Transforming for Tomorrow: Lion’s Digital and Cloud Journey

In this interview, Ram Kalyanasundaram, Group Technology & Digital Transformation Director – Lion Co, explains that the company’s legacy systems were restricting its ability to keep pace with a rapidly changing marketplace. With younger consumers entering the alcohol market and shifts away from core categories such as beer, Lion required technology capable of supporting business reinvention. Their 1980s-era ERP, along with hundreds of peripheral and acquired applications, was inefficient and outdated. To modernise, Lion undertook a “big bang” transformation, replacing the old ERP with S4 Hana and integrating systems such as Ariba, Concur, SuccessFactors, IBP, and CFC, while retiring nearly 500 legacy applications. This overhaul created a streamlined, integrated digital landscape that boosted operational efficiency and customer experience, with 85–90% of order volume now flowing through digital channels.

The next phase of Lion’s digital transformation is a cloud-first strategy, conceived alongside the ERP modernisation. Ram Kalyanasundaram outlines the company’s aim…