Why the hybrid cloud is the future of retailing

Hybrid cloud retailing

The rush to adopt the public cloud has resulted in a complex range of hardware and software installations that have few standards and even fewer opportunities for interoperability. Retailers understanding that the omnichannel approach is the future of their sectors are actively seeking solutions to their current pressure points. One key aspect of delivering more integration across their businesses is the adoption of hybrid cloud services.

From an IT perspective, retailers know that they need to rapidly evolve their systems to keep pace with consumer demand. As BRP point out in their report into real-time retailing, the cloud delivers many of the core services retailers will be building their next-generation businesses upon:

“Leveraging cloud computing and IT outsourcing make a lot of sense for many retailers,” says BRP. “IT is not a core competency or differentiator for most retailers — it is just a necessity. Further bolstering the move to the cloud is the availability of much more sophisticated network technology, such as SD-WAN. With today’s network technology, retailers can truly achieve 100% uptime – removing the last perceived hurdle in moving towards cloud-based commerce solutions and moving away from the decentralized store environment that has been the foundation of the traditional retail model for decades.”

As the retail landscape continues to rapidly evolve, businesses now understand they must have systems in place that enable them to leverage the new commercial channels that are developing. As Jeff Warren, Vice President, Oracle Retail, explained to Silicon, retail is in flux. Only those businesses that embrace new ways of working will be players across these new commercial spaces: “Anyone who follows the retail space can see that the market is in a massive transition. E-commerce, mobile, social (shopping via Instagram) and a multitude of other new technologies have completely changed the way we shop and interact with brands.”

Warren concluded: “For those retailers competing to create relevance and loyalty, their focus needs to be on their core business and engaging and delighting customers. The freedom to work in a hybrid cloud model enables them to select the best vendors to manage their unique workloads and rely on those vendors to keep applications current, security at the forefront and performance top notch.”

NEXT: The frictionless store