MEDIA RELEASE - A new agreement between New Zealand Post and Vodafone will lead to a complete redesign of New Zealand Post’s network services.

The joint announcement follows a competitive tender process for the Network as a Service (NaaS) contract.

Under the five year contract, Vodafone will provide a wide range of services to the New Zealand Post Group including network connectivity, voice services, Wi-Fi and video conferencing. It will also provide a comprehensive suite of security services.

“New Zealand Post was looking for flexibility, innovation and significant cost reductions as part of its five year business strategy,” says New Zealand Post Chief Financial Officer Mark Yeoman.

“We have entered a partnership with Vodafone because we believe that their approach to a service based model best fits the way that we need to operate in the future.”

“The current New Zealand Post IT network is complex and difficult to manage. New Zealand Post was looking for a way to improve efficiency, take advantage of current-day technology, reduce cost, and easily flex the network as its business changes.”

An initial Request for Information (RFI) in November 2012 showed that there was support in New Zealand for delivering network services in a different way and so New Zealand Post issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Network as a Service in June 2013.

The RFP asked for the complete redesign and roll out of a range of services including LAN, WAN, WiFi, telephone calls, video conferencing and security services.

“What made this RFP different was that these services were being requested as a service similar to cloud services,” says Mark Yeoman. “This service based approach lets both parties concentrate on what they each do best. As far as we are aware, this will be one of the first such service arrangements in the Asia Pacific region.”

Russell Stanners, CEO of Vodafone New Zealand is proud that Vodafone has been selected to assist New Zealand Post with their transformation.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with such an iconic New Zealand brand to help them realise their goals. Our team worked across different New Zealand Post business divisions, to understand their individual challenges and deliver innovative, flexible and sustainable solutions that meet their needs and deliver value across the company.”

“We will implement an innovative service-based model focusing on business outcomes rather than underlying technology,” says Russell Stanners.

The agreement between New Zealand Post and Vodafone has been signed by New Zealand Post Chief Executive Brian Roche and Vodafone Chief Executive Russell Stanners.

The service will be rolled out between now and the end of next year.