Veritas partner territory manager for the Caribbean, said that he world is going through the third generation of computing - digital transformation - where it's all about mobility, data, and the Cloud.

LEADING THE WAY

"We are seeing radical shifts and IT is becoming more and more human-centric, so our responsibility in what we are doing with customers is to help the customer get from where they are currently making a road map to where they need to be on the digital market," said Garcia.

Operating in the Caribbean for more than six decades with offices in Barbados, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico, Fujitsu has more than 40 enterprise customers in Jamaica. President and CEO of Fujitsu Mervyn Eyre said the initiative is at the forefront of the keeping businesses and governments across the region abreast of global competition, in addition to stimulating significant investments in data management.

"The notion of digital transformation is important from a national level as well as a regional level because we have elections coming up, and it will be interesting to see which of the parties will come with a view which says, 'Here is our digital strategy for Government or for the nation'," he said. "We are at that critical moment where enterprise and Government need to have plans. The digital economy is evolving in terms of the way things are done and the way value is delivered, and this shift is global." Eyre said that the IT industry in Jamaica may be threatened if it is not in line with the world. He said that at the top level, it is imperative to make sure that Jamaica accelerates and puts the pieces in place to ensure that the nation achieves, especially at an enterprise and Government level, ensuring that the key assets of data are protected, managed, and bring value.

"From a wider picture, Fujitsu feels we have the responsibility to help Jamaica and Jamaican businesses and Government increase their awareness of what they need to be doing to become relevant in a digital world, including how to create a road map. This is vital to us because it ensures survival. Data has become the key ingredient worldwide in staying on top."