Media centre

Tuesday 1 Oct 2019

Network Rail cloud migration project recognised as industry leader

Region & Route:

National

• Two-year IT transformation project involving Network Rail and partners

• One of Europe’s largest enterprise resource planning software migrations

• Savings of £2m on overhead costs alone

Network Rail’s programme to migrate its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to the cloud, in partnership with Cognizant, has been widely recognised across Britain’s technology industry as it celebrates a fourth award win this year.

The two-year project was awarded top position in the Best Overall Use of Cloud and Best Cloud Project categories in the Cloud Excellence Awards 2019, held on Thursday 19 September. It follows the project winning IT Team of the Year in the Tech Leaders Awards on Thursday 12 September and Innovative Use of Cloud Technologies at the Real IT Awards in May.

The challenging and complex transformation involved migrating Network Rail’s ERP software Oracle eBusiness Suite, which underpins core business processes in areas as varied as finance, HR, procurement, supply chain and projects. It supports almost 40,000 Network Rail employees, more than 4,000 suppliers and 150,000 business affiliates.

The result is better functioning ERP infrastructure for users inside and outside of Network Rail, with performance improved by 50 per cent and reduced provisioning lead times. The new design has saved money by reducing annual overhead costs by £2m and cutting the size of Network Rail’s ERP estate by 60 per cent, as well as paving the way for a more digitally focused culture at Network Rail to enable further transformation and efficiency.

Aidan Hancock, chief information officer at Network Rail, said:

“The transformation of our Oracle eBusiness platform is a tremendous achievement given the size, complexity and strategic importance to Network Rail. It has been completely rearchitected from ground up, providing a performant and modern platform while reducing our ongoing costs.

“This work is part of our drive towards increased efficiency and flexibility in service provision, and is part of our ongoing digital transformation.”

Notes to editors:

• Pictured left to right at the Cloud Excellence Awards: Rohit Gupta, VP Europe, Cognizant; Keith Rogers, head of programme and project services, Network Rail; Simon Goodman, head of IT support services, Network Rail; Suresh Buddaraju, senior architect, Cognizant

About Route Services

The Route Services function supplies Network Rail’s route businesses with critical services they decide are best provided from a national team. This includes IT services and equipment, training, supply and operation of Network Rail’s rail and road fleet, materials including rail and ballast, contract management and procurement, and shared services including finance and HR. Working as a single, service delivery directorate, Route Services allows Network Rail to benefit from economies of scale and greater efficiency from specialised delivery.