How many global facilities management, network provision or maintenance companies have their own staff stationed in 187 countries? Not many, and it is this geographical spread that International Telecommunications Services reckons will be one of its key selling points. The chances are the the average subscriber may not have heard of the company – not many people have outside the world of the international airlines. But the networking services arm of SITA, the Society for International Transporters by Air, is determined to make itself better known and break into new market sectors – and is a company that the other operators should be wary of. Last year the company, founded in 1972, made 40% of its $150m revenues from outside the airline industry; a share gained mainly, it says, by word of mouth and referrals. But with the airline industry going through a very turbulent patch and the world and its spouse making a bee-line for the global facilities management market, International Telecommunications Services has decided that some trumpet-blowing is needed if it is to continue to expand.
Most like DEC, IBM
It is the facilities management arms of Digital Equipment Corp and IBM Corp that most closely mirror its own services at the moment, according to the company’s group director of global services, Martin Burvill, but the various consortia of national public telecommunications operators – Unisource, Syncordia and the like also challenge. Burvill acknowledges that the DEC and IBM operations are perfectly acceptable in Europe, the US and parts of the Pacific Rim, but he claims that service falls away outside these main trading areas. When it comes to the phone company consortia, Burvill questions both their stability and their ability to do things like install and service network operating systems, bridges, routers and personal computers: he claims that having spent 10 years supporting airlines and their booking agents worldwide, his company has an unusually broad set of skills. Capitalising on this, the company has begun to hunt actively for the large multinationals that need managed transmission, personal computer and local network support; local net interconnection; help with standard purchasing agreements, shipping, or general support spread across a number of territories. Much more unusually, the company is also looking for manufacturers that need help in supporting their products overseas. The first such arrangement, announced last week, is with Compaq Computer Corp, which will be referring large accounts to International Telecommunications as the means for providing post-sales support and integration. The amount of business generated by far-flung outposts of a business is undoubtedly small, however ITS’ ability to reach them is key to getting the more lucrative business. It is therefore not keen on letting its customers cherry-pick – using the company to provide links, and business support in, say, Beirut, Lima and Lagos while choosing another firm to handle links between London and Paris. Instead it likes to tie its users into a long contract about five years is typical – and have them use it not just for those tricky, hard-to-get-at places, but for more general facilities management. Perhaps one question mark over the operation is how well the the company can cope with the period of expansion and how a group that was previously used to sitting in Lhasa supporting the local airline booking office will feel maintaining the branch office networks and personal computers of BigCorp Inc.
