Bharti Retail Preparing for Future IT Expansion
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, 25 Aug 2008, 1716 hrs IST

To prepare for potential expansion of services in the future, Bharti Retail has entered into an IT services partnership with IBM.

The current scope of the deal includes project management, infrastructure for data centers, applications, security and network, and support for end-user services. This will evolve as Bharti Retail's business continues to grow.

The press statement said these services would be linked into the core platform set up with technical support that Wal-Mart Inc. is providing to Bharti Retail under the franchise agreement between the two entities.

The statement also said Bharti Retail will use IBM's support for projects like the automated attendance terminals to maintain a low PC footprint (approximately 1 PC per 30 employees).

Vinod Sawhny, president and COO of Bharti Retail said, "In a dynamic and fast evolving retail sector, Bharti Retail's association with IBM will provide a distinct competitive edge that will assist the company's vision and growth plans. Our partnership lays the foundation on which future business functions can be supported in the course of the next 10 years. This alliance is in line with Bharti Retail's efforts to be a customer-centric and trusted retailer."

Bharti is also looking at leveraging IBM's capabilities for a cross industry play across telecom - insurance - retail.


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