Cloud Computing – Is it the Future in the Retail Industry?

Cloud computing is beginning to appear as an IT solution in almost every business. Once the internet becomes part of a business' operations, moving toward doing business using some aspect of the cloud is only a matter of time. The sheer volume of customers available through the internet isn't the only thing driving this move. Cloud computing should become an integral part of any small business whether it is a retail store or a small manufacturing company.

The move to the cloud is the most important paradigm shift to occur in Information Technology (IT) since the arrival of the client-server as an IT option in the eighties.

Cloud Computing – There is a Reason Google and Microsoft are Expanding Their Cloud Computing Product Lines

Why is the retail industry, one of the principle contributors to the overal economy, globally as well as regional, embracing cloud computing so aggressively? It's because the retail industry is begining to discover the financial benefits of centralizing IT services and sharing those services through the internet. Some pretty famous names are using the cloud. Google offers office applications through Google Apps.  Microsoft offers Office Live workspaces, websites, workrooms, etc. These are just a few of the cloud computing situations that are capturing the interest of retail stores.

Cloud Computing - Why is It the Future for Retail?

Cloud computing is provides a very resourceful option to retail operation. Here's why. It makes a new cost management path available to businesses. For example, a business can choose whether it wants to purchase rights to use software as-needed of to purchase multiple copies of business critical software applications for every computer in the organization. By choosing to use software as a service (SaaS) on the cloud, a company can reduce software investments significantly.

Cloud computing offers yet more options. It allows a business to share infrastructure (hardware like servers and storage units), software units (applications and operating systems) and other information using the internet. Platform as a service (PaaS), allows a business to share infrastructure through the internet. This is yet another way a business can save a substantial sum of money.

Cloud Computing – Are There Any Risks?

As with anything using the internet, there are some risks involved. Transaction security is always a concern. Encryption is essential. Another concern involves worry over how to keep track of transactions that occur in the cloud? The traditional IT environment might seem safer.

Actually this is not as real a concern as it might seem. The very development of cloud-based applications has spawned the growth of IT solutions to manage business transactions and other events that transpire over the internet. For example, software platforms such as Nastel's AutoPilot PaaS solution empower the consistent assurance that every application, whether it works in the cloud or on a server, is performing and available.  And when those applications do not meet their service level agreement (SLAs), AutoPilot provides the root cause enabling you to rapidly restore service. AutoPilot provides 24/7/365 visibility into the performance of every critical business process.

The Nastel Technology's AutoPilot suite which includes plug-ins for a vast array of applications (including WebSphere MQ and WMB, TIBCO EMS, ESB and J2EE platforms) is one software solution for managing the performance of applications running in the cloud that gives businesses the security that as they develop their cloud computing activities their activities will remain visible and trackable. AutoPilot handles many aspects in performance management for retail applications such as administration, transaction monitoring, capacity planning, message tracking, operational monitoring and many more.

Nastel's AutoPilot working within the cloud computing environment can perform many duties. First, it can track the performance of transactions over time and compare transaction behavior from a previous period. It can give methodical results to retailers regarding the performance of every aspect of the applications used within the cloud, as well as performance of applications operating in more traditional structures.

About the Author: Denise Rutledge enjoys researching and writing about technology products. She writes on many financial and business topics, including software solutions that impact business performance in the financial industry. Denise works with clients to develop website content,  with a focus on writing materials that develop brand and trust through valuable, easy to read information.