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Retail IQ - Thought Leadership

Navigating the Cloud I

Considerations for Retail Organizations Planning the Move to the Cloud

Recently, I had a client contact Retail Consult to help them move “everything” to the Cloud. Like many retailers, they hope to realize the wide range of business and IT benefits the Cloud offers. For example, from a business perspective, they hope for increased scalability and continuity. From an IT perspective, increased infrastructure reliability and IT effectiveness. All of these can combine to deliver cost savings and cash flow improvements. For retailers like the one I mentioned, I always start the discussion with an understanding that the Cloud is not an all or nothing decision, but rather the Cloud can offer for many a hybrid transition to gain the desired business benefits.

Making a decision about the Cloud begins with a common understanding of the types of Cloud implementations and available service models. A Private Cloud is also known as an internal or enterprise cloud, which means that it resides the companies intranet or hosted data center. Corporate data is protected behind a firewall and is highly secure and controlled. A  Public Cloud moves the responsibility for hosting management to a 3rd party provider. Corporate data is stored in the provider’s data center and the provider is responsible for the management and maintenance of the data center. A Hybrid is a mix of both private and public Cloud implementations, this means that you may choose to run some applications on a Public Cloud and others on a Private Cloud. To add to the complexity, there is a choice among the service models. On-Premise is where everything from networking, storage, servers, o/s, to applications are under your control. IAAS, or Infrastructure as a Service is where the servers, storage, and networking are moved to a 3rd party partner. PAAS, or Platform as a Service, is where everything BUT the applications and data are managed by a 3rd party partner. And lastly, SAAS, or Software as a Service, where everything is controlled and managed by a 3rd party. 

Which model is the right model for retailers?  In my experience, retailers fall along a spectrum of size, complexity, and geographic dispersion.  At one end, are regional retailers that operate in one country, with one language, and multiple stores.  At the other, global retailers who operate in multiple countries with multiple languages and localized business processes.  All of these organizations have business systems that are a mix of custom, vendor-provided applications, manual sneaker-net, and spreadsheets. For example, smaller, regional retailers have the ability to adopt 3rd party software  and implement with little modification or “vanilla.” For this reason, these retailers are better suited to move applications to the Cloud.  On the other hand, for global retailers, the decision is more complex,  because they often cannot implement 3rd party software “vanilla.”  A better option for these larger organizations is a more hybrid approach where you may choose a single application, a logical group of applications, or even a single country to move to the Cloud. When making a decision about your ability to move to the Cloud, you need to consider the size of your organization, the complexity of your business, and geographic dispersion. 
 
From an IT perspective, there are a number of areas to consider as part of any decision to move all or part of your business to the Cloud. 
 
First is the state of your applications. On the one hand, your existing applications may be dated and you are ready to move to new applications.  This may be an opportunity to see what the Cloud-based vendors can offer in terms of functionality.  However, you will be limited in your ability to modify the applications and you must be willing to adopt a vanilla implementation of 3rd party software.  On the other hand, if you have custom applications that are complex or tightly integrated with other applications, these can be difficult to move to a Cloud service model.  For example, in my experience, planning and predictive applications for Retailers tend to be more challenging to move to the Cloud. 
 
A second area to consider is Usage.  Does your application have steady or spiked usage?  Applications that have usage spikes are better candidates to move to the Cloud as the cost of usage can be shared across the Cloud infrastructure.  Applications with more predictable usage may not deliver the economic benefit from a Cloud implementation. 
 
Next is integration complexity.  It is imperative to understand every integration touchpoint for the applications being considered as candidates for the Cloud. For small organizations, there will be fewer integration points.  Whereas for larger organizations with large numbers of applications this can be a necessary and time-consuming exercise for Cloud candidate applications. 
 
It is also important to understand the operating system (OS) matchup between the applications to be moved and the Cloud OS.  If you are adopting a Cloud application this is not an issue, but if you are trying to move many applications to the Cloud it needs to be analyzed for each application.  I have seen clients who did not ask this question and had applications that only ran on a specific OS that was unsupported by the provider.  The options?   Find a substitute OS, another Cloud provider, or in some cases scrap the migration. 
 
