Autoglass moves to cloud-based IT infrastructure

Autoglass is moving its IT infrastructure into the cloud to help it keep customer experience levels high as digital channels gain popularity.

The vehicle glass repair and replacement company has signed a 10-year outsourcing deal with CSC worth £25m. As part of this, the firm will move its IT infrastructure to an infrastructure-as-a-service platform.

The services that will be available to Autoglass through the platform include enterprise service management, storage, cyber security, and application management and development.

Autoglass technology director Nick Cleary said supporting modern technologies is critical to the business as customers prefer to use digital channels. 

“Continuously improving technology, customer service and user experience is increasingly important given that many customers now prefer to use digital channels to communicate with us,” he said.

“Digital innovation and investment in technology are at the core of our business strategy as they are fundamental drivers of customer experience. 

"With its deep understanding of our business and systems, CSC will be taking on greater responsibility for our IT systems and infrastructure to deliver improved stability and performance – both of which will benefit our people, our customers and our business."

In April 2015 Autoglass announced the creation of a technology director position in charge of the company’s digital strategy, which Cleary took up. This was part of a £14m global initiative by the firm's parent company Belron to streamline processes and improve customer experience.

Autoglass also recently started using social media monitoring software from Tracx to better understand the digital engagements it has with its customers.

Through Belron it is using the Tracx platform to help it bring together enterprise social media management across five continents, 21 countries and 16 languages. It has around 60 employees using the software.