PGG Wrightson sticks with Gen-i

PGG Wrightson has extended its telecommunications and IT services contract with Gen-i for a further two years

PGG Wrightson has extended its contract with Gen-i for the provision of a wide range of telecommunications and IT services by a further two years.

The new two-year contract includes voice, broadband, mobile and managed network services, in addition to Gen-i’s Safecom and SecureMe security services.

The previous contract was five years. Before renewing the contract, PGG Wrightson conducted an independent review, comparing the pricing of Gen-i’s services with market rates.

CIO Roger Rennie says that over the five years, Gen-i’s pricing was in line with the market.

“Throughout the term, they presented us with new offerings that have kept us updated with the latest technology and ensured we were getting the best value from our investment.”

PGG Wrightson has 120 sites across New Zealand, Australia and South America.

“Having support functions split between different locations around New Zealand allows us to better support the agriculture sector across the country,” Rennie says. “With good connectivity between our offices, we can use video conferencing extensively, which has greatly reduced the time we spend travelling.”

Rennie has plans to standardise on Windows 8 in a gradual rollout beginning in the new year. He will replace around 2000 devices currently using Windows 7 or XP.

“I’ve personally bought a Windows 8 Samsung, and we’ve got it loaded on some devices and have trialed it on slates. The performance is great.”

He’s targeting a convertible specification, with a clamshell keyboard and which can be docked as a desktop machine, though he says its difficult sourcing that type of hardware.

“We’ve got around 600 is our field sales force, some of whom use XP or Windows 7 laptops, or cellphones.

“With the Rural Broadband Initiative, our sales force will have better mobile connectivity and provide better services to our customers.”