Executive summary
Too much choice can wreak havoc with a company’s IT procurement
operation. With so many vendors and suppliers to choose from,
organisations can soon find themselves plagued with over-lapping
contracts, non-standard purchases and a costly paper trail.
To overcome such procurement challenges, many companies have
opted to centralise their IT purchasing, which not only helps to
streamline the process, but also promote greater IT
standardisation.
When Pioneer Europe standardised the majority of its hardware on
to HP products, it also partnered with Computacenter to deliver an
online procurement and fulfilment service to more than 10
countries. As a result, Pioneer Europe has been able to reduce the
complexity associated with its IT procurement, and decrease
maverick buying.
The bespoke solution also supports the electronics giant’s move
to a more standardised infrastructure, which will eventually enable
it to simplify the management of its IT estate.
Business description
Electronics manufacturer.
Business challenge
Prevent non-standard IT hardware from impacting the company’s
productivity.
Solution
Implement a pan-European IT procurement system with standardised
purchasing options.
Business benefits
Increased efficiency and centralised IT purchasing will help
reduce the company’s overheads.
Services
E-procurement, fulfilment.
Timescale
Pioneer’s relationship began in early 2003 and the current
contract runs until 2006.
Partners
HP.
Pioneer has over 60 years’ experience of developing audio and
video equipment, and employs more than 39,000 people across the
globe. Its extensive portfolio of products encompasses digital
versatile discs (DVD), plasma display panels (PDP) and in-car
navigation and AV systems.
The company is committed to innovation, and bringing
entertainment excellence to individual’s homes and vehicles. In
Europe, these aims are fulfilled via a series of subsidiaries in
more than 10 countries - including the UK, Germany and France -
which are managed by the company’s European headquarters in
Belgium.
IT strategy and procurement for Europe are also controlled via
the operation in Belgium and the company is moving to an
increasingly centralised model. As Steven Decanniere, central IT
operations manager for Pioneer Europe NV, explains: “The structure
of our European business had led to a decentralised IT
infrastructure and purchasing strategy. As a result, our IT assets
lacked standardisation, which was adding both costs and complexity
to the support and management of our infrastructure.”
Increasing IT control
To help address these challenges, Pioneer Europe took the
decision to centralise and standardise both its IT infrastructure
and procurement process for new technology.
As a result of a tender process, Pioneer Europe selected HP as
its preferred technology partner for Wintel-based servers, desktops
and printers. “By standardising our hardware platforms, we are able
to make our infrastructure much more interchangeable and flexible,”
comments Joost Rommelaere, Manager of Pioneer Europe NV’s IT
Competence Centre. “HP offered the best both in terms of price and
quality, and has a proven track record in developing reliable
technology.”
This, however, was just the first piece of the IT procurement
puzzle. Pioneer Europe also needed to ensure that the HP hardware
could be efficiently sourced and distributed to its 12 sites across
Europe. “We needed a pan-European agreement that was both efficient
and cost-effective,” adds Joost. “Computacenter is an accredited
and established HP partner, and has the scale and resources to meet
our current and future needs.”
Web-enabled procurement
As a result, Computacenter has been supplying Pioneer Europe
with HP servers, desktops, peripherals and printers since early
2003. In that time Computacenter has shipped more than 6.500
(actual number 6.541) products across Europe. These products are
ordered by the different subsidiaries via Computacenter Connect - a
specialist e-procurement tool that enables customers to purchase IT
software and hardware over the Internet.
The full Computacenter Connect catalogue contains up to 30,000
items, but many customers – including Pioneer Europe - opt for a
bespoke version comprised of their regular purchases and core
products. Yasmina Fadli, Pioneer Europe’s account manager at
Computacenter, commented: “We hold monthly meetings with HP and
Pioneer Europe to ensure the product portfolio is up to date, and
reflects any specification or model changes.
"We have also developed bespoke bundles for regular purchases,
such as a desktop package for a new starter, which are tailored to
each country to ensure localised keyboards are provided.”
Computacenter Connect also helps Pioneer fulfil its objective of
a standard IT infrastructure across Europe. “Computacenter Connect
helps us control maverick buying, and has also made our IT
purchasing more efficient and quicker by web-enabling the process.
Procurement can be a drain on both IT resources and budget, so
being able to simplify the process is extremely beneficial,”
commented Steven.
In addition to streamlining IT procurement, Computacenter
Connect also provides customers with additional services, which can
help them monitor purchasing costs and track orders. It also
enables companies to improve their intelligence around IT
procurement and products, as Steven explains: “Our purchasing
processes are now much more defined, and we also have better
visibility of changes to HP’s product offerings, enabling us to
make informed hardware choices.”
Responsive service
With Computacenter responsible for sourcing nearly a third of
Pioneer’s IT hardware in Europe, it is essential that it can fulfil
the company’s needs. “If procurement and distribution are held up,
then time to desk can be compromised, which could impact business
continuity and productivity,” comments Yasmina. “We therefore work
closely with Pioneer Europe to forecast its needs, and reserve a
certain amount of stock for them on an ongoing basis.”
Such safeguards have helped to ensure that Computacenter
delivers a responsive and reliable technology sourcing service to
Pioneer Europe, which orders an average of 272 products a
month.
“We have a good relationship with Computacenter, and it is
responsive to our needs,” comments Joost. “It has also proven to be
very flexible, and we have been able to work together on making
changes to improve our supply chain for IT hardware.”