Spotlight News

Two Energy Events: Siemens IT Solutions and Services Steps into the Spotlight

Together with the Siemens Energy Sector, SIS presented a series of solutions such as EMS, GAMS & SMIE at the 7th SAP International Utilities Conference 2009 and this year’s “Metering, Billing/CRM Europe“.

This year’s “Metering, Billing/CRM Europe“ took place 6-8 October in Barcelona. It attracted 2,800 visitors from 72 countries, and Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) was also a successful participant.

The conference, with its attached trade exhibition, is one of the most important events in the areas of Smart Energy Communications & Infrastructures, Smart Metering & Climate Change, Effective MDM Strategies and Smart Metering Customer Acceptance & Incentives for Energy Savings.

As part of Siemens Energy Sector’s overall portfolio, SIS presented the topics of FASS (Field Activity Support System) and SMIE (Smart Meter Integration and Enablement). The Siemens activities at the event were rounded off by a press conference and by a presentation given by Paolo Manzoni, A2A ICT Director, on the topic of “Automated Meter Management: meter to bill process in one hand“. SIS played a decisive role in having this presentation accepted for the conference program.

SIS also successfully participated in the 7th SAP International Utilities Conference 2009, which took place 14-16 October in Munich. Under the motto “Energy efficiency makes cents – embracing sustainability for your customers’ benefit”, more than 40 SAP partners attended the conference.

Together with the Siemens Energy Sector, SIS presented a series of solutions at two booths. For power generation the focus was on EMS (Energy Management Suite), while GAMS (Grid Asset Management Suite) and SMIE were showcased for utilities. Energy4U, SIS’s new partner, also had a booth at the event.

For more information, please contact us at: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

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Siemens Beijing Data Center Won the Best Design, Operation and Innovation Award in Data Center Summit 2009

On August 27th, 2009, Siemens Beijing data center won the Best Design, Operation and Innovation Award for its achieved energy savings during the Data Center Summit 2009 in Beijing, co-hosted by ChinaByte, China Computer Users Association and ICTresearch. The event attracted over 400 data center managers and CIOs from many well known organizations including Intel, Cisco, IBM, etc., aiming to build a communication platform for data center experts and business leaders that facilitates mutual growth and best practice sharing.

Siemens Beijing data center is the largest data center within Siemens in the Asia-Pacific region. Designed, implemented and managed by SIS China, it offers shared IT services and key application support to over 18,000 users for Siemens in China and local Chinese companies. Through the effective use of energy-saving methods, the data center saves over 600,000 KWHs (Kilo Watt-hour) of electricity annually.

The award Siemens received is based on a few industry-recognized performance indicators such as Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), which is a standard indicator measuring how ‘green’ or energy efficient a data center is. The lower the number is, the better. If a data center’s PUE is 3.0, this means that to power every 1 KW of IT equipment to function, it consumes 3KWs of electricity which is very costly and inefficient. The PUE of Siemens data center is 1.8 whereas a traditional data center is 3.0, indicating that Siemens data center is much more energy efficient.

Mr. Li Xiao Yi, Desktop and Server Manager of SIS China presented and shared Siemens success in building and managing the transformational data center, including server virtualization, the use of thin blade servers, raised-floor cooling and energy-saving lighting in optimizing energy efficiency. Mr. Li stated, “ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) also plays an important part in building and operating a state-of-the-art data center, as it helps us in effective capacity management, change management, and incident management with clearly identified processes and roles and responsibilities. For example, an incident manager can easily find the troubleshooting QA he needs from the information library and thus avoid manual and repetitive work in training to save cost and time.”

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Spotlight News

Siemens Launches Resource Optimization Solutions Package

On September 24th 2009, Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) China released the Siemens Resource Optimization Solutions (ROS) package at the Annual Media Workshop in Siemens Center Beijing, sharing best practices with fifteen journalists from top IT media in China on the measures that Siemens have taken to reduce costs and maximize workforce resources to effectively combat the current economic downturn.

CIOs are facing increasing challenges nowadays due to the global recession. They need to reduce operational costs wherever possible and re-evaluate the utilization of existing resources to maximize productivity. The Siemens ROS package includes eight solutions, i.e., Server and Storage Virtualization, IT Infrastructure Monitoring Service, Siemens Managed SharePoint, SAP ERP Upgrade, Manufacturing Intelligence, Unified Communication Services, eTime Sheet and IT Asset Management and each of the solution contributes to productivity improvement within organizations. For example, cost saving measures such as the IT Infrastructure Monitoring Service can help companies save up to 80% operational costs with improved network stability; the Siemens Managed SharePoint Services enables companies to simplify and integrate content management landscape, which reduces up to 50% in website costs and process lead times; Manufacturing Intelligence solution allows companies to match their manufacturing planning and resource management more closely to actual needs, which saves time as well as significantly reduces operating costs.

