Ellerines Holdings, the JSE Securities Exchange-listed retail group, has extended its long-term relationship with IT services company EDS for a further two years. When the current contract ends in August 2004, the two will have been partners for 26 years. The two-year extension is worth an initial R14 million.
EDS inherited this longstanding relationship when it acquired the business of ABS in 1995. "We are very happy to have been able to develop and grow a true partnership with the Ellerines team," says account executive Andrew Slement.
The foundation of the relationship is the transaction system originally designed by ABS for the 606 trading outlets of Ellerines, which include the Town Talk, Oxford and Furn City brands. EDS is responsible for maintaining and supporting this and other applications within the Ellerines IT infrastructure, and occupies two seats on the six-man helpdesk. Other responsibilities include an Oracle database and the Oracle suite including financial, accounts payable and fixed assets modules. EDS also created all the applications for Ellerines` microlending business, Rainbow Loans, and assisted in their successful implementation.
By its very nature, the retail business is decentralised and EDS`s applications responsibilities include the control of the data flow across the network between head office and all 606 branches.
"Our longstanding partnership with EDS means that it has a thorough understanding of the way we do things," says Dennis Mauer, director of IT at Ellerines. "This means, for example, that the EDS team can more easily grasp exactly what we want, and the fact that there is a dedicated on-site team looking after us makes it easy for us to share ideas and attend to issues as they happen."
The foundation for the success of this relationship is the consistent meeting of service levels. "This gives us a sense of security," Mauer adds, "and gives us the confidence to tackle more new projects with the EDS team." During the next phase of this relationship, Mauer says that Ellerines hopes to use EDS`s global expertise in and knowledge of the retail industry to enhance the way it uses IT to do business better. EDS`s expertise in improving, digitising and then automating business processes will also play a key role in future projects, as well as ensuring that appropriate data security is maintained.
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EDS, the leading global services company, provides strategy, implementation and hosting for clients managing the business and technology complexities of the digital economy. EDS brings together the world`s best technologies to address critical client business imperatives. It helps clients eliminate boundaries, collaborate in new ways, establish their customers` trust and continuously seek improvement.
EDS, with its management-consulting subsidiary, AT Kearney, serves the world`s leading companies and governments in 60 countries. EDS reported revenues of $21.5 billion in 2001. The company`s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EDS) and the London Stock Exchange. Learn more at www.eds.com.
Ellerines Holdings
Ellerines Holdings is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange. It operates in the retail, furniture, household appliance and microlending sectors through a number of brands, Ellerines, Furn City, Town Talk, Oxford Furnishers and Rainbow Loans. The Group has over 600 trading outlets across Southern Africa in both rural and urban areas. Ellerines has regularly featured among SA`s top 100 companies, ranked by the Sunday Times Business Times. Find out more about Ellerines at www.ellerines.co.za.
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