Morrisons To Undergo IT Makeover

Tue, 20 Mar 2007
 
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UK supermarket chain Morrisons is to invest £110million into its IT infrastructure over the next three years, but no radical changes are expected to be carried out.

The grocery retailer’s plans are to shift its trading, warehousing, store, distribution, payroll and financial systems on to new platforms.

The overhaul was announced in the company’s preliminary results for the year ending February 2007, and comes as the process of IT implementation is running behind schedule since its acquisition of Safeway, back in 2004.

When the buy-out took place Morrisons estimated that the integration of the two businesses would cost around £1.6billion, and set a target date for completion for this year. However the company refused to comment on whether the changes were linked to problems with the integration .

"We are investing £110million in IT which will be spent moving from bespoke to packaged software, and in-house operation," said a spokesman for the company .

Before the takeover Safeway was known for adopting new technology which was highlighted in its implementation of the Chip and PIN – the first supermarket to do so. On the other-hand Morrisons has since built up a tradition of developing its core systems in-house and being slow to take up new technologies.

Mark Bolland, chief executive for Morrisons, said in the company’s preliminary results report, "We will not be seeking to implement any 'leading edge' technology, as we believe our competitive advantages come in other areas, such as in-store service ."

Bolland added the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain is now approaching the point of requiring a change to the firm’s core technology systems that have been developed in-house, with some of the current systems up to 30 years old and vastly out-dated.

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