Case Study: Global supermarket chain achieves a centralized cloud operating model and faster deployments with Kyndryl

Centralized cloud operating model prepares retailer for new business capabilities

Global Supermarket Chain, a German-based retailer operating 10,000+ stores across 15+ countries, faced a fragmented IT landscape with decentralized private instances and inconsistent application versions across 75 legal entities. The CIO pursued a centralized, cloud-first operating model to consolidate applications, speed development of new services (such as a company-wide mobile app for cashiers), simplify supply chain logistics, and reduce hardware and IT spend; Kyndryl (via Kyndryl Consult) partnered on the initiative and planned a migration to Microsoft Azure.

Kyndryl used its Infrastructure Transformation Accelerator to analyze workloads, migrated ~1,800 virtual machines and 170 applications across 8 countries to Azure, and implemented a Target Operating Model embedded in ServiceNow to standardize IT processes. The project delivered >30% post-migration performance improvement, >20% reduction in lead time for new cloud services, improved transparency and control of IT spend, eliminated under‑used hardware investment, and enabled centralized services and faster rollout of new business capabilities.