IBM will implement SAP’s Industry Solution for Retail, combined with its own change management and business process consulting services, at Marks & Spencer to help the retailer improve stock visibility and process efficiency.
With the deal, M&S hopes to gain access to accurate business data and core processes and benefit from cost and operating efficiencies.
SAP for Retail is a suite of end-to-end business applications that supports demand-management, merchandise management and planning, store operations, and finance and HR functions.
IBM and SAP together deliver a portfolio of merchandising and supply chain applications that provide retail companies with near real-time, consumer demand data or resource planning. The partners claim to have more than 700 joint SAP supply chain management implementations around the world.
Darrell Stein, director of IT & logistics at Marks & Spencer, said: “We selected IBM and SAP after an extensive assessment of the market. In addition to strong retail credentials, we felt there was also a strong cultural alignment. In order to provide the very best customer service, we need to be flexible and agile to their changing needs. The SAP solution, implemented by IBM, will allow us to do that.”
Earlier this month, IBM has helped German pharmacy, health and beauty retailer dm-drogerie markt to migrate DB2 databases supporting its SAP for Retail environment, to two IBM System z9 Enterprise Class mainframes.
Simon Rabone, associate partner, retail at IBM Global Business Services, said: “IBM is committed to helping retailers deliver smarter solutions which drive operational excellence, demand-driven merchandising and supply chain processes.
