Navigating the evolving retail landscape requires technological innovation and efficiency. With the ever-growing demands for omnichannel retailing, enhancing operational flexibility and minimizing downtime costs, our retail client needed to take its Point of Sale (PoS) infrastructure to the next level. The partnership between this leading North American retail company, IBM, and GlassHouse Systems, a Platinum IBM Partner, underscores the transformative potential of migrating from an on-premises setup to IBM Power Virtual Server and IBM Cloud.
Transformation Story
Traditional Point of Sale systems can impose substantial costs and logistical challenges. Retail businesses seeking to streamline operations and reduce costs are turning to IBM Power Virtual Server and IBM Cloud. This migration offers a risk-free "lift and shift" approach, moving existing applications to the IBM Cloud with minimal changes. By leveraging this cutting-edge cloud infrastructure, the retail company achieved a significant cost reduction in delivering POS system capabilities. The initial deployment enabled POS services at a cost of $358/month per store. Compared to the cost of hardware, this cloud-based solution provides substantial savings, eliminating expenses such as shipping, setup, and waiting for delivery.
Furthermore, IBM Cloud provides everything covered by a disaster recovery (DR) environment, offering enhanced resiliency. The company is now deploying a multitenant version of their POS software, further reducing the cost of POS capabilities to an astounding $165/month per store. Beyond cost savings, this cloud-based POS solution offers scalability. Instead of waiting two weeks for the delivery and setting up a physical server, retailers can now spin up 30 stores in just half an hour. This speed and flexibility allow businesses to respond more quickly to market changes and provide a more seamless customer experience.
Results & Benefits
For the CFO and COO, the cost savings, increased efficiency, and improved scalability translate into a stronger financial position. The ability to deploy POS capabilities at a significantly lower cost per store can drive profitability and support strategic growth initiatives.
For the senior IT executive, this solution reduces the logistical headaches associated with hardware and provides a more secure, reliable, and flexible infrastructure. They can focus more on strategic technology initiatives and less on hardware management.
By adopting IBM Power Virtual Server and IBM Cloud, the following benefits were achieved:
- Eliminated Downtime: Leveraged IBM's cloud redundancies (in-store and online) and integrated disaster recovery for uninterrupted operations.
- Accelerated Store Setup: Enabled rapid store deployment with cloud capabilities, eliminating delays from server delivery and setup—stores can be operational in minutes.
- Seamless Implementation: GlassHouse Systems' expertise in IBM Power environments ensured a smooth and efficient transition.
- Reduced POS Costs: Achieved a dramatic cost reduction to just $165/month per store by utilizing IBM Power Virtual Server, IBM Cloud, and GlassHouse Systems' infrastructure expertise.
Conclusion
The partnership between IBM, GlassHouse Systems and the retail company exemplifies how innovative cloud solutions transform the retail industry. By reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and providing unprecedented scalability, the IBM Cloud POS solution opens up new possibilities for retail businesses. The added resilience provided by the integrated disaster recovery environment and the risk-free nature of the migration process makes IBM Cloud and IBM Power Virtual Server incredibly compelling options for retailers contemplating the best way out of their legacy infrastructure gridlock.