“IT is a tool which contributes a lot to optimizing the utilization of resources. With the solutions selected in ROS package, we are able to both calculate and demonstrate a sustainable benefit for our business and for others, so that customers can witness the effectiveness of these solutions even in large and complex business environment,” said Robert Demann.

During the workshop, journalists were given a demonstration of some of the solutions in the ROS package to better understand how CIOs can benefit from these measures, followed by a tour to the IT infrastructure monitoring center which safeguards the whole IT infrastructure and applications for Siemens in China.

For more information, please contact us at: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

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Siemens IT Solutions and Services Acquires Majority Stake in Energy4U

Investment in expansion of smart grid solutions for utilities: Effective 1 October 2009, Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) will acquire a 60 percent stake in Energy4U GmbH to further expand the solutions and services portfolio for utilities in the areas of intelligent metering and billing (meter-to-bill). The partnership means both companies take up a leading position on the German market for IT services, with plans for further growth in other parts of Europe. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction remains subject to final approval by the German antitrust authorities.

Historically power has been generated centrally and distributed regionally, but legal changes in numerous countries are now giving rise to a new competitive situation. Facilitated by the provisions for deregulation and for the promotion of renewable energy sources, electricity is now fed into the power grids locally from a large number of small power stations and supplied to end customers nationwide. The new market situation entails considerably more complex demands being placed on the power grids than in the past. With this in mind, more and more utilities are investing in intelligent technology for their grids. “In this context, turning power networks into smart grids entails a number of challenges for the utilities industry. New sales models, tariffs and services are just part of this transformation process," explains Dr. Christoph Kollatz, CEO of SIS.

By using IT, the efficiency, reliability and safety of the power grids are increased at every step along the energy supply chain. One key element of intelligent grids is the intelligent metering and billing of consumption (meter-to-bill). "We are working closely with the Energy Sector in this area so that we can offer our customers an end-to-end solution, from smart metering to a CRM system, all from a single source," Kollatz adds.

Energy4U GmbH specializes in providing consulting and implementation services in connection with SAP-based customer information and billing systems for utility companies. The portfolio of the SAP specialist focuses on the needs of deregulated energy markets. It includes solutions for efficient data and portfolio management, for multiple systems and clients, and for exchange of data between the various market players and CRM systems. "Energy4U is one of Germany's leading IT service providers in this market segment," states Kollatz. "By acquiring a majority stake in Energy4U, we are gaining 90 highly specialized experts who will help us by giving our customers the best possible support as they move to smart grids."

For more information, please contact: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services China Sets Global Benchmark on ISO Certification Audit

On August 7th 2009, Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) China successfully passed the global ISO certification audit without any non-conformity. During the two-day audit, the local management team demonstrated that SIS China satisfies and in many cases exceeds the requirements of the following standards: ISO 9001(Quality Management), ISO 20000 (IT Service Management) and ISO 27001 (IT Security Management). Professional and motivated personnel, good tool support and state-of-the art Data Center were three of the highlights from the outcome of the audit.

The external audit was performed by the DQS Group, one of the global independent leaders for the certification of management systems for organizations. The DQS Group performs yearly visits to SIS locations all around the world to review its quality management. The DQS auditors have recommended to maintain the existing certificates as well as to add SIS Nanjing to the scope of the global certificate.

For more information, please contact: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens and VMware: Conquering the market together

Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) has concluded a partnership agreement with VMware, the global market leader in IT virtualization. The partners plan to deliver innovative virtualization solutions to the marketplace with immediate effect. Over the past year, at the very latest, most companies have come to regard the flexible use of IT resources through virtualization as a top priority. They are continuously confronted with the need to operate more efficiently, reduce their running costs, and be able to respond faster to new requirements. The agreement between SIS and VMware includes developing new offers and implementing a common marketing and sales strategy, and will allow joint customer acquisition.

Virtualization technology is on everybody’s lips these days. Cloud computing is one example, in which applications no longer have to be installed on a local PC and can instead be called up when required via a web browser from the so-called ‘cloud’ – with charging being based on actual usage. One key element in the successful development and provision of cloud services is virtualized IT infrastructures, which are a prerequisite for IT resources to be used in a sufficiently flexible, reliable and cost-effective fashion.

The new partners SIS and VMware are now pooling their strengths in the management of IT infrastructures and the provision of virtualization solutions, and joint solutions have already been successfully implemented on behalf of several high-profile companies. The partners now plan to grow their market share on a broader front.

