Our client is a leading specialty retailer of high quality home furnishings in the U.S. that operates through stores, catalogs and websites. Their products are offered primarily in the US and Canada under seven separate merchandise brands.
Growing rapidly, the client wanted to provide better customer service and implement an integrated systems plan that would support and deliver on their long-term profitability and growth strategies. They chose Oracle Retail (formerly Retek) software, which specializes in end-to-end retail solutions.
Accenture’s long-standing relationship with and expertise in Oracle Retail allowed us to deliver a cost-effective, innovative solution for this growing retail client’s needs.
Specifically, Accenture worked with Oracle to develop and implement a customized application architecture that integrates the Oracle Retail suite of products with the company’s legacy systems, specifically targeting their inventory and customer order management systems. The project started in 2002 with one brand, and will eventually be rolled out to all of their brands.
Accenture combined the talents of its workforce in the U.S. with the technology expertise of the solutions workforce at the Accenture Delivery Center in Manila and more recently they have blended in the India Delivery Center in Bangalore, India as well to implement the new architecture rapidly and cost–effectively, without disruption to the client company’s operations. Accenture established a consulting workforce team in the U.S. for day-to-day, on-site client support and simultaneously leveraged the Accenture Delivery Center in Manila, Philippines to form an experienced team of retail technology specialists with deep Oracle skills. Working together across time zones, the teams coordinated their efforts and specialized skills to bring the retail giant’s brands online using the new Oracle software.
Each team had separate roles and responsibilities. The Manila delivery team was responsible for completing the interface and conversion components of the project, including reviewing the designs from the U.S. and developing the code. The consulting workforce team, working from the client location in the U.S., provided overall retail industry, business process and systems integration expertise and installed and implemented the modules completed by the Manila team.
More recently, Accenture expanded its development team to include the India Delivery Center (IDC). The IDC was chosen for their very specific Java skills. Java-based application development now occurs at the IDC. Integration of the overall solution occurs at the client site with our consulting team.
This is one of Accenture’s first retail clients to have an integrated system for both their retail and direct-to-consumer businesses. Working together, sharing knowledge and combining their strengths, our highly talented people within the consulting and services workforces enabled Accenture to deliver a high quality system that meets our client’s growing business needs.