How has the hybrid cloud transformed retailing? 
The sheer volume of change that has inundated the retail industry during the last twenty years is staggering.  The proliferation of high-speed internet, 24/7/365 online shopping, smart ubiquitous mobility, and social networks have created the most fickle and demanding consumers in history.  Amazon has broken and is rewriting every rule of an industry that has steadfastly clung to its cherished “basics” for centuries.  The retailers that are surviving and thriving are those that can focus on differentiated customer experiences, driven by innovative and agile technology platforms and services, in an environment that includes hundreds or thousands of remote, disparate, non-technical stores.  This would be unlikely or cost-prohibitive without the hybrid cloud model.  Cloud technology at its core reduces IT costs, complexity, and develop/delivery time to market compared to traditional retail technology platforms.  Hybrid clouds typically increase security (in most cases), privacy, system availability, and accessibility from virtually anywhere, at any time, on any device.  But perhaps the greatest transformative benefit of hybrid cloud for retailers is adaptability – enabling the business to adjust and scale to changing business requirements which exploit emerging technologies with fewer constraints from decisions made and contracts signed in the past.  For this reason, 93% of retailers identify hybrid cloud as the ideal IT model, above the 91% global average across industries, and are quickly moving away from the traditional data center infrastructure according to a report by enterprise cloud computing company Nutanix.

What are the current challenges CIO’s in the retail space face managing their hybrid cloud deployments? 
Retailers clearly see hybrid cloud’s potential; however, several challenges and technical barriers still exist which are encumbering these retailers from fully embracing hybrid cloud’s transformative benefits. These challenges are reflected in the disparity between the 93% of retailers ranking hybrid cloud as the ideal IT model and the industry’s 21% penetration of hybrid cloud deployments, the second-largest among all industries according to Nutanix.  Topping the list of challenges is a shortage of hybrid cloud skills, ranked second only to skills in artificial intelligence and machine learning.  Specialized in-house skills are required to supplement cloud vendor resources when architecting hybrid cloud solutions that meet retailers’ specific requirements.  Compounding this challenge is the legacy issue of retaining IT talent, which will only be exacerbated by the anticipated growth of 22% in hybrid deployments over the next two years.  The biggest technical barrier for retailers currently is the ability to move applications between different cloud environments easily and inexpensively which enables IT teams to better manage their cloud costs while still balancing management, security, and performance requirements.  For retailers, fully realizing hybrid cloud’s potential means enabling them to:  a) pick the right cloud environment for each application based on service, cost, and security requirements, b) change the runtime environment for a given workload at any point in time, as application and/or business requirements change and c) avoid vendor lock-in.

How will 5G impact retailers and their use of the hybrid cloud?
When discussing all things retail today the center of focus is always the customer.  They have become retail’s primary change agent and are forcing retailers to rethink every aspect of their business.  Customers have become adept at adopting technology as fast as it’s innovated which has put an incredible burden on retailers’ ability to stay relevant by differentiating the shopping experience.  The bar is now a personalized experience – catered specifically to each customer whenever, wherever, and however they choose to engage.  That requires a LOT of data and data collection devices, and intelligent cloud services to store and analyze that data on its way to becoming a personalized shopping experience – that connects, often in real-time, with the latest technology a customer has adopted.  Enter 5G and hybrid cloud – a match made in retail heaven.  “5G is more than just a better connection. It’s a better connector,” says Michael Koziol, CEO at Huge, a global strategy, design, and innovation firm headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. “The adoption of 5G technology will create a contextual reset around what it means to be connected and give rise to entirely new interaction, relationship, and business models.”  When combined with a hybrid cloud, 5G offers tremendous potential for retailers to include high-quality data capture and processing in near–real-time, the ability to react to captured intelligence live and on the fly, the ability to provide a user experience well beyond an “omnichannel” expectation, and a true blending of the best of digital and physical commerce.  IHS estimates that there will be 1.7 billion 5G-connected IoT devices globally in 2022.  5G’s massive capacity and ability to improve real-time responsiveness will be essential to support this connectivity explosion – which the industry is counting on to ensure personalized experiences such as personalized digital signage, augmented reality, virtual reality, video and pattern recognition of shoppers, interactive mobile apps, smart dressing rooms, robotics, hyper-awareness throughout the store, and a fully intelligent supply chain – to name a few.