Sainsbury’s outsources for cloud-first benefits

Sainsbury’s has signed an outsourcing agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to support the retailer’s move to a cloud-first IT strategy.

Retailers are increasingly offering customers digital services, such as online ordering and personalised customer offerings, which requires software development and the use of the cloud.

The extension of a relationship between Sainsbury’s and Indian IT services supplier TCS, which has already spanned over a decade, will see Sainsbury’s IT infrastructure move to a hybrid cloud stack using TCS’s Enterprise Cloud offering.

Through the supplier’s cloud platform, Sainsbury’s will be more agile when developing software applications.

Sainsbury’s Group CIO Phil Jordan said this means the retailer will be able to develop software for new potential revenue streams and react quickly to opportunities.  

“This platform transformation underpinned by a cloud-first strategy is critical for our business,” he said. “TCS was the partner of choice given their deep contextual knowledge and ability to align this transformation to our business strategy and vision.”

The multi-year agreement goes beyond the cloud platform, with TCS commissioned to also provide IT services in the workplace, network connectivity and security.

The retail industry didn’t change its business model for centuries, but the arrival of online businesses such as Amazon and Ocado meant retailers faced increased competition from pure online players and are now themselves increasing their digital services, which means software development has become a core competency.

Shankar Narayanan, president of retail at TCS, said: “We are excited to expand our partnership with Sainsbury’s and help them achieve their cloud-first strategy while setting up a solid foundation for future growth.

“We will enable Sainsbury’s to achieve digital scale and realise benefits in their value chain.”