Kering is home to some of the biggest brands in the world , so it needs IT solutions of a similar quality . Business Review USA reports on the company ’ s huge technology transformation
Andres Montoya knows a lot about implementing huge IT and technological changes at major corporations , which is exactly what he was hired to do as CIO for the Americas at Kering back in 2014 . He says : “ Our Group CIO was asked to lead and deploy a shared services for IT globally , so that was the task that I was given – the opportunity to deploy , develop and create an IT shared services for Kering in the Americas .”
Kering is a world-leading accessories and apparel group , with luxury and sport and lifestyle brands – from Gucci and Stella McCartney to Puma and Cobra – under its umbrella . Digital is a strategic , CEOlevel priority for the group , so it makes sense that Montoya was brought in to ensure its internal IT services were of the same high quality as the clothing Kering ’ s brands produce .
When Montoya started , each of Kering ’ s brands had just been transitioned out of managing its own IT resources , which was a very complex situation , as you can imagine . “ The company wanted to move to a shared services model ,” says Montoya . “ Leveraging skills from within the big brands , allowing the emerging brands to benefit from the knowledge that already existed in the organization .” In order to ensure a successful shift to shared services , Montoya began by listening . He says : “ I had a lot of conversations with my internal customers : presidents of the different brands , the heads of the different departments like
34 October 2016