Electronics supplier RS Components outsources business process systems in online push

UK-based manufacturer RS Components has outsourced the development and maintenance of its corporate applications to Atos.

The move will involve transferring its systems to Atos's private cloud. The six-year contract could run to 2026, if the component supplier takes up the option of a further four years.

RS Components, which operates in 32 countries, is the trading brand of Electrocomponents which supplies engineer with electrical and electronic components, tool and testing equipment.

The company is increasing its online sales and wants to improve its systems' focus on the customer, using agile develoment. The application services will cover supply chain, data analytics, customer relationship management (CRM) and financial systems.

The contract goes beyond applications and includes the management of datacentres, user computing and the service desk.

Phil Cook, global CIO at RS Components, said: “Our first priority is our customers and we need websites and processes that work for them and give us further insight into their needs.

"Atos can help us deliver a first-class service whilst delivering operational efficiencies throughout our business.”

Systems will move to a secure managed private cloud platform, using the Atos cloud known as Canopy. It will also use public cloud services.

Atos will supply robotics and automation around the back-end IT systems to cut costs and enable the company to launch services quickly.

The two companies will invest in innovations around customer interaction. For example, they are using SAP Hana to deliver and analyse data from across all of the business in real time, which will allow RS Components to act on insights quickly.