HCL Technologies to conduct Fonterra's major tech overhaul

HCL Technologies has signed a deal with New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra to modernise and manage Fonterra's entire technology infrastructure.

The multi-year deal will help to consolidate Fonterra's technology suppliers under a single umbrella. In addition to enhancing Fonterra's employee experience, the partnership will also help

HCL Technologies to extend its presence to three offices across the country.

Fonterra chief information officer Piers Shore says Fonterra will leverage HCL Technologies' global scale and efficiency.

"Fonterra employees have said there is room for us to improve the tools and technologies we use on a daily basis at work and this partnership with HCL will allow us to make major improvements for our employees in terms of end-user experience and provide the digital foundation to our transformation initiatives," he explains.

"Additionally, this partnership will enable us to improve our cyber security framework and strengthen our critical IT foundation. Through our partnership with HCL, we are consolidating our external IT suppliers and through this we expect to make significant savings relative to our existing infrastructure IT spend over the next five years.

The two companies say the partnership also reinforces HCL Technologies' focus on supporting New Zealand's local IT ecosystem.

The partnership will enable the investment in local skills, with an estimated 60 new jobs to be added to the Waikato region.

The companies will also engage in further partnerships with regional companies and tertiary education groups to develop local skills and expertise.

"We have been supporting Fonterra for over a decade by managing its IT application support and maintenance portfolio including SAP," says HCL Technologies executive vice president and ANZ country manager Michael Horton.

"We are delighted to expand our partnership with Fonterra to modernise and manage the entire technology infrastructure.  This will enable us to further support both Fonterra's business strategy as well as the agritech sector overall in the region.

In August 2019, HCL Technologies opened its first New Zealand delivery centre in Hamilton. The delivery centre supports customers and partners by providing access to IT services and business technologies such as cybersecurity, blockchain, cloud, and artificial intelligence.

The centre also supports skills development within the Hamilton region.

"HCL's new delivery centre here will open up immense opportunities for not only our city but for entire New Zealand," commented Hamilton mayor Andrew King at the time of the announcement.

"Along with bringing global technologies and customers to our local talent here, HCL has also joined hands with us for various regional developmental initiatives in Hamilton.

HCL Technologies' global consolidated revenue as of December 31, 2019 was US$9.7 billion. The company employs 149,000 staff across 45 countries.