Procter & Gamble moves to invest in IT innovation

Procter & Gamble wants to improve the customer experience through innovation

Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) is moving its datacentres out of its own sites and into supplier HP’s facilities to reduce costs and divert funds to IT innovation.

P&G’s multibillion-dollar outsourcing relationship with HP already includes the management of three datacentres, but these are areas where the group can generate savings and keep up with expansion needs, chief information officer
Filippo Passerini told Computing.

“We need to grow those datacentres and start a refresh so we plan to move into HP’s datacentres to significantly enhance our scale,” he said.

“The difference between our existing deal and the future setup is that all the resources and assets we need to operate the datacentres will be consolidated into larger facilities that cater for multiple customers.”

Project work for the move has already been completed, but the changeover is expected to take six months to two years to complete.

“The migration will be progressive as you cannot just turn the switch on and off,” said Passerini.

The move will free up resources for innovative projects, such as the use of virtual reality software to simulate consumer behaviour, and real-time distribution planning systems that model trends to highlight potential savings.

“We cannot stop innovation because those projects allow us to release expenditure in other areas. We are under cost pressures like everyone else, but are focusing on cutting operational costs without compromising service levels,” said Passerini.

P&G’s decision may have been motivated by the cost efficiencies HP gained when it carried out an IT transformation, said Andrew Parker, research director at Forrester Research.

“HP has just completed a huge datacentre consolidation of its own, which has shown its customers compelling results, so P&G may want to gain something similar,” he said.