Gen-i beats Telstra, Vodafone to retailer deal

New Zealand IT provider Gen-i has beaten Vodafone and Telstra to a major mobility and telecoms deal.

Gen-i, the IT services business unit of Telecom NZ, won the wide-ranging telecoms and IT services deal with NZ retailer Corys Electrical and its Australian arm, L&H Group.

The tender process was led by L&H Group chief information officer Andy Wild. 

The project includes a trans-Tasman circuit going into IBM's Melbourne data centre, Cisco switches for the LAN management as well as mobility in the form of 90 Apple devices.

According to the client, Gen-i’s mobility solutions were a major factor in the decision to extend the relationship beyond a deal earlier in 2013 with Corys' Australian sister company, L&H Group.

"Although the timescale was tight, we wanted to ensure we were getting the best deal possible so looked at what was available from Vodafone-Telstra as well as Gen-i," Corys Electrical business improvement manager Mick Skelton said.

"Ultimately, Gen-i had the right mix of leading-edge devices and access to the latest tools and solutions so that we can easily extend our business applications out to our mobile team.   

"What’s more, Gen-i was the only provider that could offer us flexible plans and pricing to enable us to pool our mobile minutes and data across the organisation."

L&H's Wild said the company was working closely with the Gen-i team to review messaging, communication and collaboration tools.

Telecom NZ has 6622 staff and turns over NZ$4.2 billion. Gen-i is predominantly active in New Zealand, though it is thought to employ about 60 people in Australia, down from 180 after restructuring earlier this year.