The company is the university's preferred network services partner for a multi-campus local area network (lan) and wireless network in Dunedin, Invercargill, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.
Dimension chief executive Simon Gillespie said in an interview the contract included a five-year support agreement and a large programme that would modernise the university's network environment.
University of Otago director of information technology services Mike Harte said the university was pleased to be making a key step towards modernisation of the campus network.
''Over the next five years, we will be investing $22 million to achieve our strategic imperative to deliver a world-class campus network environment.
''This will also be a major step towards achieving our broader IT operational excellence objectives.''
The programme would pave the way for the delivery of a better service to support teaching, research and administration activities, Mr Harte said.
Students' needs and expectations were changing and the university was investing to ensure Otago students received a seamless connected experience on campus.
Dimension Data was chosen because of its proven capability to deliver world-class network integration services and its vast experience within the education sector, he said.
Mr Gillespie said four of the eight staff being employed in Dunedin came from the city, with the other four being employees from elsewhere. One of those moving to Dunedin had immigrated from the United Kingdom about six months ago. He had looked around the country and picked Dunedin as the place in which he wanted to work.
''We have employed people and opened an office. We are not sitting around in a tent in the Octagon. We are here for the long term.''
Dimension had already secured a new contract with rural services company PGG Wrightson and would be chasing other work in the region, he said.
''We are doing well. It is a simple formula - we have a laser focus on delivery. Everyone says that but we have the system and processes to do what we say we will do. We fix problems quickly.''
The university contract would deliver an improved service to support more than 20,000 students and 3600 staff and research partners across the five geographical areas, Mr Gillespie said.
The university was ranked eighth largest organisation on the New Zealand MIS Top 100 ICT users.
At a glance
In October 2010, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), one of the largest global telecommunications service providers, acquired 100% of South African-founded Dimension Data for $NZ3.8 billion, making Dimension Data a wholly owned subsidiary of the NTT Group. It has 60 offices in 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
