Retail Technology Updating

Always good to take a look at how existing tech will coexist with emerging.

Retailers take on massive legacy system challenges one module at a time   by Andrew Blatherwick

There’s a sea change underway in how retailers are thinking about technology solutions. Increasingly, in meetings with even the larger retailers, I hear from executives who are no longer interested in major system replacements. Instead, they’re looking at smaller point solutions to drive change within their businesses. Of course, the choice between best of breed and enterprise systems is not a new question. What is new, though, is a trend toward implementing in parts rather than as a whole, even within best of breed solutions.

Retailers today are highly focused on fast return, and this is most easily accomplished by reducing the scope of the problem at hand. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations present an immense strategic challenge because they touch almost every part of a business. For a successful implementation, a large number of internal stakeholders must buy into the project’s vision, then agree to move in the same direction at the same pace. It’s not hard to understand why ERP projects can be difficult to execute.

A focused project, rolled out in phases, can still affect many departments and stakeholders. However, these projects are far easier to strategize and implement. Companies are able to drill down on an exact need and address it surgically rather than compromising on their vision across the board. ... "