Tesco plans to adopt a service-oriented architecture (SOA) across its supermarket management systems to cut costs and improve the flexibility of its IT infrastructure.

SOA is an increasingly popular method of software development where open standard applications are developed independently of traditional, proprietary IT platforms. It allows firms to reuse existing systems and share data across the business.

Tesco will be the first, and certainly the largest, UK retailer to use SOA. The chain plans to use it for in-store systems such as stock management and pricing over the next three years, said group IT director Colin Cobain.

‘We are constantly looking to innovate and SOA could allow us to become more flexible by making the links between existing applications much easier,’ he said.
The strategy is already popular in government and financial business, said Butler Group analyst Rob Hailstone.

‘Take-up is highest in those industries where the architecture is more complex and integration of systems is a bigger problem,’ said Hailstone. ‘But there is no reason why a company such as Tesco, with a complex IT architecture of its own, could not benefit.’

US retail giant Wal-Mart already uses SOA to link outsourced systems with existing applications and connect new supply chain partners.

The key benefits are cost-cutting and flexibility.

Enabling firms to reuse existing software eliminates the need for developing new applications, said Gartner research director David Norton. ‘The result is that the company can react more quickly,’ he said.