Future Outsources IT Operations To Cisco, IBM
posted in Outsourcing News and Top Outsourcing deals |Source: www.business-standard.com
In talks with Cisco and IBM, Indian retail giant, Future Group worth Rs. 2,000-crorecrore is set to invest close to Rs. 400-crore over a period of three years for the revamping of its IT infrastructure, by outsourcing its IT operations to the two American firms, with captive centres in India.
While, Cisco will be responsible for creating a wireless environment for the retail giant, IBM will be involved in applications development (such as, enterprise resource planning and supply chain management modules) and architecture-designing (backbone of IT) work. Already, Future Group has begun the process of charting out service level agreements with both firms.
“Instead of giving the contract to a single company, we thought a consortium could be made wherein the best technology can be used. These firms will use the best in technology rather than restrict themselves to what they offer.”
Investing over Rs. 400-crore over the next one year as part of its future expansion strategy, the retail giant will require the technology, since it also plans to sets up 12-malls under the Central and Brand Factory formats in locations, such as, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Chennai. Moreover, Pantaloon Retail, with 340-stores in 40-cities, has a ten-fold increase planned by 2011 i.e. 3,500 stores in 90-cities.
The biggest problem domestic retailers face, is trying to reduce customer check-out time, a key area of concern for Future Group, who would like to chart an efficient system for revamping the entire billing experience. This is the reason Kishore Biyani, the retail giant’s Chairman, would like a wireless infrastructure or a multi-technology platform that actually tracks each customer walking in and out of the store, without having to spend long hours in a queue.
Not entirely new to technology, Pantaloon, one of the earliest retail companies to begin business in India, started a pilot for using radio frequency identification technology tags, while some of its retail outlets experimented with hand held scanners for reducing check-out times. Currently, more than 22-outlets belonging to Future Group are using hand held scanners, while close to 350-IT people work for it.
A source close to the Future Group confides, many of the IT officials will be given business roles, while other team members will continue to maintain the in-house IT systems. When contacted, a Cisco spokesperson said: “The retail industry is a huge focus area for Cisco, both in India as well as in the global markets. We have been working very closely with top retail companies globally and this includes India, as well. Future group is a key strategic customer for Cisco and we are working with them as a trusted business advisor.”
