Shop Direct is looking to drive productivity and improve its customers’ online shopping experience after signing a cloud computing contract with IBM.
The online retailer, which owns Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com, has enlisted IBM’s analytics, mobile, social and security offerings, as it looks to migrate to a hybrid cloud model.
The 10-year deal will see IBM move Shop Direct’s applications and consumer websites onto IBM’s cloud infrastructure, SoftLayer.
The hybrid cloud infrastructure should help Shop Direct to deal with peaks in online traffic due to consumer demand, while only paying for the infrastructure that it needs.
IBM will also provide other end user services for Shop Direct’s 4,000 employees and partners across devices to improve productivity, order taking and other business processes.
The services include new desktops and laptops as well as secure mobile device management software and support for tablets and smartphones.
Shop Direct said the deal will improve its customers’ online shopping experience, and allow its workforce to collaborate more easily and improve productivity.
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"As the UK and Ireland’s leading multi-brand digital retailer, we’re looking to tap IBM’s cloud computing expertise to allow us to innovate and add value to both the experience we deliver to customers and the working experience we offer our people," said Shop Direct’s CIO Andy Wolfe.
Tony Morgan, IBM’s Client Chief Innovation Officer for strategic outsourcing Europe, said: "Our secure, open enterprise cloud platform will enable Shop Direct to quickly deliver new innovations to its customers and staff and continue to build its leadership as a digital retailer."
