OREANDA-NEWS. April 01, 2011. Fujitsu, the leading provider of technology and IT services has launched a Cloud Consulting service. The new Consultancy service will help senior IT decision makers to understand how they could potentially be using Cloud within their organisation.

After several years of industry hype and mounting expectation around Cloud, the consensus is that Cloud is set to move from theory to practice. Industry analyst Gartner has recently predicted that 20% of businesses will own no IT assets by 2012 and that USD 150 billion in global cloud-related revenues are expected by 2013.

Similarly, whilst there is great promise for cloud, so too there is confusion and uncertainty about how to deploy Cloud and in what context certain Cloud services may or may not work. It is against this backdrop that Fujitsu now feels it is the right time to launch its Consultancy service. Fujitsu’s extensive knowledge of the Cloud is demonstrated in its educational publication, The White Book of Cloud, which explains clearly the different cloud models on offer to users.

Jo Millott, head of Cloud Consulting Fujitsu UK and Ireland comments, “Cloud is no longer the preserve of just the IT department - it is coming to much broader CXO attention and subsequently CIOs must be well equipped and prepared. There is some confusion in the market about what Cloud is and what choices should be made. Fujitsu’s Cloud Consulting Service will provide advice and guidance on how Cloud should be exploited to drive business value as well as providing expert advice on key considerations such as security and legal/data compliance.”

Fujitsu is already leading the market in Cloud. Its Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings are available and were among the first to be launched in the UK market. Fujitsu’s further commitment to the Cloud is underpinned by investment of over USD 1.2 billion in developing its Global Cloud capability in 2011. Furthermore, the company predicts that Cloud-related services will account for 30% of new business by 2015.

This consulting-led approach is essential to help the market to understand that Fujitsu has the right combination of consulting expertise, technical knowledge and infrastructure to deliver on cloud at all levels.

Millott continues, “There has been so much talk about Cloud over the last few years it is hard to distinguish which IT suppliers and vendors have genuine offerings and which simply pay lip-service to Cloud. Some IT service providers can offer strong consultancy credentials but are lacking in the physical infrastructure to ever deliver on their recommendations. I firmly believe that by combining Fujitsu’s proven infrastructure and technology capabilities with a formalised consulting practice, we have a unique proposition in the IT services market.”

Fujitsu’s Cloud Consulting offering is available to both existing customers who are considering moving certain functions to the Cloud and to engage with new customers.