“We value the strong relationship between Siemens IT Solutions and Services and VMware. As a key global VMware partner, Siemens is simplifying customer IT environments using VMware technology to provide a more efficient, flexible and reliable IT Service,” says Steve Jackson, Senior Director, Systems Integrators and Outsourcers, VMware. “Siemens is also a member of the VMware vCloud initiative, driving towards delivering a 100% virtualized cloud-based service to their clients in a cost effective, simple and straightforward way.”

“We are proud to be the partner of VMware, the market leader in virtualization. This partnership as covered by the Global System Integrator Agreement is fully in line with SIS’ strategy to provide world-class sustainable services to our customers in both system integration and outsourcing. By using VMware’s leading edge technology and solutions, SIS ensures that it delivers innovative solutions and services with top-end quality to the marketplace,” adds Hermann Heimhardt, Senior Vice President Global Operations at SIS.

For more information, please contact: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Shares Software Development Experience in SSIRI 2009 Conference

On July 7-10, SIS China was invited to the third Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Conference on Secure Software Integration and Reliability Improvement (SSIRI 2009) held in Shanghai, China. Around 90 guests from home and abroad joined the Conference.

Mr. Rudolf Siebenhofer, COO of SIS China, delivered a keynote speech with the title of Complexity-Interoperability-Deployment of Software, are we on the right track of software industry, addressing the key challenges of interoperability in software industry, which according to some top professors, are not yet well-aware within the academic community. Mr. Bao Tang from SIS SDE China also co-organized a workshop together with Dr. Jun Pang from the University of Luxemburg on July 9, aiming to increase scientific interaction and cooperation between academic researchers and industrial practitioners in the area of critical industry applications. Dr. Fances Paulisch from Siemens AG Corporate Technology also delivered a keynote speech on the topic of Reliability for software-based system on July 9.

SSIRI 2009 is a forum for the exchange of methods, theories and ideas related to the development of reliable, secure, and trustworthy software systems. Researchers and practitioners presented innovative theories and methods and shared ideas, experiences and best practices in software security and reliability. The forum not only enables the academic community to gain an increased awareness of the areas that are vital to the software industry, but also provides practitioners an opportunity to express their needs and concerns.

Around 20 guests from industrial companies and academic institutions participated in the workshop co-chaired by Mr. Bao Tang in the afternoon of July 9. As the invited speaker to the workshop, Mr. Siebenhofer shared his experience of the systematic cooperation between SIS China and universities since year 2004. Mr. Siebenhofer is looking forward to more innovations from the cooperative research project funded by the national government.

Four select papers evaluated by the Program Committee were also presented during the workshop covering the area of testing, reliability and security. During the workshop, Mr. Bao Tang also led a panel discussion featuring cooperation between industry and academy in testing technologies and tools for critical industry applications. Three panelists shared their experience and vision for the future cooperation, followed by a heated discussion on the challenges ahead as well as the concrete actions needed to strengthen the cooperation.

Link to the conference website: http://paris.utdallas.edu/ssiri09/

Spotlight News

Siemens SAP Education Offers SAP Academy Product Planning Full-Time Course

From August 17th to September 11th 2009, Siemens SAP Education will conduct SAP Academy Product Planning full-time course. During the 20 day course, trainees will learn the following subjects: Repetitive Manufacturing, Make-to-Stock Production, Make-to-Order Production and Batch & Processing Production. With the implementation and management of the Product Planning module, a company can realize effective management to plant data, the production Material Request Planning, Material Request Planning II, capability planning and cost controlling. Trainees registered in this course, have experiences in enterprise information system, specifically in the manufacturing section of the system.

After the 20 day training, trainees will be rewarded with a SAP Associated Consultant Certificate after passing the SAP online exam from Germany. Possible job positions after the certification includes: SAP Product Planning Solution Consultant, Production Scheduler, Manufacturing Supervisor and more.

Siemens SAP Education's dedication to high-quality oriented education, will gradually convey more SAP professional consultants to the market.

For queries regarding SAP education, please contact: sapeducation.slc@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services China Successfully Implements the 1st SPLM SRM Solution in China for SNC

On October 15th 2008, Siemens Numerical Control Ltd. (SNC) Nanjing, a market leader in China in the field of numerical control systems for machine tools, commissioned Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) China together with Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software (SPLM) Shanghai, to handle the implementation of the entire TeamCenter Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Solution which includes: Sourcing Component Identification and standard Sourcing Component Negotiation solution at their location in Nanjing to support the company’s continual growth. On June 5th 2009, after almost 8 months of planning and implementation, SNC is now equipped with a system that is able to support the company’s growth, maintain world-class quality and reduce time-to-market for years to come.

