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USA:VF Corporation Selects IBM for IT Transformation |
2004-11-29
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Seven-Year Contract Is a Key Component of the Branded Apparel Maker''s Growth Plans.
Leading apparel company VF Corporation has selected IBM to manage and transform its global IT infrastructure. The seven-year agreement is expected to provide VF Corporation -- maker of such well-known brands as Lee, Wrangler and The North Face clothing -- with dramatic IT performance improvements and cost savings, allowing the company to meet its aggressive sales growth targets.
"Our new relationship with IBM will support the growth we expect from both our core businesses and from acquisitions. In particular, it will enhance our ability to quickly and easily integrate companies that we acquire as we execute our growth plan," said Boyd Rogers, vice president, global supply chain, VF Corporation. "This gives us the kind of competitive edge that can really make a positive difference for our business, allowing us to continue our focus on building new growth brands."
Driving much of the increased efficiencies, IBM''s Universal Management Infrastructure (UMI) and Tivoli software suite will apply advanced automation capabilities in managing VF Corporation''s mainframe, midrange and Intel-based servers in the United States and overseas. UMI will also enable VF Corporation to pay only for the computing power it uses, while making it easy to adjust capacity as needed.
In addition to the backend systems, IBM will manage VF Corporation''s approximately 12,000 Dell personal computers, as well as the help desk, disaster recovery operations and the VF Corporation web site.
VF Corporation, which recently purchased sportswear companies Nautica and Vans, announced in October an aggressive plan designed to increase sales by eight percent annually.
"VF Corporation understands the correlation between IT performance and customer satisfaction," said Tony Martinez, general manager, distribution sector, IBM Global Services. "We are committed to providing VF Corporation with an IT infrastructure that offers the highest levels of flexibility, resilience and performance." |
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