Canadian Tire Corporation, the parent company for other retailers and company’s including Partsource, Gas+, FGL Sports, Mark’s and Canadian Tire Financial Services, has announced in a press release that it is going be opening its “Canadian Tire Cloud Computing Centre” in the city of Winnipeg. The company plans to have the doors open by the Fall of 2013 and will be part of the company’s innovation strategy. According to the company, the project will be “One of the most advanced centres of its kind in North America”. Canadian Tire goes on to states that, “the 28,000 square foot site will house a digital content warehouse, application lab, testing lab and high performance data centre. It will serve as the core digital hub for the Canadian Tire Family of Companies.”
The press release points out that the new center will give the Canadian firm “20-times more computing power and 10-times more network bandwidth than its existing technology infrastructure. The Canadian Tire Cloud Computing Centre, which will add 50 new Winnipeg-based employees to the Canadian Tire team in its first year, will be used to host the Company’s new ‘App Factory,’ where advanced digital solutions will be developed.”
Chief Technology Officer for Canadian Tire Corporation, Eugene Roman, also spoke about the new center and said that, “The Centre is a foundational piece to the digital work we’re implementing across the Family of Companies. As retail evolves into e-tail, the centre will accelerate this revolution. The applications we are developing will power improvements to back-end operations as well as enhance the customers’ in-store shopping experience and turbo-charge their interaction with our brands online.”
Manitoba attracted the company because of its growing technology sector which has been fostered with the help of the local government. Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger says that, “Despite global economic uncertainty, Manitoba continues to grow and attract investment that is creating jobs and building momentum in downtown Winnipeg. We are pleased to support Canadian Tire’s Advanced Cloud Computing Centre, and we look forward to attracting further investment as a result of the new media and data processing business incentives in Budget 2013.”
Winnipeg Mayor, Sam Katz, was also pleased with the news and stated, “The opening of the Canadian Tire data centre will create terrific opportunities in our technology sector and will significantly advance the digital media industry in Winnipeg. This announcement by one of Canada’s top retailers also signals our success in making Winnipeg a city of choice for companies looking to make considerable investments.”
Source: TechVibes, Canadian Tire
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