TCS & Co-op expand partnership to further cloud-first strategy

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and The Co-operative Group Limited (Co-op) have expanded their long-term collaboration to establish a cloud-first strategy in support of Co-op's business growth and sustainability roadmap. The significant shift from a traditional data centre model to TCS Enterprise Cloud signals an intention to lay the foundation for future capabilities and expansion.

TCS has been a strategic ally for Co-op over the past 14 years, beginning a journey that has led to workplace and business-critical transformations within the co-operative. Such initiatives include their retail business transformation, core system transformation and franchise programme, all contributing to hastening the time to market, creating new revenue streams, and boosting agility to respond dynamically to emerging business needs.

The announcement of the enhanced partnership outlines that TCS will spearhead Co-op's migration from the data centre model to a fully managed, scalable cloud environment. This shift to the TCS Enterprise Cloud will establish a solid bedrock for future growth whilst reducing energy consumption and assisting in achieving sustainability objectives. Moreover, TCS will also manage the hybrid cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) estate for superior resilience and agility.

Rob Elsey, Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) at The Co-operative Group, expressed satisfaction with the extension of the strategic collaboration with TCS (Tata Consultancy Services). Elsey emphasised the importance of this partnership in fulfilling Co-op's business goals and providing exceptional service to its member-owners. He praised TCS as an excellent partner, highlighting its alignment with Co-op's growth strategies and its role in modernising infrastructure to support future expansion. 

Rob Elsey stated, "We are delighted to extend our strategic partnership with TCS to enable us to meet Co-op's business objectives and serve and support our member-owners who are at the very heart of our business. They have been a great partner, aligned with our growth priorities and future-proofed our infrastructure as we set the course for continued future expansion, supporting change and transformation in how we work as a business and in our cloud journey," he said. 

Shekar Krishnan, Head of Retail and CPG, UK and Europe, TCS, echoed this positivity. "TCS is pleased to expand our long-standing partnership with The Co-operative Group. Our contextual knowledge, deep domain expertise, and technology prowess will help Co-op achieve their cloud-first strategy and result in a resilient digital foundation to support their business growth," Shekar Krishnan said.

The expanded partnership between TCS and Co-op showcases the integral role TCS continues to play in the transformational journeys of some of the UK's most iconic businesses. Employing over 23,000 individuals in the UK and Ireland, TCS has been recognised as an expert provider of IT services for customer satisfaction among the most considerable IT spending organisations in the UK.