Interflora kiest ICT-dienstenleverancier BT voor de centrale orderverwerking van bloemenbestellingen via het internet. Ook wordt BT verantwoordelijk voor het commerciële zakelijke systeem van Interflora. Op topdagen zoals Moederdag, Valentijnsdag en Kerstmis handelt Interflora, dat we in Nederland kennen als Fleurop Interflora, duizenden transacties per uur af via het netwerk van BT.
"De concurrentie in de bloemenmarkt neemt enorm toe. Het altijd beschikbaar zijn van onze website en de snelle afhandeling van bestellingen maakt het verschil", aldus Rhys Hughes, financieel directeur bij Interflora. "BT garandeert ons servers die betrouwbaar zijn, grote hoeveelheden data kunnen verwerken en piekbelasting op topdagen aankunnen". De servers van Interflora worden gehost vanuit één van de beveiligde data centra van BT in Engeland.
De overeenkomst, die een looptijd van drie jaar heeft, geldt vooralsnog voor de levering van bloemenbestellingen in Engeland.
Het volledige, Engelstalige persbericht is onderaan deze e-mail te vinden.
Over BT
BT Global Services richt zich op ICT-dienstverlening en telecommunicatie voor de grootzakelijke markt. BT biedt een wereldwijd geharmoniseerd portfolio van diensten op het gebied van applicatiehosting- en beheer, bandbreedte, broadcasting, data-VPN's, internet, voice en consulting.
Daarnaast verzorgt BT oplossingen op het gebied van e-business, e-CRM, mobility, desktopbeheer, security en connectivity. BT beschikt internationaal over tientallen datacenters en levert wereldwijd netwerktransport. BT Nederland is sinds 1989 actief en is onderdeel van BT Global Services.
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Voor meer informatie kunt u contact opnemen met:
Marlies Roest
PR manager BT Nederland
Tel: 020 203 8898
mailto:marlies.roest@bt.com
Leoni Janssen of Diana Budding
Edelman
Tel: 023 554 2030
mailto:nl@edelman.com
http://www.edelman.com/nl
Voor meer informatie kunt u ook terecht op de website van BT:
http://www.bt.nl.
Eerder verschenen persberichten kunt u vinden op:
http://www.btglobalservices.com/nl/pressrelease/index.html.
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PRESS RELEASE
Interflora British Unit "says it" with three-year, seven-figure hosting deal from BT
Interflora, the world's largest flower delivery network, has chosen BT to host its central order processing and commercial business system. The service, part of Interflora British Unit's IT upgrade programme, is designed to retain and support a growing market share in an increasingly competitive sector. BT will ensure the system, which will handle thousands of transactions an hour during Interflora British Unit's busiest periods - Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, delivers a seamless and consistent service to Interflora.
Under the terms of the contract, BT will manage and host the servers, operating system, network hardware and firewalls required to run the Interflora British Unit business software application from one of BT's secure UK data centres. It will also provide 24 hour operating software and hardware maintenance and support. Key factors behind Interflora British Unit's decision to choose BT include BT's expertise in running heavy-duty servers and its proven track record in providing resilient hosted services capable of handling seasonal increases in data traffic.
Rhys Hughes, Finance Director at Interflora British Unit said: "Over the past few years, competition in the flower relay market has increased dramatically with high street retailers and even supermarkets entering the market. To maintain our quality of service and our competitive edge, particularly the ability to send flowers anywhere in the UK in three hours from one of our three channels; stores, online or telesales, our systems are of utmost importance. The new real time business system fitted the bill perfectly, however we were unable to support it in-house. BT is one of the few providers we approached who were able to offer the necessary expertise and proven capability."
Catherine Hawley, senior vice-president of Applications Management and Hosting at BT said: "Interflora British Unit's e-business application is critical to maintaining competitiveness in the marketplace. Downtime during peak hours could cost the company significantly, not to mention the wider costs associated with damage to its brand and reputation. Interflora British Unit sought assurance that its hosting partner was solid as a rock in terms of reliability and financial stability. BT has been a key player in the hosting market for the last 20 years and this long-term commitment helped to provide this assurance."
BT was recently named as a leader in Gartner's 2003 Pan-European Hosting Magic Quadrant, published on September 9th.
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Notes to editors
About BT Global Services (www.btglobalservices.com) BT Global Services is BT's business services and solutions division, serving customers worldwide. As an information and communications technology service provider, BT provides integrated data and value-added services to meet the needs of multi-site organisations with European operations.
Extensive global service capabilities and strong strategic partnerships also enable BT to serve customers in all key commercial centres of Europe, North America and Asia.
The BT Global Services portfolio ranges from desktop and network equipment and software, transport and connectivity, IP-based e-business solutions, managed network services and systems integration to consultancy for complex global requirements.
With 17 years of experience in global account management, BT has more than 8,000 people based outside the UK, serving our target customers around the world.
For more information please contact:
Rachel Lally at Catalysis Communications on 020 7665 4318 or email:
rachel.lally@catalysis.co.uk
About Interflora British Unit (www.interflora.co.uk)
Interflora British Unit is a Trade Association with 2,000 member florists in UK & Ireland and 60,000 members worldwide. Interflora British Unit offers customers a range of ways of placing orders for flowers:
1. At a local Interflora British Unit florist shop
2. Using the freephone service 0500 434343
3. By Internet - www.interflora.co.uk
Interflora (FTDA) British Unit Ltd.
For more information please contact:
Interflora British Unit's Public Relations department on 01529 304141 or
email: phil.carey@interflora.co.uk or Interflora British Unit's press office on 020 7465 7700 or email: interflorateam@redconsultancy.com