According to a recent report by Nutanix, a pioneer in enterprise cloud computing, retailers are finding hybrid cloud just the right fit to acquire more flexibility. This is a second Enterprise Cloud index report of the company which is focused on measuring retailer’s perspective for adopting, hybrid and public clouds. The report states that majority of retailers (87.5%) agreed hybrid cloud as the appropriate IT operating model while many retailers (72%) were planning to move back some public cloud applications back to on-premise applications. While the research also found that retailers are increasingly understanding the importance of seamless customer experience, as it is not just add-on benefit but an utmost need of the hour in bringing new customers while also retaining existing ones.   If we refer the IDC report, worldwide spending on customer experience technologies is expected to reach $641 billion by 2022. Here are some of the important findings of Nutanix’ Enterprise Cloud index report:

Security as a Top Most Concern

As security is one of the most crucial concerns for any businesses to consider before deploying their products and application onto cloud, 63.6% of the retailers responded that the security concerns will be the most significant factor in future cloud deployments.

Agility Focused Retailers

According to the report, 53.3% of the respondents (retailers) also placed the ability to increase IT deployments as the most crucial factor in choosing the right cloud environment for each applications. Retailers will be increasing its IT infrastructure flexibility to stay relevant to the changing customer expectations across multiple channels.

Leaders in IOT Cloud Deployments and Digital Apps

In order to run parallel with customers’ expectation, retailers are among the predominant users among other industries in leveraging cloud platforms to run carious IoT applications and digital applications – 19% penetration over single public cloud and 11% over public clouds.

“Staying relevant with today’s customers means having the necessary cloud infrastructure in place to embrace Omni-channel retail experiences,” said Greg Smith, VP of Product Marketing, Nutanix. “Retailers use data to connect the e-commerce and in-store shopping experiences, and the only way they can do this accurately and efficiently is through flexible, scalable technology. The rise of selling on social media platforms also means integrating payment into the user experience, bringing security and protection of customers’ data to the forefront of retailers’ minds. Hybrid cloud provides the portability and control needed to bring retailers into the new era of customer experience,” he added.