Marks & Spencer is building an IT team of 100-150 to work alongside its departments to develop new retail technology such as in-store multichannel platforms.Led by Mike Blakemore, M&S head of software engineering, the new team will make the business as a whole more responsive to change.
“We want speed and more agility,” said Darrell Stein, head of IT. “We think we can be more productive working this way. He added that he wants more of the retailer’s IT development work to come in-house.
“It will lead to better ideas and it means we retain the intellectual property ourselves.”
Indian outsourcing company TCS currently manages the UK legacy systems. Marks & Spencer’s new web platform is expected to go fully live this spring.It also has a number of other IT projects in progress - the Allocation & Replenishment project is due for completion by the end of next year.
Meanwhile, new merchandise and macro space planning solutions will be rolled out over the next eighteen months.
@ 2014 ESM Magazine
