Interview: Ian Dyson, director of information services, Co-operative Retail Trading Group

Most of us are aware of the Co-operative supermarket chain and the funeral and banking services, but the group’s many arms stretch beyond these better-known areas.

Ian Dyson is the director of information services for the Co-operative Retail Trading Group (CRTG), responsible for travel, healthcare, governance and security and IT. The CRTG was set up in 1993 to centralise the buying power for member Co-operative Societies.

“As a business we’ve faced tremendous pressures over the last two to three years,” Dyson says. “We’ve seen the acquisition of Somerfield. Our Financial Services colleagues merged with Britannia. There’s been a lot of growth.”

Dyson says the group has now entered a period of consolidation, but that has not stopped it implementing a lot of new technology.

Datacentre expansion
According to Dyson, the group has traditionally under invested in its datacentres, with the result that it is now struggling for capacity. But more recently it has dramatically increased investment in this area.

“We commissioned a brand new datacentre not far from Manchester, which will come online in May 2011. We also expanded the existing datacentre by 50 per cent,” he says.

“We have a keen interest in sustainability. We’re utilising cold-aisle containment and water-cooled racks.”

These technologies can help  increase the energy efficiency of the datacentre, which reduces both cost and carbon footprint.

The uninterruptable power supply solution for the new Salford datacentre uses flywheel technology rather than traditional batteries. This stores reserve energy using a rotating mechanical element. This is both longer lasting and less damaging to the environment than traditional lead battery solutions.

New head office
The environment is also being considered in the design of the group’s new HQ, which should be ready by mid-2012.

“We’re aiming for the top environmental standards,”says Dyson. “Specifically, BREEAM ‘outstanding’.”

The BRE Environmental Assessment Method is the most widely used environmental measure for buildings, and “outstanding” is its top rating.

The budget for the new building is £100m, some of which will cover the cost of IT.

“We’re decamping from seven buildings in Manchester and consolidating into one,” he says. “We’ve got in the region of 3,500 people who will want to use the building, but it will be designed to house 2,500.”

The group has been able to do this by deploying infrastructure and solutions that allow people to work flexibly. The alternative would be to have a much larger head office, with higher financial costs.

“The business case therefore is very straightforward. It would cost millions for extra floors on a building of this size, both upfront and annually recurring costs,” says Dyson.

Unified communications
The organisation has recently  consolidated its six email platforms into one: Microsoft Exchange 2007. Dyson says that it is too early to fully evaluate the system with its 12,000 users, but some advantages are already apparent.

“There are reduced costs and remote web access makes it more flexible. It’s also far easier to administer,” he says.

The new system has also enabled the company to use push email technology, automatically sending mail out to smartphones and iPads, which means the device does not have to initially contact the server. Dyson says this was a starting point for developing a new working strategy, emphasising mobility and flexibility.

“We see it as a platform for building our unified communications strategy. We’re trialling Office Communications Server (OCS) and instant messaging within IT and will roll out both to user departments in 2011.”

Dyson says the group will also introduce the MS SharePoint suite and integrate its Avaya telephony system and SMS service into Microsoft Exchange. He says it is a cheaper way of operating that will increase productivity as it allows employees to access their applications and data more easily. “It’s a win-win,” says Dyson.

The group is currently evaluating whether to use an integrator to help implement the new projects. A decision will be made in the next few months.