ironROD,
An interesting article from CMP net:
MCI Systemhouse
Brings Much To Merger
By KATE GERWIG
MCI Systemhouse seems to have a
winning formula, even before WorldCom
and MCI merge.
Just two years after being bought by
MCI, Systemhouse, the Canada-based
systems integration company, this week
said its 1997 revenue will top $1.7
billion, much of that resulting from more
than $1 billion in new business in the
past three months. Its revenue in 1996
was $1.4 billion, up 30 percent from the
year before.
Many of the company's new customers
already use MCI voice and data
communications services. Even though
businesses don't choose Systemhouse
because they already buy other services
from MCI, the fact the two companies
are linked certainly hasn't hurt.
"This year we've been able to
successfully leverage the MCI brand and
network assets," said Scott Ross, MCI
Systemhouse's president and CEO.
Industry analysts say much of MCI
Systemhouse's success can be traced
to its unique position in the
marketplace--it is one of the only
systems integration companies directly
tied to a communications provider.
"It's a very smart move to integrate a
telephony company with an IT services
company. It's a natural, but I can't think of
another company that's done it," said
Kepler Knott, vice president for process
markets group at market consulting
company GR2 Inc.
"The advantage of working with MCI and
SHI is that it's a better way to manage
our network," said Sonney Taragin, vice
president of technology at Caliber
Learning Network, which recently signed
a $13.7 million, four-year contract with
MCI Systemhouse to provide WAN
support to 28 U.S. locations where it
offers adult education and training
services over its network.
"We can't have one party pointing to the
other. They are the same organization,"
he said.
The proposed merger of WorldCom and
MCI raises some interesting
possibilities.
"The potential merger provides a bigger
global presence for Systemhouse with
its outsourcing capability," said Walt
Ressler, director of information
technology at multinational Roche
Vitamins Inc., an MCI long distance
customer.
After the merger, MCI Systemhouse will
work closely with the
telecommunications side of
MCI/WorldCom, particularly in working
with Internet applications, to provide
global networking and Internet-based IT
solutions to multinational customers,
Ross said.
In the next few years, Systemhouse will
target network-based computing and
interenterprise solutions, Internet/intranet
applications, electronic commerce,
applications management and business
process outsourcing.
Regards
Neil |
