Why Retailers Should – And Shouldn't – Invest In Cloud Technology

Many major retailers are faced with the twin challenges of creating compelling and commercially rewarding customer experiences whilst at the same time untangling legacy IT estates. The good news is the two can and often do co-exist, with a shift to greater use of cloud services playing an important part in the solution. However, many are still struggling with the question of where to start.

It's a conundrum circling the C-suite of many retailers playing catch up with a generation of digital native businesses. Indeed, it might seem everyone else is doing it when one considers an estimated $500bn will be spend on cloud services worldwide in 2022, according to Gartner.

Yet too often, cloud technology is promoted as merely a cost-efficient shift from on-premise data centres. The reality is that it can unlock much more than cost efficiencies as a critical component of a broader and more ambitious technology strategy.