AI Magazine May 2024 | Page 165

The move to a hybrid cloud approach As a global company , Rexel operates across 19 countries , necessitating a constant embrace of change . The centralisation of IT has enabled better security controls and economies of scale .
Kaya Demircigil , Rexel ’ s Head of Cloud , has witnessed Rexel ’ s transformation from a classical legacy IT firm to an IT company driving transformation and leveraging data . “ We need a robust IT backbone that supports the business . Because if we have problems there , it could hugely impact our revenue . We must secure those platforms and ensure they are scalable on demand and agile enough , with a fast time-to-market .
“ When I joined Rexel , we started talking about these digital transformation needs . But our backbone wasn ’ t ready , so we moved from a more classical legacy IT company to an IT company driving transformation and using data to improve . We ’ re still bulk sellers , but our backbone is that we are IT experts .”
With Rexel continuing to grow and acquiring other businesses , Sutton highlights some of the challenges to negotiate when dealing with legacy IT . “ There ’ s a lot of legacy IT when we acquire businesses that need uplifting to operate in the modern world . That ’ s one challenge we have . That ’ s where we start talking about hybrid networking elements – we have to look at how we do all of this securely , maintaining legacy while innovating to meet the business ’ s digital requirements .”
As the organisation continues to embark upon this transformation , Rexel has invested significantly in cybersecurity to keep pace
aimagazine . com 165