TOKYO, August 29 -- Operational costs cut by 75% with elimination of need for new servers, other ICT assets.

Fujitsu Limited and Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. today announced their collaboration on the development of a cloud-based sales data visualization system for three of the Asahi Group's Chinese sales centers in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Dalian. The new system will begin operations in September.

Deployment of the new system will clarify for the Asahi Group customer interactions, the status of orders, and other daily business activities, in addition to enhancing the sharing and analysis of information and standardizing business processes that previously relied on individual employee skills. This will enable the company to develop more competitive sales activities. In addition, the system will allow the Asahi Group to view local information, including data by region and business category, in real time from the company's headquarters so as to quickly and seamlessly respond to changing consumer needs. Moreover, by employing a cloud platform for the system, the company can avoid having to maintain new servers, network devices and other ICT assets. This, in turn, will reduce costs, including operational costs, by 75% (compared to building an on-premise system).

With its abundance of prior experience in the retailing and distribution sector, in addition to its cloud computing and other cutting-edge technologies, Fujitsu was quick to develop the new sales data visualization system. To help the Asahi Group effectively utilize collected information, Fujitsu will be delivering the system in combination with optimal support services.

Since making a full-scale entry into the Chinese market in 1994, the Asahi Group has gradually expanded its beer operations in the country. As part of this expansion, the company came to recognize a number of issues at its centers in China involving the sharing of customer information and the lack of a common management system for sales information. The workload involved in compiling such data had also become considerable. As such, the company explored developing a cloud environment-enabled sales data visualization system as a tool to enhance its business.

Overview of the Sales Data Visualization System

Fujitsu put together the optimum service combination, and was able to build this system in a short period of time. Utilizing Salesforce.com's Force.com cloud platform, the system collects and shares customer information, sales figures, and other kinds of numeric data in a cloud environment. This improves business efficiency in the company's sales activities and offers more expeditious customer support. Speeding development of the system was the use of Salesforce.com's service, which supports multiple languages. Furthermore, the system leverages the SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand cloud-based data analytics tool, which, in turn, enables richly expressive data records.

About the Force.com Cloud Platform

Leveraging the advantages of Salesforce.com, Fujitsu offers flexible solutions - from consulting to systems integration and maintenance support - to accommodate customer needs and to promote the effective use of ICT. In aiming to support customers' global businesses, accelerate management processes, and reduce costs, Fujitsu performs full-scale optimizations of customers' IT systems.

About the SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand Business Analytics Tool

The SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand package provided by Fujitsu in the new system has been employed as a tool for analyzing and sharing sales information that is managed on the Salesforce.com platform, thereby bringing clarity to the data. By utilizing the software in combination with a cloud environment, the system enables richly-expressive administrative records and other records.

Future Development

In order to further enhance its global business, the Asahi Group will work to foster an even more competitive operational environment in which management plays a direct role, while at the same time accelerating the implementation of the company's growth strategy.

Going forward, Fujitsu will continue to support the Asahi Group as a business partner, while delivering an ICT-enabled environment that generates added value.

About Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.

http://www.asahigroup-holdings.com/en/company/index.html

About Fujitsu Limited

Fujitsu is a leading provider of ICT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 170,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$55 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com .

-----

Source: Fujitsu