When Pioneer Europe standardised the majority of its hardware, it also moved to an online procurement and fulfilment service. As a result, it has been able to reduce the complexity associated with its IT procurement.
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 DVD, plasma display panels and in-car navigation and AV systems.
In Europe, it has 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.”
Pioneer Europe took the decision to centralise and standardise both its IT infrastructure and its procurement process for new technology. The company 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.
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
Rommelaere. “Computacenter is an accredited and established HP
partner, and has the scale and resources to meet our current and future
needs.”
Computacenter has been supplying Pioneer Europe with HP servers, desktops,
peripherals and printers since early 2003. These products are ordered
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, explains: “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,” says Decanniere.
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.
“Our purchasing processes are now much more defined,” Decanniere explains, “and we also have better visibility of changes to HP’s product offerings, enabling us to make informed hardware choices.” 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 Fadli. “We therefore work closely with Pioneer Europe to forecast its needs, and reserve a certain amount of stock for them on an ongoing basis.”
