Customer-centric and continuously innovative: How Chunghwa Telecom IDC became Epson's premier partner for sustainable transformation
The Internet Data Center (IDC) is crucial to the operations of many businesses. The efficiency, cybersecurity, and performance in green energy and carbon reduction of an IDC are crucial to the sustainable development of businesses. Epson, known for leveraging core technologies that are "efficient, compact, and precise" to create globally successful products, has partnered with Chunghwa Telecom IDC to advance its sustainability goals.Based at Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Epson made a pledge to "never pollute Lake Suwa" at its inception and has honored this commitment ever since. Today, Epson continues to work with industry partners to deliver innovative technology solutions in five key areas: office and home printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual technology, and quality-of-life enhancements.Amid these innovations, Epson's commitment to sustainability remains steadfast. In Taiwan, many are unaware that the partnership between Epson Taiwan and Chunghwa Telecom IDC actually began 11 years ago. The primary reason for this collaboration was the need to achieve sustainable transformation goals.Cutting costs and boosting resilience: How Chunghwa Telecom IDC provides worry-free solutions for Epson"Ensuring business resilience and uninterrupted operations is a fundamental requirement," says Sydney Wang, Corporate Governance & Management Unitat Epson Taiwan. Initially, Epson Taiwan operated its own data center, managed by its internal IT team. However, the costs of self-management were too high, and keeping up with rapidly evolving information technology trends was also a significant challenge.This situation prompted Epson to consider the feasibility of outsourcing its IDC services. After a thorough evaluation of service quality and technical capabilities, Epson chose Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's leading data center brand, as its exclusive IDC outsourcing partner in 2013. This decision also involved collaboration with Epson Taiwan Service Net, its subsidiary."We realized that what our company needed was efficient network services, not the extensive resources required to manage network equipment internally. Chunghwa Telecom IDC's services have indeed eased our concerns!" Sydney Wang notes that since partnering with Chunghwa Telecom, Epson's network operation efficiency has significantly improved. Chunghwa Telecom's extensive professional team offers superior network operation costs, quality, and cybersecurity management compared to the earlier self-managed approach.Customer-centric "build first, dismantle later" approach facilitates seamless migration During the data center migration, Chunghwa Telecom's customer-oriented service philosophy left a strong impression on Sydney Wang. She recalls that when they first moved into Chunghwa Telecom IDC, there was a substantial volume of IP and dedicated line services that needed to be transferred. At that time, Chunghwa Telecom prioritized smooth operation and minimal risk for their customers by adopting a "build first, dismantle later" approach, which helped Epson complete the migration swiftly.Although this method was costlier for Chunghwa Telecom, it allowed for a seamless transition without disrupting operations for the customer. This approach underscores Chunghwa Telecom IDC's commitment to putting customer needs first.Nationwide IDC network meets remote backup requirementsIn the global trend towards sustainability and resilience, Chunghwa Telecom IDC's robust resources have become a vital asset for businesses. Sydney Wang noted that based on the "Business Continuity Plan" disaster prevention needs from their headquarters in Japan, it was recommended that the Taiwan subsidiary's IDC backup location be geographically farther.With nearly 20 IDC locations across Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom swiftly responded to the request by relocating the backup data center from Zhubei to the Wenxin IDC in Taichung City, thereby meeting the requirement for longer-distance backup. Chunghwa Telecom IDC's ample resources to meet customer needs clearly demonstrate its strengths.Emergency bandwidth upgrade ensures normal and remote operations during pandemicDuring the pandemic, Chunghwa Telecom IDC's rapid response proved invaluable to Epson. "After the outbreak, most employees had to switch to working from home within a few days, causing an immediate surge in bandwidth demand!" Sydney Wang recalled that when Chunghwa Telecom received the request, they promptly dispatched personnel to urgently increase bandwidth and enhance capacity, allowing Epson to maintain normal remote operations and proving to be a reliable partner during the upheaval of the pandemic.Proactive alerts and threat mitigation showcase "customer-centric" valuesChunghwa Telecom not only prioritizes customer needs but also excels in technical capabilities and crisis management, helping Epson turn crises into opportunities.Sydney Wang mentioned that in 2021, Epson received an urgent notification from Chunghwa Telecom's billing department about unusual dialing behavior from Epson Taiwan's representative number, with numerous international calls made to a Southeast Asian country outside of working hours. Chunghwa Telecom immediately took action by temporarily blocking international dialing for the number.They also conducted an investigation to rule out the possibility of external line theft and determined that the issue was likely due to a problem with the switching equipment vendor's system. They advised Epson to contact the vendor for further inspection. Epson greatly appreciated Chunghwa Telecom's technical expertise, alert system, and proactive problem-solving approach, and decided to entrust the telephone switch upgrade and maintenance to Chunghwa Telecom. This incident has become a classic example of Chunghwa Telecom's "customer-centric" corporate values.Green energy transformation: partnering for sustainabilitySydney Wang shares during an interview that Chunghwa Telecom will be an important partner for Epson in its journey toward sustainable transformationChunghwa Telecom not only excels with its customer-first approach and robust resources, providing strong support for its clients, but its commitment to energy transformation amidst the global sustainability trend has also been a key factor in Epson's ongoing efforts to strengthen its partnership with Chunghwa Telecom.Sydney Wang pointed out that since its establishment 80 years ago, Epson has actively pursued environmental actions and publicly committed to becoming carbon-negative and underground resource-free (Note 1) in its Environmental Vision 2050." Under this vision, the Epson Group achieved 100% use of renewable energy at its global sites (Note 2) in 2023, becoming the first Japanese manufacturer to fully transition to renewable energy.In Taiwan, Epson is also committed to energy transformation, actively using renewable energy in its leased office locations and purchasing green electricity certificates to achieve a 100% renewable energy goal. Similarly, Chunghwa Telecom announced in 2020 that its IDC would use 100% renewable energy by 2030. This commitment to sustainable transformation makes Chunghwa Telecom a valuable ally for Epson in pursuing environmental sustainability and opens up more opportunities for future collaboration.The partnership extends beyond this. As early as 2011, Epson introduced the "Nagano Energy-Saving Patrol" experience from Japan and collaborated with BCSD Taiwan to establish the "Energy-Saving Patrol" in Taiwan. This initiative involves professional volunteers providing comprehensive energy audits for air conditioning, lighting, mechanical and electrical equipment, and office equipment, offering free energy-saving diagnostics to help Taiwanese businesses create low-carbon work environments and implement comprehensive energy-saving plans. By 2023, the Energy-Saving Patrol in Taiwan had audited 365 companies, estimating annual energy savings of 143,087,025 kWh and a reduction of 128,241 metric tons (Note 3) of carbon emissions. Chunghwa Telecom is one of the key partners in this initiative.With its innovative spirit, service beliefs, and commitment to sustainability, Chunghwa Telecom IDC has become Epson's best support partner. Looking ahead, Chunghwa Telecom's cybersecurity, public cloud services, and equipment subscription options—offering leasing instead of outright purchases—will further bolster corporate digital resilience. We look forward to seeing more innovative services from Chunghwa Telecom, becoming an important partner in our journey toward sustainable transformation! Sydney Wang said.*Note 1: Free of non-renewable resources such as oil and metals.*Note 2: Excludes some sales sites and leased properties where the amount of electricity consumed cannot be determined.*Note 3: According to the official data from the Taiwan Energy-Saving Patrol website (as of July 2024): https://www.energy-patrol.com.tw/front/