Lastly, it is important to look at the application database, as data is both complex and sensitive.  Complex data structures can affect the difficulty of migration to a new database and the need for safeguarding for situations requiring a rollback.   As you look at your business it is critical to identify any data deemed as highly sensitive, as you may not be comfortable having sensitive data outside of your firewall.  It is also important to understand if there are there regulatory considerations for data that requires it to reside inside your firewall.
 
In our next installment of Navigating the Cloud, we will discuss the approach for implementation and the unique challenges associated with moving to the Cloud. In our last installment,  we will discuss the model necessary to understand the financial parameters and metrics for moving to the Cloud.


By Klaus Sentker, Senior Partner and Chairman of the Board Retail Consult

TRANSFORMING RETAIL WITH PASSION

Retail Consult is a group of professionals who specialize in technology solutions for retail. We provide solutions strategy, implementation, deployment, training and support services to help our clients successfully drive the transformation of their business.

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Privacy Policy

Retail Consult is committed to ensuring the security and protection of your personal data, for this reason, it has prepared this Privacy Notice, to make known the terms by which it collects and processes personal data, under Regulation (EU) 2016/769 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 27 April 2016 – hereinafter GDPR – and other personal data protection legislation. 

The processing of personal data described in this Notice concerns the personal data of our website users. In this sense, we will explain how your data is processed, how we protect it, and how you can exercise your rights.  


Who is responsible for processing your personal data?  
Retail Consult is the entity responsible for processing the data, under the terms of the GDPR and can be contacted via privacy@retail-consult.com or by visiting one of our facilities.  

What personal data do we collect?  
Retail Consult collects and processes, directly or indirectly, through partners, suppliers, service providers, or other sources of information, the personal data necessary for the provision of its services, to guarantee access to its platforms, and to comply with legal obligations, pre-contractual steps and for the satisfaction of its legitimate interests. 
Retail Consult may collect the following categories of personal data: 

i. Candidate Data – Name, Email, Curriculum Vitae – when applying for one of our available job openings/spontaneous application; 
ii. Client/user data – Email – when subscribing to our newsletter; 
iii. Client/user data – Name, Email, Message – when you send us a contact message; 
iv. Client – Name, Email, Company – When answer our satisfaction survey and questionnaire;  

What are the purposes that precede the collection of your personal data and what is the basis for its treatment? 
Retail Consult uses your personal data for the management and execution of a contractual relationship, for the handling of complaints and suggestions, for pre-contractual steps, for the treatment of applications submitted on our website, for the fulfillment of legal obligations, as well as, for the satisfaction of its legitimate interests. 

If you so wish, you may make your personal data available, through the provision of your consent, for other purposes, such as: subscribing to our Newsletter.  
In this sequence, we process your personal data for the following purposes: 

  • i. Pre-Contractual Due Diligence for the Management of Spontaneous Applications and Job Vacancies – for the recruitment of job vacancies available on our website, as well as the management of spontaneous applications; 
  • ii. Consent to Send Our Newsletter - to inform you of news and offers that may be of interest to you; 
  • iii. Retail Consult's legitimate interest to submit a form to receive contacts – to be able to answer all your doubts or queries related to our services; 
  • iv. Retail Consult's legitimate interest to establish a presence on social networks – to inform you about news and offers that may be of interest to you; 
  • v. Retail Consult’s legitimate interest to survey satisfaction levels through Surveys and Questionnaires with clients - to gather metrics, evaluation and opinions regarding services provided by Retail Consult; 
     

How long do we keep your personal data?  
The personal data collected and processed are stored in specific databases for this purpose and will be kept, given their purpose, in compliance with the applicable legal deadlines. 
In cases where a legal term does not apply with regard to the conservation and storage of personal data, such data will only be stored and kept for the appropriate period and to the extent necessary, taking into account the purposes for which they were collected, unless, in at any time, the holder of the personal data, within the legal limits, exercise their rights of opposition or erasure, or withdraw their consent. 

