blog Telstra is talking up the international prospects for its Network Applications and Services (NAS) arm after securing a significant contract to manage IT management and procurement on behalf of expanding regional budget airline Jetstar.
The contract – whose value has been pegged in the tens of millions of dollars by independent sources – is Telstra’s largest contract to date outside of Australia, and expands a relationship that has persisted since 2006 when Telstra was signed as Jetstar’s telecommunications service provider.
Telstra NAS will now be providing a range of services including network architecture, global procurement services, finance management, project change management, continuous improvement, and interface management.
Both Telstra and Jetstar were naturally excited about the deal, as outlined in the press release announcing the expanded contract:
“For future growth and expansion, we now have the systems and services in place to deliver Jetstar’s ICT maintenance, management and rapid incident resolution so that the business is free to focus on its strategic objectives,” said Telstra Global CEO Martijn Blanken. “Asia is a key geographical market for Telstra, one where we have great success and a strong reputation. The region also represents a key pillar of growth for Telstra.”
….Jetstar CIO Steve Tame said that that with Jetstar achieving rapid expansion and now offering flights to 65 destinations in 16 countries and territories, the dedicated resources provided by Telstra were an invaluable addition to the business. “By incorporating NAS as part of the new contract, there will now be a dedicated Telstra team working as an extension of our existing IT team. This puts us in a strong position to tailor our networks for future demand.”
Revenues for the NAS division grew 10.5%, to around $A1.2 billion, in its last financial year.
It’s not the first time Jetstar has taken a change of tack for its ICT strategy: the company’s CIO, Stephen Tame, has long been a regular on conference circuit for his success in helping the airline grow with nothing more than a handful of IT staff and a habit of being a relatively early adopter of new technologies.
For example, nearly two years ago Jetstar committed most company staff to Google Apps. He had earlier moved away from desktop phones, and last September signed on with Mahindra Satyam to undertake outsourcing work as part of an existing deal with local IT services company Lincom Solutions.