NEC wins IT services deal with S'pore IR

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), one of Singapore's two integrated resorts (IRs), has appointed IT services vendor NEC Asia to provide managed services and support over a three-year period.

With the deal, the Japanese company will serve over 40,000 network points in RWS and provide, among other things, 24/7 IT support, asset management and desktop security, NEC Asia said in a statement Monday.

Addressing e-mail queries from ZDNet Asia, an NEC Asia spokesperson said the scope of the contract currently extends to four hotels, retail, and food and beverage outlets, the Resorts World Convention Centre and Universal Studios Singapore. The casino is excluded from the RWS-NEC Asia agreement.

The contract value, as well as terms of the service level agreements, could not be disclosed due to stipulations in the contract, she said.

The spokesperson added that NEC Asia began work in December 2009. It has since set up a call center on the RWS premises and stationed specialists and operations personnel to fulfill the contract obligations.

NEC Asia CEO Kiyofumi Kusaka noted in the statement that IT support services are "especially critical" to service industries, as any service disruption may immediately create an unpleasant experience or impression.

RWS' partnership with NEC Asia is not new. Last year, the IR awarded NEC a contract to develop the ticketing and admission system for Universal Studios Singapore.

Other ICT vendors partnering or supplying to RWS include Canon, Dell, Panasonic and SingTel.

RWS is owned by the Genting Group which operates the Resorts World Genting in Malaysia. RWS' opening will be in phases, with the first having commenced in January 2010. The other IR in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands, has postponed its opening from end 2009 to April 27.