Leadership. People. Performance.
VP, IT Operations & Support · Burlington Stores
Great IT operations don’t happen by chance. They are built with purpose.
My mission is to build scalable, resilient and people-centric IT operations that empower the business to grow.
“The goal is not just efficient operations. It’s exceptional experiences.”That’s the difference.
Profile
Across 25 years in Fortune 500 retail and eCommerce, I have rebuilt global service delivery, stood up Command Center and NOC capabilities, and strengthened enterprise Incident, Major Incident, Problem and Service Management. I have also taken ServiceNow from an IT ticketing tool to an enterprise workflow platform.
Today I lead 24x7 IT Operations & Support at Burlington Stores: Global Service Desk, Command Center and NOC, data center operations, end-user computing, ITSM and ServiceNow, and operational resilience. My teams bring together 200+ internal and partner professionals across the U.S., India and Mexico.
Demonstrated key achievements
Replaced a high-cost in-house model with a consolidated 24x7 global operation: a follow-the-sun Service Desk across India and Mexico, a stabilized Command Center and a new managed NOC.
Led IT Operations for a $20B retailer from the CIO leadership team, moving service delivery from reactive to predictive and delivering 30% efficiency gains.
Selected by the CIO to unify service management for 80+ enterprise retail clients, then migrated a data center with zero downtime.
Grew cross-functional global teams and Centers of Excellence, with full commercial, SLA and executive governance across enterprise engagements.
Brought in to rescue an order management eCommerce ERP program, then replanned it and led 30 staff to delivery on a modern platform.
Employers & clients
Employers
Client brands
Experience
Jul 2024 – Present
Vice President, IT Operations & Support
Fortune 500 off-price retailer with 1,300+ stores and distribution centers.
Apr 2021 – Apr 2024
Head of IT Operations
$20B membership warehouse club with 240+ clubs and 170+ gas stations.
Nov 2020 – Mar 2021
Director, Program Management
Acquired by ShipMonk.
Apr 2014 – Apr 2020
Director, Information Technology
Global eCommerce and omnichannel fulfillment for 80+ enterprise retail brands.
Jul 2013 – Mar 2014
Senior Delivery Management Consultant
Feb 2005 – Jun 2013
Associate General Manager
1999 – 2004 · Technology programs for retail clients across Australia, Singapore and India.
Core competencies
Speaking personally
I build the vision and then I deliver it.
I translate business priorities into a multi-year roadmap for IT Operations, then run it through KPI scorecards and executive operating reviews until the numbers move. I have worked in five countries and on both sides of the table, as a consultant at HCL and Perficient and as an operator at eBay, BJ’s and Burlington. That gives me a practical view of what partners need and what the business expects. I have also been asked more than once to turn around critical programs, and I enjoy doing it.
Clear direction, real trust and high standards.
I bring people with diverse skills together around a shared problem, set the direction and remove the barriers in their way. I make quick, data-based decisions, encourage experimentation and keep communication open, especially when circumstances are uncertain. Then I empower the team and trust them to deliver. My teams at BJ’s sustained 96% engagement for two consecutive years, the highest in the company. I specialize in building high-performing teams.
Discipline first, then automation.
It starts with the fundamentals: clear severity governance, strong Incident and Major Incident Management, and Problem Management that actually closes root causes. On that foundation we add observability, event management, Shift-Left self-service and automation, so issues are caught before associates feel them. At Burlington this approach reduced mean time to restore by 75% and cut Service Desk abandonment from 20% to 2%.
Peak is won months before Black Friday.
I run readiness as a program, not an event. Every store, distribution center, infrastructure layer, application, security control and partner is tracked on a readiness scorecard, with risks surfaced early and owned by name. We rehearse escalation paths and major incident command, and we report status to executives on a set cadence. That discipline has delivered two consecutive successful peak seasons at Burlington, alongside technology readiness for 250+ new stores.
The platform becomes the operating system for service.
ServiceNow should be an enterprise workflow platform, not a ticketing tool. That depends on clean CMDB data and standardized processes, which is where I focus first. With that foundation, AI can do real work: virtual agents and self-service for associates, intelligent routing for the Service Desk, and AI-assisted knowledge for engineers. I have led ServiceNow consolidations, enterprise agreements and replatforming, and I am now building an AI-enabled operations roadmap.
Transforming the business while keeping the lights on.
IT leaders are expected to play a strategic role in digital transformation, and transformation requires real cultural change. The hard part is doing that while running 24x7 operations without disruption. Attracting and retaining strong talent, reducing technical debt, governing an ecosystem of managed service partners, and investing in automation and AI responsibly all compete for the same budget and attention. Good leaders make those trade-offs visible and explicit.
Testimonials
“A rare blend of strategic vision, tactical execution, and an innate ability to drive transformative change.”
Throughout his time leading IT Operations, Saravanan consistently demonstrated a rare blend of strategic vision, tactical execution, and an innate ability to drive transformative change.
Noted achievementsService Desk call volume decrease · Major Incident process establishment · Operational cost savings through automation
“Exceptional leadership in implementing the IT operations organization.”
Exceptional leadership in implementing the IT operations organization for BJ’s Wholesale Club and driving operational excellence within our company. His expertise in retail and his experience with managing blended onshore and offshore teams was a huge benefit for our organization. One of Saravanan’s greatest strengths is his commitment to operational excellence.
“One of the best technology and program delivery leaders I have had the pleasure of working with.”
Sarav is one of the best technology and program delivery leaders I have had the pleasure of working with. He is a trusted advisor to the CIO/CTO office. He has a strong track record of delivering complex programs.
“Technical proficiency, strategic vision, and a collaborative approach.”
Saravanan is an exceptional leader with technical proficiency, strategic vision, and a collaborative approach. [He] implemented IT operations driving operational excellence. His commitment to operational excellence led to cost savings and increased productivity.
“Top notch at program managing large, diverse offshore development teams.”
Sarav is top notch at program managing large, diverse offshore development teams and coordinating onshore activities. He is an expert communicator and builds positive, lasting relationships throughout the organization. He has had an excellent delivery track record of on time, on budget, and of high quality software.
“Exceptionally diligent in his project planning and execution.”
Sarav is a pleasure to work with. He is exceptionally diligent in his project planning and execution. I saw this first hand for an enterprise rollout of ServiceNow. He has a positive attitude and he finds ways to solve any unanticipated issues. I hope that our professional paths meet again!
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