The rivalry between IBM and Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Hong Kong's transport sector heightened last week as port operator Modern Terminals announced it was making the switch to Big Blue.
This comes as a fresh victory for IBM, which was trumped by HP earlier this year in securing key contracts with the Hong Kong Transport Department and Cathay Pacific Airways.
Modern Terminals, a company controlled by Wharf (Holdings), is upgrading its computer hardware set-up from the old, proprietary Digital Equipment platform to IBM's new Unix-based eServer machine, running Tivoli system management software.
The deal counted as a loss for HP because Digital's Vax servers were maintained by Compaq Computer, which HP acquired more than a year ago.
The project is estimated to cost less than $10 million.
'We needed to quickly settle issues about equipment obsolescence because of our expanding operations, and so we decided to go with IBM,' said David Chow, Modern Terminals general manager for information technology. 'But we are still working with HP in other areas.'
The upgrade to IBM's eServer p670, which runs IBM's own Power4+ 64-bit processors, provides Modern Terminals with the capacity to handle an anticipated 60 per cent increase in information processing requirements from its facilities in Kwai Chung Port during the next few years.