Brewery giant Lion Nathan has relocated its first CIO to Sydney in an organisational shake-up.
Darryl Warren made the shift in January, though he was appointed to the role last August. No other IT staff were involved.
Lion Nathan, says Warren, shifted his post to Sydney because most of the company’s IT department is based there. Warren, who still comes to Auckland regularly, says the shift was to bring “a companywide focus” to IT.
“We refocused our IT team into three streams of activity, being services, projects and account management. Locations have not changed apart from mine. I still retain focus on New Zealand through being a member of the Lion NZ executive team,” he says.
Warren reports to Phil Warburton, managing director of technical services.
He says the company is also in the process of installing new systems and technologies.
“E-enablement is a major focus for our organisation and we have a significant number of initiatives underway in this area,” he says. These include “refreshing” its B2C offering Shopnaked.co.nz, launching a Steinlager website and installing the .Net PeoplePlanet human resources portal. In Australia Lion Nathan is a major shareholder in artesian.com.au, a B2B portal for the hospitality industry.
The company has also recently launched an IT mentoring programme under which senior managers are partnered with junior support staff to boost their PC skills and make their working lives easier.