What are the rights of the holders of personal data? 
Pursuant to applicable law, you may exercise the following rights:  

  • Right of Access: obtain confirmation that your personal data are being processed or not and if so, access them. 
  • Right of Rectification: obtain the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you and request that your incomplete personal data be completed; 
  • Right to erasure: obtain the erasure of your personal data, except in cases where there are grounds that validate its conservation; 
  • Right to Limitation of Treatment: obtain the limitation of the processing of your personal data when they concern certain categories of data or purposes of treatment; 
  • Right of Portability: to receive the personal data you have provided to us, in a structured format for current use and automatic reading, as well as to request the transmission of your personal data to another person responsible for the treatment; 
  • Right of Opposition: to object, at any time, to certain processing of your personal data, for example, in the case of the processing of personal data for the purposes of direct marketing; 
  • Right of Non-Subject to Automated Individual Decisions, including Profiling: not to be subject to any decision taken exclusively on the basis of automated processing, including profiling, that has effects in your legal sphere or that significantly affects you in a way similar. 
  • Right to withdraw consent: The withdrawal of consent does not, however, invalidate the treatment carried out up to the date of withdrawal. 

In order to exercise your rights, you must contact us via email: privacy@retail-consult.com 

The holder of personal data also has the right to file a complaint with the National Data Protection Commission - CNPD -, or other competent supervisory authority, as well as to resort to any other judicial remedy, if he considers that his Personal data are not subject to lawful processing by Retail Consult, under the terms of current legislation and this notice.  

What security measures are in place? 
Retail Consult is committed to putting into practice the appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss, alteration, dissemination, or unauthorized access. An adequate level of security is considered to be applied in relation to the risks that the processing presents, given the nature of the data to be protected.
In fact, Retail Consult carries out all its activity using systems that aim to ensure the security of your personal data, through the creation of procedures and implementation of technical measures, which prevent unauthorized access, accidental loss, and/or the destruction of your personal data, committing to respect and compliance with the legislation on the protection of personal data. 

With whom do we share your personal data? 
Retail Consult may share your personal data with third parties, which will have access to them. Such third parties include public authorities, partners, suppliers, and service providers, among others. 
Within the scope of its activity, Retail Consult may use subcontractors, who will access and process your personal data in accordance with Retail Consult's instructions. Retail Consult guarantees that such subcontractors offer sufficient guarantees for the execution of appropriate technical and organizational measures, so that the treatment meets the requirements of the GDPR and other applicable legislation, as well as ensuring the defense of the rights of the holders of personal data. 
Thus, Retail Consult may also share your personal data when such sharing is necessary or appropriate in the light of applicable legislation, to comply with legal obligations to which it is bound, to respond to requests from public authorities, to protect the rights and owned by Retail Consult, or when you have given us your prior consent. 

Under what circumstances do we transfer your personal data to third countries?  
The activity carried out by Retail Consult may involve the transfer of your personal data to third countries - located outside the European Union or that do not belong to the European Economic Area. In such situations, all necessary and appropriate measures will be taken to ensure the protection of your personal data. One of these situations occurs within the scope of Retail Consult's presence on social networks.
For more information, consult the Privacy Notice for Social Networks. 

How do we use “Cookies”?
To learn more about cookies and how Retail Consult uses them on its website, see our Cookie Notice. 

Changes to the Privacy Notice 
Retail Consult reserves the right, at any time, to make adjustments or changes to this Privacy Notice, these changes being duly updated and publicized on the various platforms of the organization. 

Contact Us 
If you have any questions about how Retail Consult collects and processes your personal data, you can contact us at privacy@retail-consult.com.  

 

 

 

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“Stones on the way? I keep them all, one day I will build a castle."
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The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a time of both personal and economic uncertainty. On March 9, 2020, Retail Consult implemented a work-from-home, remote workforce model to protect our employees, clients and partners. Most of our clients and partners are also working from home. Working collaboratively we have been able to safely and productively continue our business activities and we will continuity and innovation to navigate this time of crisis together!

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