ICT Expert celebrates cloud and business excellence

Wharf T&T undergoes a successful transformation and leads the way in embracing latest technology and providing quality information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to businesses. In an era where technology is rapidly advancing, cloud is the next big wave and Wharf T&T has an ace up its sleeve to pull ahead.

Cloud is the future
Cloud is integral to corporate strategy and it is a transformative technology that makes business expansion and systems more efficient and flexible than ever before. Having witnessed the tremendous potential and power of the cloud, Wharf T&T has made a foray into cloud and stepped up investment in cloud development since 2010.

Given that cloud has a profound impact on businesses across different sectors at a strategic and operational level, Wharf T&T harnesses its cloud capabilities to deliver FibreCloud service (FibreCloud), a real cloud solution for large enterprises as well as SMEs, in tandem with three world-renowned technology firms - VMware, Cisco and EMC this year.

“As the leading ICT service provider in Hong Kong with the best-of-breed ‘Fibre-to-the-Desk’ (FTTD) network infrastructure well in place, we are well-positioned to propel the cloud development in Hong Kong to the next level. Combining the best-in-class network and compute infrastructure, virtualization and storage technologies, FibreCloud is set to redefine business-grade public cloud computing standard and revolutionise the business landscape,” said Vincent Ma, President of Wharf T&T.

FibreCloud is an ICT breakthrough which prevails over all other forms of cloud services offered by local ICT providers and top technology giants worldwide. Unlike other hosted or web-based cloud service counterparts, FibreCloud has its core infrastructure located at Wharf T&T’s ISO certified tier 3+ data centre in Chai Wan with dedicated facilities, cutting-edge backup and restoration technologies. Accompanied by multi-dimensional security measures including 2-factor authentication customer management portal encrypted with SSL certificates, dedicated firewalls and customer VPN segregation, FibreCloud guarantees all cloud equipment and customer data are well-managed and commits to a 99.99% service level agreement.

Cloud services go hand in hand with high-speed internet connection and yet many cloud service providers fail to deliver a cloud-ready network architecture which has hampered cloud adoption. Riding on Wharf T&T’s full fibre optic network, FibreCloud connects with Wharf T&T’s stable and reliable FTTD network and provides seamless layer 2 and layer 3 end-to-end cloud connectivity solution, so that customers can access to cloud resources and applications anywhere, anytime.

Wharf T&T focuses 100% on Hong Kong’s business needs and offers strong local support with well-trained certified staff providing practical cloud advice from consultancy, migration, managed services to usage planning. Together with the 24x7 technical support service, customers can directly reach Cantonese-speaking customer service personnel anytime for troubleshooting and professional assistance without delay.

While FibreCloud is a pay-as-you-go service, businesses only have to pay for what they actually use requiring no large upfront capital investment. Its auto scaling feature also enables users to scale up and down their cloud requirement according to changing business needs.

"Cloud is the next key enabler of ICT evolution and we plan to develop and bring more best-of-breed cloud solutions to market with substantial investment. The launch of FibreCloud is a major step in driving local cloud footprint and facilitating innovation, and we are confident that FibreCloud will enable both Wharf T&T and Hong Kong businesses to embark on a rewarding cloud journey,” Ma said.

CSR comes under spotlight
Being recognised as the Caring Company for 6 years, Wharf T&T invests largely in community well-being. Through collaborating with numerous NGOs of different nature as well as the active involvement in Project WeCan programme, Wharf T&T works relentlessly for the benefits of society and has successfully built a strong reputation as a socially-conscious, ethical and sustainable ICT service provider. Through Project WeCan programme, Wharf T&T establishes a deeper bonding with CCC Kei Heep Secondary School and helps equip students with essential skills for life and work.

Going green has long taken root in the business sector and Wharf T&T is no exception. Wharf T&T attained the Gold Label of WWF’s Low-carbon Office Operation Programme (LOOP) for 5 consecutive years and made serious efforts to cultivate a green working lifestyle and paperless office towards environmental sustainability.

Business reaches record high
Wharf T&T keeps breaking new grounds and continues to shine with a record performance and a more pronounced business outlook. Following the all-time-high revenue and operating profit in 2013, Wharf T&T recorded encouraging results for the first half of 2014. Total turnover rose by 3% to HK$947 million and operating profit grew 15% to HK$165 million. EBITDA increased 6% with margin improving to 39%.

Having secured 9 industry awards this year, Wharf T&T is on the winning streak to greater success. Apart from being selected as an outstanding player in network and business broadband by numerous publications, Wharf T&T’s IT subsidiary, COL Limited, races to the top and is the first HR Information System Provider Award winner at the HR Excellence Awards.

2015 marks the 20th anniversary of Wharf T&T. Just as the strength of a plant is in its roots, Wharf T&T has a solid business foundation to grow further and catapult ahead of the competition.