Due to the explosive economic growth in China, especially in the manufacturing sector, SNC saw the need to upgrade and implement solutions that will allow them to continually be more productive and scalable while minimizing their costs. SNC also needed to have a more streamlined and institutionalized process to meet the expected business growth for the next 2-4 years.

Increased demand and a higher number of orders due to China’s rising economy have caused several challenges for SNC. The company was facing difficulty in meeting the higher consumer demand. Furthermore, the processes that were already set in place were not standardized which caused complications among the buyers, suppliers and developers which resulted in a longer product time-to-market. The solution that SNC needed was not readily available as this was the first SPLM Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) project in China, so a lot of customization had to be done to fit the local environment.

SIS China gathered the project know-how as well as all relevant subject matter experts together in order to collaborate, plan and customize the solutions that would suit the customer’s local requirements and business needs. Based on the current sourcing processes and IT investments in SNC and in the aim to maximize customer’s investment, SIS China implemented the RFx module from SRM in SNC with the support from SPLM R&D India. The solution would allow SNC to standardize its sourcing processes, making it easier and faster, as well as time and cost efficient. The solution includes two main parts: SCI (Sourcing Component Identification) and SCN (Sourcing Component Negotiation). The key features of the solution include:
- Pre-defined sourcing templates
- Customized reports
- Centrally maintained sourcing data
- Detailed cost breakdown
- Enabled collaboration among buyers, suppliers and developers
- Multiple time-zones, languages and currencies setup

The associated business benefits include the following:
- A simpler and standardized souring process
- Reduced manual repetitive work for buyers
- Easy to trace sourcing data thus reduced operational efforts
- Transparent and reasonable prices which saves sourcing cost
- Reduced product's time-to-market
- Easier for global sourcing activities

SNC GP Manager, Ms. Xu Ling stated: “SNC directly benefited from this solution as we now have a very transparent sourcing process and our sourcing operation is more productive and traceable. With the new robust reporting capability, the cost breakdown can be analyzed and suppliers' quotes can be easily compared which leads to a clearer sourcing decision. With the right sourcing decision, SNC will be able to reduce costs.”

The successful completion of this sourcing project has benefited the SIS China team as they are now fully-equipped with the know-how to perform similar sourcing projects for the Chinese market. SNC has expressed interest to commission SIS China for phase 2 of the sourcing project which includes integrating the Sourcing system to their TeamCenter Unified Application platform.

For more information, please contact: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services China awarded IT Infrastructure Setup Contract for Siemens Home & Office Communication Devices (Shanghai)

On May 18th 2009, Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) China was awarded the contract by Siemens Home & Office Communication Devices (Shanghai) Ltd. for setting up their whole IT infrastructure. Siemens Home & Office Communication Devices (Shanghai), which is being carved-out and be known as Gigaset Communications, is a cordless voice market leader in designing, developing, manufacturing and distributing a range of high-quality products under the name Siemens Gigaset. The contract includes setting up their backend system, data center hosting, desktop & laptop services, e-mail setup & migration and many others.

SIS China was awarded the contract due to its holistic solution offerings combined with its competitive pricing strategy in this challenging economic environment. By selecting SIS China, the Siemens cross-sector division as service provider, Siemens Home & Office Communication Devices (Shanghai) will avoid unnecessary business risks which in-turn makes the migration from the existing IT environment much easier.

The project’s target deadline is June 15th 2009, much shorter compared to similar projects. Although a challenge, the project team of SIS is confident to meet the relatively short timeline and to deliver the quality services required.

For questions on our solutions & services, please e-mail us at: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Supplies Austrian Passport Authorities with Biometric Fingerprint System

The scanners are used at passport offices in Austria (municipal and district authorities) and in embassies outside of Austria to issue electronic passports. As of June 28, 2009, all EU member states must issue passports that contain a chip with biometric fingerprints.

The software solution from Siemens IT Solutions and Services is part of the Homeland Security Suite product family. It records the biometric fingerprint, evaluates its quality and makes it available as a high-quality, digital image. The hardware in use is the “ZF1 Modell Austria” single fingerprint scanner from subcontractor Dermalog Identification Systems. The scanners were specially designed to meet the requirements of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. The project was completed on March 30, 2009 and the new passports have been available to Austrian citizens since the beginning of April.

For questions on our solutions & services, please e-mail us at: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Achieves Run SAP Implementation Partner Certification

In March, Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) – SAP Services Partner – has been certified by SAP AG as a provider of solution implementation based on the Run SAP methodology.

