Morrisons expands strategic partnership with TCS

IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Tuesday said its partnership with UK-based supermarket chain Morrisons has been expanded through a five-year contract.

TCS has expanded its partnership with Morrisons through a five-year contract for application management services, data services and cyber security services, a statement said.

The partnership will help accelerate Morrisons's plan to simplify and modernise its technology to improve the shopping trip, eliminate wasted effort and become more popular and accessible to its customers, it added.

Morrisons selected TCS as its Application – Managed Services partner in 2016 to improve the customer and employee experience. Since then, TCS has worked closely with the retailer to help drive its growth and modernisation agenda across various lines of business, leveraging its comprehensive portfolio of business and technology services and solutions.

"As part of the expanded partnership, TCS will harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to augment human teams, improving operational resilience and boosting productivity," the statement said.

Additionally, adoption of automation and DevOps will increase the speed to market of innovative features that enhance customer experience and provide competitive differentiation, it added.

"We look forward to continuing our partnership and accelerating our modernisation programme within Technology together with TCS' capabilities align well with our future strategic plans," Matt Kelleher, Chief Technology Director, Morrisons, said.

In a separate statement, TCS said it is using its new AI software, IUX for Workplace Resilience, to minimise the risks for its employees and ensure safety of those required to be in the office during the pandemic.

When Covid-19 forced companies to mandate working from home, TCS deployed its Secure Borderless Workspaces (SBWS) model, enabling its workforce of over 4,43,000 people across 46 countries to work remotely, in just a few weeks.

While lockdown restrictions have been eased, TCS has prioritised employee safety and well-being, and has enabled return to work in a carefully calibrated way, for under 2 per cent of the workforce to date, the statement said.

To create a safe workplace for TCSers who need to return to work for some business-critical activities, TCS implemented IUX for Workplace Resilience, which is part of the SBWS framework, it added.

From concept to deployment, TCS took just four weeks to begin running the software at its first location.