Forrester: Digital Transformation Drives Distributed Store Networks to the Breaking Point

Forward-looking retailers are realizing the value of cloud- and data center-based applications as they move high-priority applications, such as POS and payment/inventory management systems, outside the local retail site. However, that initial movement of applications has severely stressed wide-area networks (WANs). While IT organizations work to improve performance, a second wave of migrating applications, focused on delivering a world-class customer experience, is about to hit, adding even more pressure to networks and causing added challenges with availability, performance, and bandwidth. One in five retailers report site outages on at least a monthly basis. With core applications being run across the WAN, outages are not just an inconvenience, they are a loss of revenue!

Purchasing additional bandwidth alone does not solve these challenges. It takes the right technology, paired with appropriate network support partners, to meet the network requirements of digitally empowered stores.

In March 2018, Hughes commissioned Forrester to conduct a study exploring the adoption, challenges, and investment plans for distributed store networks that support 200 or more locations spread across a large geographic area. The study surveyed 100 store operations and technology decision makers at North American retail and financial services companies with distributed store networks. The results illuminate how and why companies with distributed store networks are transforming their businesses and how they are preparing for increased demand on their networks.