Out-Law News 1 min. read

Global mining company shifts IT systems into the cloud


Global mining company Rio Tinto is to move its core IT systems into a cloud computing environment in a move aimed at enabling innovation and cutting costs.

The information systems and technology (IS&T) systems will be provided on an 'as-a-service' basis under the new arrangement.

The migration of the systems to the cloud will see Rio Tinto's enterprise resource planning and information management platforms merged into one and hosted in the public cloud. Rio Tinto has contracted with Accenture to "manage the maintenance and upgrade of this application landscape and related infrastructure", it said. Accenture will also be responsible for changing Rio Tinto's "global service desk and site support functions".

"Rio Tinto expects to directly benefit from significant cost savings through increased business agility and cost flexibility inherent in cloud services, and from continued lower infrastructure prices in line with cloud economic trends," a statement issued by the companies said. "The solution is based on a platform for innovation - including a co-located innovation centre in Singapore – and a long-term commitment to partnering."

Technology law expert Paul Haswell of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "That an organisation of the size and reputation of Rio Tinto is embracing a cloud based software as a service solution for some of its core systems underlines how far the technology has developed, how much trust there now is in cloud technology, and the dynamism it can add to the systems required by a global business."

"Cloud promises significant cost savings, but this tend to only materialise where an organisation’s IT needs a variable and there is a strong relationship with the cloud vendor. The risk associated with cloud solutions, in particular the security risk, will not have been underestimated by Rio Tinto, who will have worked closely with Accenture that the solution delivered is tailored specifically to the changing needs of the business. Indeed, it’s key for a cloud provider to accurately understand how a business works before it can provide a solution which will guarantee the savings cloud promises," he said.

Rio Tinto Group chief information officer Simon Benney said the new approach was part of the company's plans for "a world-class IS&T delivery model that is innovative, adaptable and cost-effective".

Pierre Nanterme, chairman and chief executive of Accenture, said Rio Tinto's shift to cloud-based IT systems would allow it "to smartly connect its infrastructure, software applications, data and operations capabilities in order to become an agile, intelligent, digital business that can better navigate the commodities cycles".

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