Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced an expanded partnership with Marks and Spencer (M&S) for transforming the core technology stack of the British retailer for enhancing resilience and speed of innovation, as well as power sustainable growth.

The Indian IT firm was a partner strategic for Marks and Spencer for more than 10 years, helping the retailer implement a variety of business-critical transformation initiatives which includes its move towards becoming a digital-first company.

As part of the second phase of the collaboration, Tata Consultancy Services will simplify the technology landscape of Marks and Spencer and modernize its core business systems using a cloud-first, composable platform strategy.

Katie Bickerstaffe — Marks and Spencer Co-CEO said: “As we move into the next phase of our transformation to reshape M&S for growth and value creation, we are delighted to extend our partnership with TCS.

“Together, we pivoted M&S to a digital-first business and achieved key business outcomes such as growing dotcom, driving loyalty through Sparks and realizing significant cost and productivity efficiencies.”

Utilizing its engineering expertise and processes, Tata Consultancy Services will help drive an environment of forward-looking thinking and constant improvement.

The modernization plan will reduce the amount of technical debt, increase speed to market and boost the efficiency and effectiveness of the operating model of Marks and Spencer.

Furthermore, the shift to an agile, simple data-driven business will speed up Marks and Spencer’s strategic objectives of providing superior customer service, resulting in online growth, leading to sustainability and omnichannel, while modernizing its supply chain and increasing its reach across the globe.

Shankar Narayanan — Tata Consultancy Services President of Retail Cluster said: “As the long-standing transformation partner of M&S, we are fully vested in their purpose and belief that a simplified organisation with a culture of customer centricity and continuous innovation will help them drive sustainable growth in market share, sales, and profit.

“We are truly delighted to continue and enhance our relationship with them. Our priority is to modernise key enablers and build a high-performance culture that can unlock growth by harnessing the power of their global brand.”

  Katie Bickerstaffe, Marks and Spencer, Shankar Narayanan, Tata Consultancy Services, United Kingdom