March 24, 2008. IBS DataFort, the provider of functional IT outsourcing services in the Russian market, reports a 60 per cent increase in the number of supported retail outlets and warehouse facilities in 2008 under a long-term outsourcing contract with M.Video, Russia’s leading retailer of electronic equipment and household appliances. IBS DataFort undertook to provide technical support for 13 more M.Video stores in the past several months alone.
M.Video shows dynamic growth, having opened 37 new hypermarkets in 2008 despite the crisis. The company’s retail chain currently comprises 160 stores in 68 Russian cities. 120 of the stores, and also 50 warehouses, are served by IBS DataFort.
Under the terms of the outsourcing contract, IBS DataFort services include scheduled maintenance of computer hardware and system software, recovery of server hardware and workstations, installation of structured cabling system components, protecting the integrity of user data, and forming and supporting the pool of replacement hardware.
The relationship between the two companies started in late 2004 when a pilot project was launched involving St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod stores. After the pilot project, the support contract for most regional M.Video stores went to IBS DataFort. In October 2007 the contract was extended for three years.
Now IBS DataFort administers and supports approximately 4,000 user workplaces and over 15 thousand computer hardware items of M.Video, including printers, flatbed scanners, barcode scanners, card readers, monitors, server and active network hardware and uninterruptible power supply units.
“Business continuity and a high level of our services hinge on the quality of IT infrastructure support. Centralised IBS DataFort services provide us with the benefits of manageability, flexibility and scalability, which are very important. We have outsourced to our partner the functions of and liability for hardware support, so we do not have to look for a contractor in each of the regions and each of the cities, duplicate staff responsibilities or bear extra costs of regional management,” commented Alexei Mishin, Director, Technical Support Department, M.Video.
Denis Kalinin, General Director, IBS DataFort: “Having opted for an external service provider as the ‘single point of access’ for workstation management and server and peripheral hardware services, M.Video is able to make more efficient use of IT resources to achieve its business objectives and enhance control and manageability of IT assets.”
M.Video plans to launch over 20 new stores in 2009, and some of the new stores will also use IBS DataFort technical support services.
Companies’ Profiles
M.VIDEO is one of Russia’s biggest retail chains selling electronic equipment and household appliances, and the first and only public company in that segment. M.Video has been operating since 1993. As of the end of 2008, there were 157 M.Video hypermarkets operating in 64 cities of the Russian Federation. M.Video stores have the total space of over 416 thousand square meters. In 2008 the amount of the company’s business reached 80,539 billion roubles (USD 3 225 billion), including the VAT.
Media contacts:
Nadezhda Kiseleva, Spokesperson for M.Video: Nadezhda.Kiseleva@mvideo.ru
Julia Sorokina, PR Manager, M.Video: Julia.Sorokina@mvideo.ru
+7 (495) 775-36-84
IBS DataFort is a provider of functional IT outsourcing services in the Russian market. For more information, please visit www.datafort.org.
IBS is the leader in the Russian IT and consulting market. Along with Luxoft and Depo Computers, it is part of IBS Group Holding Limited. Its core lines of business span management consulting, implementation of business applications, IT outsourcing and IT infrastructure. IBS headcount is about 3,000 employees including over 1,500 certified consultants and professionals. IBS customer base includes 34 of Russia’s top 50 companies. For more information on the company please visit http://www.ibs-company.com/.
For further information about the company, please contact Lada Scherbakova, PR Director at 8 (495) 967 8080, or by e-mail at lada@ibs.ru.
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