Leverage The Cloud For Global Expansion

October 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Matt Pillar, editor in chief

Retail brands are looking to the cloud for the quick access to computing horsepower they need to go global.

Opportunity abounds for agile retailers to establish their brands in emerging international markets. We asked Andy Lloyd, general manager of commerce products at NetSuite, how the cloud can help.

How are modern cloud-based retail software solutions contributing to the global expansion of retail brands?

Lloyd: Cloud-based retail software solutions are ideally suited to support global retail expansion for three key reasons. First, a cloud solution can be deployed in a foreign country far faster and at less capital expense than an equivalent deployment of servers, software, POS systems, and other components. Retailers don’t need to hire and maintain a sizable IT staff or worry about data security and backup, gaining the agility and speed to swiftly capitalize on opportunities. On the flip side, if an international venture happens to fail, the pay-as-you-go cloud model allows the retailer to easily scale back, and eliminates the risk of leftover infrastructure and lost IT investments.