In May 2008, the SIS Customer Core Center of Expertise (Customer CCOE) was the first certified by SAP. In addition to this achievement, SIS is now the first and only organization certified in the Run SAP methodology, confirming the high maturity and quality of service the organization delivers to its customers.

“We applaud Siemens IT Solutions and Services in becoming one of the first SAP service partners certified in the Run SAP methodology,” said Dr. Uwe Hommel, executive vice president of Active Global Support at SAP AG. “By adopting the end-to-end solution operations standards provided by the Run SAP methodology, SIS will deliver a higher level of effectiveness and efficiency to its customers.”

For questions on our solutions & services, please e-mail us at: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Partners with FESCO to Further Drive SAP Education Market

On March 18th 2009, Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) China together with Beijing Fesco International Business Service Co.Ltd. (FESCO), signed a cooperation deal at FESCO Tower Beijing to jointly market and endorse ERP solutions which includes promoting SAP education courses.

Under the agreement, FESCO will assist Siemens with SAP Education developments, course registrations, operations and sales & marketing activities. “SAP Education trainees will benefit mostly from this cooperation as FESCO has an outstanding reputation with training organizations and HR network and is able to assist trainees with their career challenges through its close-ties with other foreign enterprises” said Mr Ran Cao, Head of Siemens SAP Education. Mr. Wang Xiaoping, Vice President of FESCO commented that “We recognize that Siemens stands for quality, which is the key success element in driving local education initiatives. We’re confident that this alliance will accelerate the growth of local SAP talent market.”

For queries regarding SAP solutions and services, please contact: sapeducation.slc@siemens.com

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Siemens IT Solutions and Services Presents Answers for Sustained Reduction of SAP Operational Costs

On April 16th at Siemens Center Beijing and April 22nd at Jian Guo Hotel Shanghai, Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) China together with SAP, Microsoft and HP, demonstrated how CIOs can reduce operational costs in a sustained manner while improving support to business by upgrading their SAP system to ERP 6.0. About 40 customers representing various industries including Manufacturing, Banking, Consulting, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Mobility, Insurance, etc. attended the forum to seek cost reduction and flexible business process answers provided by the ERP 6.0 upgrade.

Today's economic downturn has forced companies to re-evaluate the relationship between costs and profits. In order to provide further support for business in the most effective but cost efficient manner, customers need a flexible IT landscape that allows them to quickly adapt their business processes to the rapidly changing market environment. Some of the challenges being faced by companies with older ERP systems that were brought up during the forum include; operational complexities, logistics management and the lack of localization.

With technical, functional and strategic upgrade provided by SIS, customers can choose the most appropriate solution that fits their current investment scope. Customers can also selectively adopt the functionalities from the new ERP 6.0 enhancement packages, making targeted and business-value driven improvements to support their current and future objectives. More importantly, the cooperation between Siemens, SAP, Microsoft and HP enables customers to have one-stop shop for faster business operation solutions and cheaper ERP related hardware, software and services.

"Customers need to look at the long-term cost reduction strategies to win in today's economic environment," said Robert Demann, CEO of Siemens IT Solutions and Services China, "In-time, SAP ERP upgrade is one of the solutions that will not only help reduce SAP operational cost but also improve business agility and decision-making capability."

With over 35 years of partnership with SAP, Siemens IT Solutions and Services have been expanding its SAP ERP solutions portfolio and has become SAP's exclusive partner for SAP Education program launched last year. Driving both ERP market and local talent development, Siemens IT Solutions and Services is transforming IT into business value.

For more information, please contact: it-solutions.cn@siemens.com

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Spotlight News

Two Energy Events: Siemens IT Solutions and Services Steps into the Spotlight

Spotlight News

Siemens Beijing Data Center Won the Best Design, Operation and Innovation Award in Data Center Summit 2009

Spotlight News

Siemens Launches Resource Optimization Solutions Package

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Acquires Majority Stake in Energy4U

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services China Sets Global Benchmark on ISO Certification Audit

Spotlight News

Siemens and VMware: Conquering the market together

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Shares Software Development Experience in SSIRI 2009 Conference

Spotlight News

Siemens SAP Education Offers SAP Academy Product Planning Full-Time Course

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services China Successfully Implements the 1st SPLM SRM Solution in China for SNC

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services China awarded IT Infrastructure Setup Contract for Siemens Home & Office Communication Devices (Shanghai)

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Supplies Austrian Passport Authorities with Biometric Fingerprint System

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Achieves Run SAP Implementation Partner Certification

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Partners with FESCO to Further Drive SAP Education Market

Spotlight News

Siemens IT Solutions and Services Presents Answers for Sustained Reduction of SAP Operational Costs

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