It is hoped the deal will enable Kingfisher to streamline its delivery of IT services and maximise its support of critical business systems.
The company says Kingfisher has been proactive in implementing ITIL Best Practice processes in recent years, and it has used the assyst system at its B&Q stores in the UK. The ITIL-based ITSM will be rolled out at Kingfisher’s retail stores to standardise and consolidate Best Practice processes.
Kingfisher hopes that by consolidating its ITSM operations into a centralised Shared Service function, the company can reduce downtime for its essential business applications, such as point of sale and ERP systems.
The implementation is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2008, and will be rolled out across all of Kingfisher’s subsidiaries in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Russia and Poland. It is estimated that around 700 end-users will have access to the new system, which aims to integrate the group’s IT departments as well as reduce costs and provide what the company describes as a common business language based on ITIL processes.
Tasos Symeonides, CEO, Axios Systems said: Large organisations like Kingfisher often face challenges when trying to integrate and streamline IT processes across numerous holdings. Using assyst enables the IT helpdesks across the entire Kingfisher group to use a common, ITIL-based framework for improved IT service management.
