For a company with some applications that are ten to twenty years old, Abercrombie & Fitch's IT team is amazingly forward-thinking, an attitude driven by Blum. Rather than be reactive to what she found in place when she first joined the retailer a little over a year ago, and simply rush to replace aging systems with new ones, Blum strongly believes that a proactive stance is best. Blum started Abercrombie & Fitch on its journey toward the future with a question, "How do we get to the place of being more agile and flexible, and howcan IT enable that and help drive the company’s growth opportunities?"

Such a question has many answers, and not all answers revolve around technology. To create a successful IT department and to enable a business to be agile and prepared for anything, more than technology has to be in place - people and processes are just as critical. To get to that "place of being more agile and flexible," Blum examined where the company currently stood from a people, process and technology perspective. In order to answer the one critical question, more questions were asked: "Do we have the right people in the right places? What are the processes we currently deploy in terms of governance, discipline and control? What is the technology we need for the future, for growth, flexibility and scalability?"

The most important perspective to tackle first was people. From day one, it was clear the IT department was understaffed and that new skill sets had to be integrated into the team. "We realized early on that if we were going to become a more strategic, proactive IT organization, we were understaffed. So we hired appropriate additions to the IT team, as well as developed retooling plans for existing associates that were interested in other areas of IT," Blum says.

With a solid IT crew in place, Blum transitioned to examining the IT department's processes - what was already in place and what needed to be changed. Change is always hard for staff, but according to Blum, IT department members were "very open and willing to embrace the processes and discipline that were necessary for an IT organization of a multi-billion dollar company. Developing the standards, defining the processes to be followed and creating auditing metrics is crucial for enabling our success."

Technology for Our Future
Abercrombie & Fitch's initial steps on its journey into the future involved bringing on more people and making changes to discipline and control processes. The next step was "starting to define the technologies for our future," says Blum. "Our mission is to support and enable the business, but also to drive a lot of what the needs are and enable growth opportunities by getting ahead from the technology perspective." Though it was clear that the old systems had to be replaced, A&F did not want to do it in piecemeal. Instead, the IT department sought a "strategic partner" to work with, one that offered a complete platform of applications. Oracle was chosen and several applications were selected as the first systems to be put in place.

The first major Oracle initiative that is currently underway is the retail merchandising system. The components included in phase one of the project are the core infrastructure, merchandise hierarchy, organizational hierarchy, master data and purchase order functionality (scheduled to go live in 2008). Phase two includes perpetual inventory, sales audit, stock ledger and price management (scheduled to go live in 2009). These systems "are the foundation and are critical to be in place to build a solid infrastructure for future technologies and application integration," Blum says. "We are preparing for the growth and expansion in our future and will be in big trouble if we don't get them under our belt now."

In addition to the first phase of the Oracle platform implementation, Abercrombie & Fitch continues to roll out other third-party software systems, as well as design in-house systems. Business intelligence and analytics also are capabilities the IT department identified as front-burner technology. The department is currently in the process of transferring every single data element in the company into a Netezza data warehouse. "It is a massive undertaking because it is taking every data element in the entire company and putting it into one place," says Blum.

A third system currently under production is an identity and access management application (IAM) provided by Novell. The creation of the system includes both process changes and technology implementations. First, the IT department must match positions within PeopleSoft to help IAM in determining what information and system each position has access to.

Along similar lines, a biometrics system for store associates is currently being piloted in several stores. The system is being trialed both as a workforce management tool and as an identity management tool. As a workforce management tool, it ensures that the appropriate staff is punching in and out. As an identity management tool, it enables only pre-selected managers to provide register overrides.

Wireless Potential
Another project in development is the creation of a back-of-store wireless network. "There is a multitude of value you get from a store infrastructure perspective,” Blum says of the reason Abercrombie & Fitch is investing in wireless technology. However, the immediate driving factor for the network is to support a new in-store replenishment project, which has already shaved time off how long it takes to replenish on-the-floor merchandise.

The new system, created in-house and referred to as the electronic Unit Sold Report system (eUSR) utilizes hand-held scanners and cradles, which are synched with POS. While scanners are stored in the cradles, real-time updates of replenishment needs are uploaded to the scanners. When floor associates are ready to replenish stock, they simply pick up a handheld scanner and read the display. The scanners indicate which items have been sold and need to be replenished. Furthermore, the replenishment notifications are organized in the order that the stock appears in the back-room, so finding the right stock is simple. "It saves a lot of time and efficiency, not to mention paper," says Blum.

Prior to the eUSR system, floor staff had to consult paper reports, printed frequently throughout the day, to determine what stock had been sold and needed to be replenished. Store associates would then have to search through the stock-room to find the correct items. The new system has cut out the middleman (the reports) and made it easier for staff to find the needed stock. Once the wireless network is in place, it will integrate the scanners with the wireless connection to enable updates directly to the scanners.

Constant Forward Thought
Though Abercrombie & Fitch is placing much emphasis on infrastructure, foundational systems and in-store systems, the retailer is not ignoring its Web site. "Our vice president of direct consumer business has a laundry list of critical things that need to be done," Blum says of the ongoing work on the retailer's Web site. Most changes involve making the site "more convenient and easier to navigate for the customer," but one recent implementation centered on the site's backend, and making it safer for customers to shop. Online fraud prevention technology from The 41st Parameter was added to the Web site to beef up the site's security measures.

"Whether it's thinking about howto make the Web site safer, how to leverage a wireless network or which Oracle Retail applications should be implemented next, Abercrombie & Fitch's IT team is always thinking ahead. Plans are underway to initiate upgrades of the point-of-sale and warehouse management applications within the next two years. "Our goal is to provide the business with the opportunity to do newer, bigger and better things while creating leverage and improving efficiencies," Blum says.