Asda security chief replaced, retailer sheds jobs during Walmart tech divorce

The head of tech security at Asda, the UK's third-largest food retailer, has left amid an ongoing tech divorce from US grocery giant Walmart.

The Register has learned that chief information security officer Simon Langley is exiting his role at the UK's third largest supermarket chain. We have asked Langley to comment but had not heard from him at the time of publication.

According to an online profile, Langley joined Asda in December 2021, having worked in CISO roles for retailer Morrisons and insurance company Covéa. An organizational chart seen by The Register shows he is set to be replaced by Mike Amos, formerly head of strategy and architecture.

An Asda spokesperson declined to comment on personal appointments.

Langley landed the role months after Walmart sold Asda in February 2021 to retail entrepreneurs Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital. The new owners entered a "transitional services agreement" with Walmart to support Asda's IT systems for an initial period of three years. At the same time, Asda embarked on a program called Project Future to separate its IT systems from Walmart, with an initial budget of £189 million ($244 million).

Asda later extended its support arrangement with Walmart, and said it was on track to complete the three-year separation project by the end of 2024. In the summer, about 135 IT staff entered a collective consultation to be transferred to outsourcer TCS while digital transformation chief Mark Simpson left the business after 28 years of service.

According to a spokesperson, Asda moved off Walmart's SAP ERP system to a new instance of S/4HANA hosted in the Microsoft Azure cloud in January 2024. In July, an annual report revealed the total cost of the project had climbed to £430 million ($554 million) for the period ending December 31, 2023.

In September, the company said it would prioritize the conversion of its IT at around 850 retail sites, including smaller supermarkets and Asda Express convenience stores, during the remainder of 2024.

The plan was Asda would then convert its larger stores from early January 2025 onward following the peak Christmas trading period.

According to sources close to the project, the technology team has been told that the Future Operations aspect of the program is to be finished by February 14, after which the company plans to end joint running of the network infrastructure – managed and monitored by Walmart – to become exclusively managed by Asda.

All Walmart technologies on the network are set to be shut down and everything moved over by that date. However, The Register understands that the number of Walmart wireless handheld devices still in use in distribution depots on the old network remains uncertain as a complete list of equipment and applications was not collected at the outset.

A spokesperson said the transition to systems run only by Asda was "more nuanced" than the fixed date suggested and completion was now expected in early 2025. "Any discussion between Asda and Walmart about the schedule will take place in private," they said.

The spokesperson said all but a single depot had been migrated to the new distribution and warehouse management system called Manhattan. They said the final location was set to migrate early next year.

"The systems that we needed to change we identified as part of a discovery phase that occurred as the first activity at the very start of the separation process. We've spoken publicly about 2,500 systems," they said.

Earlier this month, the company announced 475 staff were being made redundant at its head offices in Leeds and Leicester. Meanwhile, fixed-term contractors working on the IT transformation project are also set to leave "over the course of the next few months as this project finishes," the Asda spokesperson told us.

The Register understands that restrictions have been placed on IT contractors' security and parking arrangements. They must be met by an Asda manager as they arrive, must be accompanied by an Asda colleague at all times, and ANPR access for parking has been revoked. Arrangements for contractors and third parties will require SVP, CFO, or CPO approval.

Asda is also placing restrictions on working from home. A statement from chairman Stuart Rose and board member Rob Hattrell said the business now requires those with WFH arrangements to be present in an Asda office at least three days per week.

They promised to introduce "simplified ways of working using our new technology." ®