Interview: Paul Parrish, UK managing director, Fujitsu Siemens Computers

Hardware maker's chief believes he can ease customer fears in an uncertain climate

Fujitsu Siemens will soon have a new name

Given their affinity for a discipline founded on the rigid principles of logic, it is not surprising that IT leaders dislike ambiguity and uncertainty.

With the economic storm showing little signs of abating, those leaders may be expected to grasp any rocks of certainty they can find. And in such a climate, the old adage that "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" can have a certain comforting appeal.

That could be bad news for Paul Parrish, UK managing director of hardware maker Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC). He has to convince customers that his company is as safe a bet as the likes of IBM – even though he cannot even tell his customers what his company will be called in three months' time.

As it transpires, Parrish seems to relish the opportunities afforded by helping customers understand seemingly contradictory messages.

On the name front, he confides: "It has all been agreed and shared internally. We will make the announcement at the appropriate time."

The reason for the imminent rebranding is a change in ownership. On 1 April 2009, Japanese technology giant Fujitsu is set to acquire the 50 per cent stake of FSC that it does not currently own.

Often a change in ownership introduces uncertainty in the minds of IT buyers. But typically, Parrish sees an opportunity.

On the whole, the transition will be a case of business as usual, he says – but ultimately it will see FSC become part of a $50bn (£36.4bn) technology titan capable of competing head to head with the likes of HP, IBM and Dell.

Even so, IT budget predictions for the coming year make gloomy reading for buyers and suppliers alike; expectations are that upgrade cycles will be stretched and hardware refreshes delayed.

"It will be tough in first quarter of 2009," says Parrish. "Probably the toughest quarter we have seen for some time."

Evidence of lengthening upgrade cycles is clear in the PC market – one of FSC 's core markets. Both Gartner and IDC have recently reported sluggish sales.

One of the few growth areas has been netbooks – the pared-down mini laptops designed to provide internet access and not much else. But the lack of interest in the segment from FSC is almost palpable. It has its own Amilo netbook offering, but the line's main competitive differentiator is coloured clip-on casings – hardly a business-critical innovation. Indeed, even Parrish is largely dismissive of the segment.

"The margin on netbooks is negligible. It is not something we will focus heavily on," he says.

Nevertheless, IT leaders will continue to invest in their infrastructure, says Parrish, because technology can still help streamline business operations and help rein in costs. And it is in the higher-value end that Parrish sees FSC operating.

That is undoubtedly a high-risk strategy in such straitened times, but Parrish believes that by choosing its battles carefully, focusing on those technologies that significantly add business value, FSC can prosper.

Parrish points to the example of server virtualisation. The ability to improve utilisation rates can help the IT department consolidate its x86-based server estate and realise cost savings.

On the face of it, that does not look like much of a sales opportunity for server makers – the customer intent is to consolidate server farms, not add to them.

But Parrish believes that firms can realise far greater savings through purchasing products such as its Bladeframe appliances, which incorporate some of the networking and storage infrastructure needed to accompany virtualisation deployments.

Bladeframes offer additional ways to "save money and power. The return on investment arguments are actually quite simple to make," he says.

While touching on IT's big ideas du jour, Parrish reflects on the opportunities for cloud computing. The attraction of buying all of a firm's IT requirements as a service, delivered over the internet, has enormous appeal for any business leader and is an area around which FSC will look to develop offerings, says Parrish.

"It is fair to say that the hype is outpacing reality at the moment. But it is a hugely interesting concept for us," he says.

But in today's unforgiving economy, IT leaders are looking at more practical ways to trim their hardware expenditure, he says. "We have seen a great deal of interest in leasing deals, and other models – where users install servers but only pay when they are actually using them," he says.

The approach is typical of Parrish's ethos - rather than shy away from uncertainty, it is better to tackle it head on. That approach will unquestionably be tested even more in the coming months.