Farmers the length and breadth of Australia rely on Nutrien Ag Solutions – it’s a one-stop shop for agricultural products, from feed, fertilisers and livestock sales to insurance, real estate and consulting advice. Nutrien has a large network of retail stores, depots, warehouse and real estate agents across regional and remote Australia. An operation on that scale requires sophisticated IT infrastructure – and the job of delivering and managing it falls to Peter Karagorgovski, Nutrien’s IT program manager. And just as farmers rely on Nutrien, Nutrien relies on the services of IMI.
‘Managing IT upgrades to such an extensive and widespread range of branches, largely situated outside of metropolitan areas is a challenge’, says Peter. ‘It’s not practical to send my team out to every branch, but can be difficult to get skilled engineers in remote areas, and get work done consistently, at a high standard.’
In 2019, Peter was planning a large network infrastructure refresh project across all locations. ‘The business was undergoing a significant transformation at the time, and we wanted to standardise the various IT systems across the entire organisation. The top priority was the network infrastructure, and we planned a program to standardise and modernise, with new network infrastructure across all stores. The issue was finding the ‘arms and legs’ to deliver it across Australia.’
Peter was therefore delighted to be introduced to IMI, and discover that they had a team of experienced technicians around the country who could install the upgrades. Peter was confident that IMI could help him to deliver the project smoothly, on time and in line with Nutrien’s objectives.
Peter could not have been happier with IMI’s engagement with the network upgrade project. ‘It was so successful that I’ve continued to use them ever since. For example, in 2021, when we centralised our telephony system and needed engineers to install VOIP phones, IMI provided the technicians to do the job. In 2023, IMI helped to replace the UPSs in all our branches’.
Peter sees the partnership with IMI continuing: ‘We have run a major infrastructure project with IMI’s help every year since 2019’, he says.
He outlines the reasons that the partnership works so well, and why Nutrien values IMI’s support: ‘Firstly, I can focus on managing the program, knowing that the day to day implementation is in safe hands. My involvement in the execution is very low touch – IMI does all the co-ordination needed at the branch location. They do that exceptionally well.’
Peter also values IMI’s range of resources and the speed with which they can muster them: ‘IMI has a strong presence around Australia, with a network of skilled subcontractors, even in the remotest areas. They’re agile and highly responsive – they can support our branches, with very little notice if required. There’s no hand-holding needed from my team – IMI works autonomously to deliver the solution.’
The relationship between Nutrien and IMI is very good, and Peter finds them very easy to deal with. ‘There have been times when we’ve had to change things on the fly, and IMI have been very accommodating. Communication is excellent – I only have to pick up the phone and they always respond, and always get things done quickly. That’s a huge benefit in a partner.’
‘With IMI’s help’, says Peter, ‘we can keep our infrastructure updated, know that our projects will be on track, and focus on continuing to deliver the best service we can to the farming community of Australia.’