10 July 2019

Orange is linking up Sony offices 

Sony Group has hired Orange Business Services to consolidate the communications infrastructure of its two largest operating companies into what it described as a harmonised  “future-proof” network.

The French giant will become Sony’s principal global provider, with plans to eventually deliver a fully automated network for its UK business and other units across the globe.

Built on the Orange Flexible SD-WAN solution, the new Sony network will connect more than 500 locations in over 50 countries - including the UK - across five continents with the aim of delivering improved performance, security and scalability.

The SD-WAN platform will also enable Sony to share IT talent and have complete end-to-end visibility of global services. Sony’s corporate applications will be available across business lines and regions in the cloud.

“Orange innovation, integration capabilities and international network are the catalysts that will allow us for the first time to bring our regional operating companies under one umbrella,” said Makoto Toyoda, chief information officer, Sony Group. “It’s a transformative move on our part that opens the way for us to embrace new forms of IT innovation that will push the company forward.”

In March 2018, Orange signed a €240m deal with Siemens AG for an SD-WAN-based network to connect 1,500 sites in 94 countries on five continents. Then in January 2019, Orange signed an agreement with Weener Plastics to deploy SD-WAN across its 24 sites to connect facilities across Europe, Asia and Latin America.