Enfrastucture Launch Is a Group Effort
IBM, Microsoft, Arthur Andersen, Avaya, Hanny Holdings and others will launch Enfrastructure Inc., a full-service business infrastructure and technology provider.
The companies are investing more than $100 million to set up 25 campuses worldwide to provide technology infrastructure, business support and professional services.
Enfrastructure will combine e-commerce software from Microsoft, hardware products from IBM, accounting and financial expertise from Arthur Andersen and telecommunications and voice networking solutions from Avaya. Hanny Holdings is the group’s Asian partner and is based in Hong Kong.
Rather than investing up-front to buy and integrate hardware, software and telecommunications solutions, as well as secure and guarantee office space, companies will be able to preserve capital by paying only for products and services they consume. The reduction in initial infrastructure costs should increase the amount of capital available for ongoing operations – a key competitive advantage.
In turn, the companies will be able to focus on accelerating concept and product development, while reducing time to market and preserving capital for more strategic purposes.
The first campus is expected to open in December in Orange County, California. Beginning in the first quarter of 2001, Enfrastructure campuses will open in New York, Northern California, Colorado and other key technology markets across the United States, as well as throughout Asia. The European expansion will begin in the fourth quarter of 2001.
Initial targeted clients include technology, Internet and biotech companies. Enfrastructure will be headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Ca.
"Meeting the initial, and basic, on-going needs of high-growth companies is a major opportunity for service providers," said Bruce Caldwell, senior analyst, outsourcing, Gartner’s Dataquest. "Centralizing and standardizing the management of IT services, business processes, and real estate in one package, as Enfrastructure expects to do, creates a foundation for enterprises to grow their businesses and for their service providers to grow with them."