Is it time to push the ‘go faster’ button on cloud computing?
RSR’s first-ever benchmark on the state of cloud computing in retail finds that the top expected benefits from the cloud for retailers are improving speed and agility while maintaining manageable costs.
That ran counter to our going-in presumption that the driving force behind cloud adoption was the ability to flex with sudden seasonal or promotional volume spikes. Indeed, cloud as a pure delivery mechanism falls to the bottom of the list.
There’s some interesting energy behind that finding. The two groups that are typically charged with deploying business applications — the IT organization and the e-commerce group — are the ones that retailers want to adopt a cloud strategy.
It’s fair to point out that about one-half of our survey’s respondents come from the IT discipline itself: a whopping 98 percent of IT respondents report they can make the best use of cloud. IT, however, is the top beneficiary, according to 60 percent of non-IT respondents, as well.
The inference is clear: Year-after-year of complaints about the ever-growing IT backlog has taken a toll and retailers see the cloud as a way to accelerate technology-driven improvements to the business. Cloud is retailers’ real attempt to move beyond “retail time” to consumer time.
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