Credit: Supplied
New Zealand dairy co-operative giant Fonterra has tapped global technology company HCL Technologies to modernise and manage its entire technology infrastructure.
HCL had been supporting Fonterra for over a decade managing its IT application support and maintenance portfolio, including SAP.
Michael Horton, executive vice president and country manager A/NZ for HCL Technologies, said that has now expanded to modernising and managing the co-op's entire technology infrastructure.
"This will enable us to further support both Fonterra’s business strategy as well as the agri-tech sector overall in the region," Horton said.
It is understood Datacom and DXC both used to supply Fonterra with some of the services now going to HCL.
A Datacom spokesman said it wasn't the company's policy to talk about customers' decisions.
"We have been advised that Fonterra has chosen an offshore provider and we respect that decision. We have a long-standing relationship with Fonterra and will work with them on what they need during the transition period."
The multi-year partnership will consolidate Fonterra’s technology suppliers and bring together the co-op’s IT infrastructure services under one umbrella.
The partnership will also extend HCL’s New Zealand presence to three offices and bring around 60 new jobs to the Waikato region.
The local support services for Fonterra employees will be based at its Hamilton delivery centre.
Piers Shore, Fonterra chief information officer, said the co-op was pleased to be able to draw on HCL’s global scale and efficiency.
“Fonterra employees have said there is room for us to improve the tools and technologies we use on a daily basis at work and this partnership with HCL will allow us to make major improvements for our employees in terms of end-user experience and provide the digital foundation to our transformation initiatives," Shore said.
“Additionally, this partnership will enable us to improve our cyber security framework and strengthen our critical IT foundation."
The consolidation of external IT suppliers is expected to make significant savings relative to Fonterra's existing infrastructure IT spend over the next five years, he added.
HCL Technologies is an India-based multinational. It's New Zealand subsidiary reported $40 million in revenue for the year ended 31 March 2019, down from $43.9 million in 2018.
