Accenture has won a five-year deal to help drive Best Buy’s technology strategy, delivery and operations. The partnership focuses on data science, information security, product development, technology risk management, user experience design, and staff diversity, the companies say.
Take a closer look at the engagement, and you'll find that Accenture is assisting Best Buy in three key areas, the companies say:
1. Building and growing diverse talent. Best Buy plans to hire 1,000 employees to its digital and technology team, and it has committed that 30% of these employees will be diverse — specifically Black, Latinx, Indigenous and Women. Accenture will support Best Buy in this work by helping recruit, train and hire new talent.
2. Investing in technology innovation. Accenture and Best Buy will jointly invest in technology innovation focused on helping Best Buy create enhanced customer experiences. Key growth areas will involve health and membership programs.
3. Investing in learning and development. Accenture will provide Best Buy access to its learning and development programs, including a library of online training courses and 12-week training boot camps for emerging talent.
Both Accenture and Best Buy have held up reasonably well during the coronavirus pandemic. Amid some revenue pressures, Accenture has had some staff cuts -- but the company's diverse revenue stream includes high-demand services that address cloud migrations, managed security services, big data analytics and more. Plus, Accenture has remained in acquisition mode.
Best Buy, meanwhile, has successfully coupled online sales with in-store pickup services to help retain customers.
