British Olivetti’s Customer Support Group is doing its bit for the company’s push into third party maintenance, and has ousted IBM from a UKP3.4m contract. Boots the Chemist has decided to award it to Olivetti when IBM’s installation warranty expires on April 2. Boots says that it was Olivetti’s costs and manufacturer independence that won the day. The Customer Support Group will maintain a range of PS/2 store controllers and Proprinters, as well as IBM’s 4683 electronic point of sale tills. 8,000 terminals have been installed so far, and that figure is expected to reach 14,000 by 1992. The Boots Group, which now includes Payless DIY and Halfords, is claimed to be the largest user of IBM electronic point of sale kit in Europe.
