STRATEGIC REPORT

Enterprise Software and Business Infra Structure

Enterprise Software and Business Infra Structure

Overhaul of the business support infrastructure .In 2005, the support infrastructure for the majority ofthe core business applications depended on a system based on a Unisys mainframe. Management had decided to analyze the situation with a view to defining an infrastructure overhaul project. (Business as usual for Sir Terry after 10 years in charge 2007 p. 24)The old mainframe restricted Carrefour to a single supplier and also limited the communication with other newer application technology platforms. Management decided to harmonies the technologies and to rationalize the data centre in order to optimize corporate governance, opening up opportunities for future development." We decided to migrate to open environments because our mainframe was proprietary: although it was a high performance machine and completely appropriate to our needs, it was not in very common use.

Continuous company growth resulted in the proliferation of various satellite systems - and the more of these systems there were, the more integration problems we faced." Debora Guma, technology manager, Information Systems Division, Carrefour Group Italia As a result of years of acquisitions and expansion, the data-processing landscape was fragmented, consisting of various computer systems in various business divisions, and was characterized by an Heterogeneous application map. The mainframe hosted the company's key applications: asset/liability cycle; management of sales items and data registries; as well as part of supply-chain activities. The Company's dynamic growth, as well as volume increases in terms of both sales outlets and new Applications, had given rise to solutions developed in Microsoft and UNIX environments around the Unisys Mainframe, which was the heart of Carrefour's Information system. As far as the essential core Business applications were concerned, the UNIX Systems predominated.

The HP re hosting project: the winning model Since Carrefour Italia is part of a multi-national, its management turned to the Group. Recognizing the quality and professionalism of the Italian IT division, the Group decided that the model proposed was the winning choice. (Sarah 1997: 49) The supplier selection process lasted six months. Carrefour asked only for strategic guidelines: to carry out a reposting project that would not last more than 18 months based on leading - notcustomised - market technologies. When all of the necessary competencies and technical resources were put on the table, HP was found to be the best from both a technological and an economic point of view. Excellent technological collaboration, using the most up-to-date project logistics, took responsibility for technological definition of the migration - from set-up of the environments to the software quality cycle - offering complete support during the migration process.

As requested by management, the reposting project was divided into two phases, a first phase dedicated to the administrative/accounting aspect and a second phase devoted to referencing, pricing and supply chain. The project was launched in July 2006 and was completed14 months later, in November 2007. The support architecture is built on two HP Integrity rx8620 servers, located in the data centre at company headquarters in ...