Delivering best of breed digital solutions to meet the expectations of a global marketplace at Nestlé – an interview with Osvaldo Santos, Senior Global Product Manager, Nestlé Information Technology
In a global business that is a household name for quality, managing expectations while meeting service level agreements (SLAs) across a multi-supplier network is a monumental challenge. Nestlé is known as one of the largest food and beverage companies globally, operating in 186 countries with a portfolio of over 2,000 brands. Its diverse range of products includes popular beverages like Nespresso and Nescafé, dairy products, confectionery such as Kit Kat and Smarties, and nutrition-focused offerings like infant formula and dietary supplements. The scale of this operation is staggering. Each of these brands caters to diverse markets, and the complexity of maintaining consistent service quality amidst varying SLAs requires strategic insight and effective collaboration.
An organization of this scope and scale requires best of breed IT solutions to support its business processes. The IT service management team at Nestlé is embracing multi-supplier sourcing as part of its digital strategy, and has turned to Scopism to provide SIAM expertise to help them shape their solution.
Multi-partner management
Organisations like Nestlé often rely on multiple partners to deliver the IT services and systems that underpin their products and services. This multi-partner environment brings with it a host of challenges, particularly when it comes to managing different SLAs. Each partner operates under unique contractual obligations, yet all must align with the overarching business objectives. In this blog, Osvaldo Santos, Global Senior Product Manager for IT Service Management (ITSM) at Nestlé mainly leading Global ServiceDesk, shares his thoughts about how to provide seamless service across their diverse ecosystem.
“The essence of effective service management lies in our ability to connect various stakeholders and frameworks. For us at the ITSM team in Nestlé, this means harnessing the principles of Service Integration and Management (SIAM). By leveraging SIAM, we can effectively coordinate our multiple partners, ensuring that each partner is accountable while driving a collective goal: enhancing the employee and customer experience.
SIAM acts as a connector, integrating internal and external services while creating a cohesive framework for managing expectations. It serves as the glue that binds our various service providers together, ensuring a unified approach to service delivery. This is critical because, as I often remind my team, our operational efficiency directly impacts our consumers. If systems fail, it’s not just an IT issue; it affects our ability to deliver products to the supermarket shelves and meet consumer demands.”
Nestlé’s ITSM team recognises the importance of clarity in service expectations. By establishing well-defined goals, accountability, and performance measures, they strive to maintain high standards across all service channels, transform our employees’ experience and streamline IT support processes with a focus on boosting user satisfaction, driving productivity and providing an exceptional service experience. SIAM can empower them to to uphold the quality of services, driving improvements while ensuring that they are also “brilliant at the basics“.
Osvaldo continues, “This approach is not just about maintaining operational flow; it’s about elevating our service standards to meet the demands of our customers and consumers in the end of the chain.”
A culture of excellence
Running a successful operation involves more than just maintaining the status quo. Continuous improvement is vital. In a dynamic marketplace, simply running processes is not enough; organizations must actively seek ways to enhance service delivery.
“This philosophy is deeply ingrained in Nestlé’s culture. Just as we innovate our product offerings—like introducing the nutritional level score for our Garden Gourmet brand—we must also bring transparency and quality to our IT services.
Implementing frameworks like SIAM can facilitate better governance and visibility across our operations. This ultimately allows us to adapt quickly to changes and challenges, ensuring we deliver a consistent and reliable experience for our employees and partners. The goal is to provide services that meet the highest standards—akin to the quality our consumers expect when choosing Nestlé products.”
Looking ahead
Organisations like Nestlé are choosing to embrace frameworks that streamline IT processes and foster collaboration across teams and suppliers. With a strong partner network and an effective multi-partner approach, the timing is perfect to explore the benefits of SIAM.
“As we prepare for our upcoming ITSM week, I look forward to further exploring the impact of SIAM on our operations and sharing our experiences with the broader community. We are delighted that Claire Agutter from Scopism will share her expertise on SIAM with us during this event and help us meet our expectations in our internal and external marketplace.”
