Customer Focus: CP Ships Abtech reveal how they helped a leading shipping carrier to reduce their costs. CP Ships started in 1886 when Canadian Pacific established an ocean shipping service to Asia to generate volume for the Pacific terminal of its newly completed trans-Canada railway. It has served the Transatlantic market since 1903. It employs about 4400 people in more than 85 countries around the world. With brand names including ANZDL, Canada Maritime, Cast, Contship Containerlines, Italia Line, Lykes Lines and TMM Lines, their combined fleet of 89 ships carries 2 million TEU per year. Within the majority of its core trade lanes, CP Ships is the leading carrier. At the end of 2000, CP Ships were looking to reduce costs by consolidating their IT facilities into a small number of dedicated data centres. A number of their core systems were in a European Data Centre in Belgium, managed by a third party. With a state of the art Data Centre at their offices in the UK nearing completion, CP Ships began to investigate the idea of relocating the systems. During their investigations, CP Ships approached HP server and support specialist Abtech Computer Services UK for advice. Abtech were able to offer a total solution incorporating the relocation of the systems and providing ongoing hardware and software support. This particularly appealed to CP Ships as it provided a one-stop-shop and offered a considerable ongoing cost saving. Abtech were awarded the contract in December 2000. Simon Cable, Abtech's Support Specialist, personally oversaw the decommissioning of the systems in Belgium and their installation in the UK.

Abtech use specially designed vehicles for transporting computer systems to minimise the chance of damage to delicate parts. Each system was moved in a single day with an Abtech engineer ready to meet them in the UK. This minimised any downtime. CP Ships wanted the systems to be moved in batches, a request that Abtech were able to accommodate. The systems were brought back on-line without any issues and Abtech were able to provide support cover immediately having fully inventoried the systems prior to shipment. CP Ships have recently renewed their support contract for a further year. Their Requirement - Relocate Systems across Europe. - Provide ongoing Maintenance. - Demonstrate a significant cost saving. Our Solution - Managed Relocation of Systems. - Provide Tailored Support Contract. Web Site http://www.cpships.com