ESPRIT EXPANDS SCOPE OF COMPUTER OUTSOURCING SERVICES FOR WORLDWIDE OPERATIONS; International Sportswear Maker Employs Outsourcing for Client/Server Transition.SANTA ANA Santa Ana, city, El Salvador Santa Ana (sän'tä ä`nä), city (1993 pop. 129,873), W El Salvador. It is the second largest city in the country and the commercial and processing center for a sugarcane, coffee, and cattle region. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 28, 1995--Software Maintenance Specialists (SMS (1) (Storage Management System) Software used to routinely back up and archive files. See HSM. (2) (Systems Management Server) Systems management software from Microsoft that runs on Windows NT Server. ) has expanded its computer services Data processing (timesharing, batch processing), software development and consulting services. See service bureau, SaaS and ASP. outsourcing agreement with Esprit de Corp., a leading designer and manufacturer of women's and children's apparel. SMS, listed in 1995 as one of Inc. Magazine's "Fastest-Growing Private Companies," will assume complete management of the company's U.S. information technology operations Information technology operations, or IT operations, are the superset of all processes and services that are both provisioned by an IT staff to their internal or external and used by themselves, to run themselves as a business. . The contract, valued at $25 million, calls for SMS to expand its current data processing data processing or information processing, operations (e.g., handling, merging, sorting, and computing) performed upon data in accordance with strictly defined procedures, such as recording and summarizing the financial transactions of a services agreement and take full responsibility for all Esprit data processing activities including legacy application support, data center management, network management, applications development and the implementation of a client/server-based replacement system for the current mainframe environment. Esprit began its client/server conversion project last year with the assistance of SMS. Under a process called selective outsourcing, SMS managed Esprit's data processing activities while in-house staff at the apparel company focused on implementing a new Unix-based system operating on IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) RS/6000 midrange platforms for retail and distribution operations. "SMS' flexible approach coupled with its success in meeting all deadlines and fiscal concerns enabled Esprit to establish a computing environment that achieved the company's bottom-line objectives," said Patrick Dolan, chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. at SMS. "By assigning management of its U.S. information technology operations to SMS, Esprit can remain focused on core competencies and building on its leadership position in the apparel market." SMS will supervise information technology services on-site at Esprit's corporate headquarters in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . SMS also will provide computer services for Esprit at its Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, data center facility. "By teaming with SMS, Esprit will ensure that its transition to a companywide client/server environment will move more quickly," said Peter Hanelt, Esprit's chief operating officer. "SMS' demonstrated ability at achieving Esprit's cost-reduction goals and delivering on its project commitments made the company a natural choice to manage our entire information technology operation. In addition, SMS' knowledgeable staff of professionals enhanced our decision." SMS' growth strategy focuses on ways to effectively absorb the majority of its clients' corporate data processing staff, Dolan said. The "knowledge transfer" associated with this strategy allows clients to minimize the impact of transitioning data processing services and assures optimum continuity of service levels. Esprit designs, produces and distributes a wide variety of women's and children's ready-to-wear sportswear, shoes and accessories. The company is a wholesale distributor of its products to department and specialty stores nationwide. Esprit also operates its own retail stores in selected markets. Founded in 1981, SMS offers multi-platform systems management, data processing, systems integration, technical support and application development services. SMS provides transitional and selective outsourcing services to companies throughout the U.S., including Allergan Inc., Applied Magnetics Corp., Avco Financial Services Inc., Cox Communications, Denny's Inc., Mattel Inc., McGaw Inc., Nestle Inc., Rain Bird Sprinkler Manufacturing Corp., Rockwell Space Systems Division, Rohr Inc. and Varian Associates. SMS company headquarters are located at 3 Hutton Center, Santa Ana, Calif., 92704., Telephone: 714/850-6600. CONTACT: SMS Mike Winder/Patrick Dolan, 714/850-6600 or CPI (1) (Characters Per Inch) The measurement of the density of characters per inch on tape or paper. A printer's CPI button switches character pitch. (2) (Counts Per I Joel Don/Kari Garcia, 714/858-7358 |
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