Global supermarket chain, Auchan, has announced that it is taking on a new business service management system, courtesy of a collaboration between Atos Origin and Selesta, the European integrator and distributor of Managed Objects' Business Service Management (BSM) software, Formula.

Using its know-how in business service management and its knowledge of Auchan's production setup, Selesta and Atos are now setting up to model the supermarket chain's business processes and manage any remaining development.

Speaking to IT journalists, a spokesperson for Selesta claimed that the approach being taken with the new system will help to change Auchan's IT production from technically based management, and will create a focus on business services. The project covers 12 business processes deemed 'critical' by Auchan, the first of these to be rolled out is financial reporting.

The advantages for the Information Systems Department are considerable, according to Samuel Hurtrel, the man in charge of the operations department at Auchan. 'The ability to warn business users in advance of abnormal situations, based on the impact that the disturbances would have on the business processes, will provide an improvement in our dialogue from a business user's view,' he added.

"We did not hesitate in recommending using a BSM product, since it put the customer at the centre of the IT management's attention, which is exactly the philosophy that we have adopted,' agreed Benoit Thibaut, the supermarket chain's head of service instrumentation.