Olympus Memory Works turns to Accenture for new photo service support

NEW YORK, USA: Accenture has been selected by Japan-based Olympus Memory Works to provide broad support for [ib on the net], an Internet-based photo storage and sharing service. Olympus Memory Works launched the service on October 21 in Japan and the United States.

Under the contract, Accenture is providing Olympus with ongoing support for strategic planning, systems integration, development using the public cloud computing environment, and business process outsourcing services.

The new service enables consumers to store photos online, share photos, print their favorite photos and order photo albums. By linking cameras, personal computers and the Internet, the Olympus service seamlessly integrates previously disparate steps of digital photography, including the transfer, storage, viewing and printing of pictures.

“[ib on the net] makes it possible for people to enjoy an integrated customer experience including capturing, sharing, printing and backing up photos,” said Kyosuke Ono, president of Olympus Memory Works. “Olympus needs a “business collaborator” who can deliver strategic planning and operational efficiency to join with Olympus in developing the new internet service swiftly and globally. Accenture is a leader at supporting strategic planning, systems integration and outsourcing across-the-board.”

Accenture helped Olympus develop the new service, which runs on a public cloud environment, using its web development system architecture called Accenture Extendable Custom Architecture. The architecture leverages cloud computing capabilities to facilitate computing resources on a shared, as-needed basis.

Use of the public cloud environment upon which the service now runs resulted in a five-fold decrease in system integration and development costs for Olympus. Operating the service with a minimum number of computer servers, which Olympus can increase as service levels grow, contributed to the cost reduction; lower initial hardware storage costs leveraging cloud computing also lowered the cost.

In addition to its architecture, Accenture provided business process outsourcing capabilities to manage hiring and training of call center personnel, and creating frequently asked questions, allowing Olympus to focus on its core photo sharing and printing service business.