Kumar Gs Das, Research Manager for IDC Retail Insights Asia/Pacific says, “Retailers in Asia/Pacific are taking a cautious approach to cloud. The majority of them recognizes that the cloud would bring efficiency to their IT systems and improve operational backend issues. However, the plan to move into virtual platforms does not appear to be immediate and would take between two to five years.”
IDC Retail Insights notes that the retail industry, defined by its use of legacy systems, has always been a little hesitant when it comes to technology. Adoption of retail-specific technology in Asia/Pacific is less when compared to the other regions as the industry is still developing. However, IDC Retail Insight believes that the positive economic outlook in Asia will drive the future adoption of cloud among retailers in this region.
Kumar Gs Das points out, “Retail growth in Asia/Pacific has slowed with the Chinese economy experiencing a slow-down in its services and manufacturing sectors, and the Indian economy weakening as a result of rising inflation and falling rupee. However, as compared to the developed markets in the U.S. and Europe, the economic outlook in Asia is still much better. As such, investors will continue to shift their focus to Asia and businesses will be looking to improve operational efficiency and IT productivity in order to keep up with growing consumer demand.”
The survey further reveals that data security, firewall concerns and integration into internal IT systems are the three main barriers to cloud adoption among Asia/Pacific retailers. For cloud to gain traction, IDC Retail Insights believes that there must be greater investment in backend infrastructure to improve connectivity.
For more information about this report, “Cloud Adoption in the Asia Pacific — Retail Industry” (upcoming), please Sheryl Fuertez at email: [email protected] or Tel: +65-6829-7758. This report provides an analysis of cloud computing, cloud perception and cloud adoption among retailers in Asia/Pacific, and the future development of cloud in the Asia/Pacific retail sector. The report also provides recommendations for IT companies that are addressing and managing cloud computing solutions in this sector, and looking for new business opportunities.
To set up a media interview with Kumar Gs Das, contact Lay Fang Tan at [email protected] or Tel: +65-6829-7731.