Empresas y finanzas

Italcementi Enhances its Relationship with Orange Business Services by Selecting Business Everywhere(TM)



    Italcementi has enhanced its relationship with Orange Business
    Services by selecting Business Everywhere(TM) to connect hundreds of
    its mobile workers, either when they are traveling internationally or
    inside their own country.

    Orange Business Services' Business Everywhere(TM) brings employees
    on the move a range of managed mobility solutions to stay in touch
    with their business partners. It enables them to work efficiently
    anywhere in fully secure conditions, with the same level of comfort as
    in the office and with one single bill at the end of the month for all
    worldwide connections. Business Everywhere(TM) has proved essential to
    connect engineers, account managers and senior executives who travel
    frequently or work where there is often no fixed infrastructure.

    Italcementi's relationship with Orange Business Services has
    continued growing since the first network contract in 1998. A trusted
    relationship and history of providing good advice helped Orange
    Business Services to win a contract in 2002 to provide an
    international MPLS VPN to connect all of Italcementi's overseas sites
    and mines into a seamless global network. In 2006, the contract was
    extended for two further years. Business Everywhere(TM) has been added
    on top of the current network services.

    "We've been very impressed with the robustness of the network, and
    MPLS has allowed us to prioritize SAP over other less critical
    applications in the network," said Thierry de Turckheim, IT Global
    Operations director, Italcementi. "With this capability, we've been
    able to consolidate our SAP platform, thereby cutting operating
    expenses while boosting performance. What's more, Orange Business
    Services has a strong presence wherever we want to go. It made sense
    to continue this relationship."

    On top of using Business Everywhere(TM) and networked SAP,
    Italcementi is investigating the possibility of converging all of its
    voice, mobile and data activity. By deploying IP telephony, it will be
    able to achieve significant operational savings, but also give
    employees the ability to hot-desk and work remotely.

    "We are very pleased to expand our relationship with Italcementi
    and continue supporting the company's growth plans," said Mauro Dezi,
    vice president, Orange Business Services Italy. "We will continue to
    help Italcementi find new ways to improve productivity, especially
    through the innovative use of technology."

    About Italcementi

    Italcementi is the world's fifth largest producer of cement and
    aggregates. Headquartered in Bergamo, it is one of the ten largest
    listed companies in Italy. Dominating the Italian and French
    construction markets, it has expanded its operations throughout the
    Mediterranean Rim into Spain, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria
    and in the U.S. In all, Italcementi operates in 19 countries and
    employees 22,850 people at 61 cement plants, 15 grinding centers, 588
    concrete units, 152 quarries and 3 stand alone terminals.

    Cement is the core business, contributing 65% to the Group's 2006
    revenues of EUR 5,85 billion. It is complemented by the sales of sand
    and gravel extracted from quarries, otherwise known as aggregate, and
    concrete, a mixture of cement, aggregates, water, and specialist
    additives.

    About Orange Business Services

    Orange Business Services represents the business communications
    solutions and services provided by the France Telecom Group as of June
    1, 2006. They were previously sold under the France Telecom, Orange,
    Equant, Etrali, Almerys, EGT, Expertel Consulting, France Telecom
    Intelmatique, SETIB and Solicia brands.

    The offers include converged voice, data and mobile services as
    well as IT expertise and managed services, all designed to transform
    business processes and improve productivity. Orange Business Services
    is present in 166 countries and territories and serves customers in
    220.

    www.orange-business.com