Optimizing Your Store Architecture

Retail process and applications professionals face bewildering choices about how best to distribute or centralize data and functionality, given the changing relative costs and complexity of infrastructure and network components. While many high-volume retailers should go for cost leadership with more IT infrastructure in the store, most retailers should seize the strategic opportunity that cheaper and more effective networking offers to bring a higher level of service to demanding consumers. Eight simple rules of thumb should guide your decision on when to maintain hardware, data, and process logic at individual stores and when to rely on centralized sources.