2009 - Jaarverslag

CORPORATE INFORMATIONSAFETYOur employees on all continents are professional people who have asense of enterprise focused on results and solutions and are preparedto take on challenges. A safe, high-quality working environment is ofgreat importance in this regard and has the utmost priority. TenCate’spolicy is aimed at implementing or structuring all operations andprocesses in such a way that all forms of personal injury and damageto health can be avoided. This aim forms the basis of the health andsafety policy implemented in all our companies. This results amongother things in a relatively low level of sickness absence.INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYDEVELOPMENTS IN 2009IT organisationWith effect from 1 January 2009, the IT organisation was changedand the Automation Department was brought under the responsibilityof the holding company. The operational ICT costs were reduced by20% through the consolidation of systems, virtualisation of serversand further standardisation of applications. This is a permanent costreduction.CommunicationIn addition to the traditional telephone systems, the use of OfficeCommunicator has grown enormously. It is being used in manycompanies for audio and video communication and the exchange ofdata. It uses the secure Global TenCate Network. Many companieshave also invested in the expansion of videoconferencing, partly tosave time and travel costs.This technology also uses the internal network. For the Dutchbusinesses, all mobile telephone contracts have been brought withina single framework agreement.Projects◾ Global TenCate NetworkFurther implementation of he Global TenCate Network wascompleted successfully, connecting companies worldwide andproviding an easy means of data exchange and communication.The remaining companies will be connected to this networkin 2010.◾ E-mail migrationThe Exchange 2003 central e-mail system was upgradedto Exchange 2007 last year.◾ WebsiteThe layout of the TenCate website has been given a facelift.Measures were taken to guarantee accessibility of the web server.Further training courses are planned in Asia.Cognos ControllerTenCate’s central consolidation system was made available to financialemployees in the operating companies. The intention is to roll thispackage out further to the TenCate systems abroad in 2010.InvestmentsIn addition to the urgently required replacement investments, furtherinvestments in obsolete ERP systems were put on hold due to theemphasis on cash management. These requests will be reassessed assoon as the investment climate improves.PLANS FOR 2010The Global TenCate Network project for the TenCate companies will becompleted in 2010. The operational management will be brought intoline with the expected size of the ICT services by these companies.This all has an impact on operational management. Administrationwill be made easier through the use of Citrix platform compressionTenCate Active 2 completedIn an entrepreneurial organisation like TenCate, identifying and developing in-house talent remains a major success factor.The international four-layer management development programme is intended to ensure an adequate supply of future managersand develop management potential. The MD programme was implemented further in the report year. The European and AmericanTenCate Active programmes came to an end at the beginning of 2009. Thirty potential TenCate managers presented an innovationproject in groups. These programmes were organised by the Twente School of Management (TSM) in collaboration with theEmory Business School in Atlanta.70Royal Ten Cate