Getronics Launches Future-Ready Workspace 2.0

Business Wire, March 20, 2008

BILLERICA, Mass. -- Getronics, one of the world's largest providers of IT Services focused on workspace management, is launching its Future-Ready Workspace[TM] 2.0 today. This latest blueprint and solution adds additional capabilities and brings together all the essential workspace capabilities and services required for large and diverse organizations--enabling people to securely communicate and collaborate anytime, anywhere for optimal business agility and performance.

By supplying the Future-Ready Workspace in standardized modules, Getronics establishes an IT Services infrastructure that is flexible, affordable and able to scale based on business needs in the future. It also provides clients clear insight into their IT Services costs. The Future-Ready Workspace 2.0 includes the latest Microsoft technologies, such as Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange. Additionally, Getronics has incorporated virtualization technology, to make the workspace infrastructure more flexible, richer in functionality and more cost-efficient.

The Future-Ready Workspace modular design is comprised of three basic layers:

1. The core layer consists of hardware and software applications that provide people with the basic functionalities necessary to do their jobs more effectively, using for example Microsoft's Windows Vista and Office 2007.

2. The second layer consists of the workspace modules, a combination of technology and services focused on providing additional functionalities for specific user groups or business functions. Examples include comprehensive managed security services or mobile solutions.

3. The third layer comprises the customized add-ons that provide additional functionalities for specific user groups or business functions such as advanced collaboration and advanced security, and will provide integration with business applications.

"The way people work changes constantly," says Erik van der Meijden, CEO of Getronics. "So it's only logical that their workspace changes too. The 'tailor-made by standardization' Future-Ready Workspace solution is the result of our leadership and investment in the evolution of the workspace. We have envisioned a clear direction for the further development of our workspace offering, an area in which we are a strong market leader. This worldwide launch is a huge step forward to sustaining and growing our top position globally."

Getronics is the only worldwide IT Services provider offering this 'tailor-made by standardization' solution to large companies as a managed service, a reference architecture (a blueprint), or implementation on a project-by-project basis.

Future Ready Workspace clients gain the assurance that they are better prepared to implement upgrades of new technology, based on their business needs. On an ongoing basis, Getronics consistently evaluates and tests all evolving new technologies together with their alliance partners and through selected client pilot projects. This is an integral part of the Future-Ready Workspace services. In short, Getronics takes responsibility for the IT Services workspace and its evolution so clients can focus on their core business.

"Getronics enables the workforce to be more productive, flexible and innovative," said David Scult, General Manager, Information Worker Business Group, Microsoft Corp. "Enterprise customers depend more than anything else on their people. Getronics has bundled its deep and wide-ranging knowledge on how to assist clients getting there and staying there into a modular IT Services solution. Microsoft genuinely believes Getronics has built the platform to help their clients make the best choices for their people, making the right technology choices now as a basis for future growth."

Large organizations rely on high-performance workplaces to provide employees the tools to work together, share information and act decisively to add value to the business. Getronics developed the Information Worker Profiler, also being launched today, to build solutions and a roadmap to optimize use of information systems, geared to the needs of employees. The data provided by this assessment can be used by Getronics as input to implement the Future-Ready Workspace Solution for clients.

Workspace management is a part of Getronics' worldwide growth strategy as defined following its acquisition by KPN, the leading provider of telecommunications services in the Netherlands. The Future-Ready Workspace is where the services of Getronics and KPN meet. With two million workspaces serviced worldwide across large organizations, Getronics has the client base and infrastructure to make Future-Ready Workspace a reality for its existing clients and new clients ready to try a more agile and evolutionary approach to supplying their workforce with computing resources.

About Getronics

Getronics is a leading international provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services and solutions, focusing on workspace management, application services and consulting & transformation services. Getronics helps organisations raise their performance and increase the productivity of their people, by enabling them to share information and to work together efficiently, securely and effectively, wherever and whenever they need. Getronics is a subsidiary of KPN ICT Services with headquarters in Amsterdam. For further information about Getronics, visit www.getronics.us.