Retail major Shoppers Stop has entered into an outsourcing agreement with Net ProActive Services to monitor and manage its network security.

The arrangement is expected to be extended to cover facilities management, network management, and implementation of packages like HP OpenView.

Shoppers Stop, chief technology officer, Vikas Prabhu said the Rs 260 crore retailing major was moving a lot of its sourcing operations on to the Net, and hence needed to monitor its network on a regular basis.

"As a retailing company, we have realised the operational efficiencies that the Internet can afford, and hence we are looking at transacting more and more over the web. The move also results in us being exposed to all kinds of viruses and other vulnerabilities that the Internet brings with it," Prabhu said.

"When we link up with our suppliers' database and their systems they should be comfortable in the knowledge that their systems and network will not be exposed to any kind of attack emanating from a flaw in our network," Prabhu said on the move to outsource network security to Net ProActive Services.

Shoppers Stop, he said was also looking at expanding its relation with Net ProActive Services to include complete facilities and network management.

Shoppers Stop has invested over Rs 20 crore in technology related spending on software and hardware.

It has an annual IT budget of Rs 5 crore, and is expected to spend close to Rs 1 crore on outsourcing initiatives in the current fiscal.

Priya Krishnan, head of business development at Net ProActive Services, said, "Security was a moving target, and the company has laid an e-security policy in place to address the security concerns of Shoppers Stop.

" In addition, Net ProActive Services has assisted Shoppers Stop in segregating crucial data that needed to be protected, from non-crucial data which could be provided in the public domain.

"Protecting or securing data costs money and it is important that one knows what to protect, and hence keep costs down," Krishnan said.

Shoppers Stop has also roped in Ernst & Young to conduct regular security auditing.

This article had appeared in the Business Standard on Aug 12, 2002