Optus Business bags $777m for six months of work

Optus' enterprise ICT business raked in $777 million in the latest half-year, on the back of strong growth in the managed services arm.

The 'ICT and managed services' unit, sitting under the the enterprise umbrella, brought in $285 million of revenue for the six months to 30 September, shooting up 12 percent from the same period last year.

Earlier this year, Optus completed its blockbuster acquisition of 2014 Microsoft Australian partner of the year Ensyst. The telco's parent company, Singapore Telecommunications, today attributed the positive enterprise results to that transaction.

"ICT and Managed Services revenue grew 4.8 percent [for the quarter] following the acquisition of Ensyst in February 2015 and higher maintenance services revenue, partially offset by lower project and related hardware sales," read Singtel's quarterly update.

While managed services and mobile are the star performers for Optus' enterprise business, the 'data and IP' unit continues to struggle. It lost 9 percent revenue to hit $166 million for the half-year.

"Data and IP revenue declined 10 percent [for the quarter] from continued price competition, migration of legacy data services to IP network solutions and customer-led rationalisation of services," announced Singtel.

Optus cited its "three-year multi-million dollar" deal with AccorHotels as an example of its credibility as an enterprise solutions provider. The agreement saw Optus become the "single provider for all fixed voice and mobile services for more than 200 properties around Australia".

Optus was this month inducted as a CRN MVP for its muscle in the Australian IT channel.

In April, the telco bagged four awards at the global Cisco Partner Summit, including ANZ partner of the year and the international gong for architectural excellence in enterprise networks. Optus also boasts top-tier partnerships with Hewlett-Packard, VMware and Citrix.