IO Directory 2016

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firing up a snapshot is faster than booting a typical server,
downtime also is dramatically cut.
And since managed servers are cloud-based, accessibility
to company information moves “beyond the building” to
anywhere there is Internet, at any time, sometimes even on
any device. That means store managers can securely check
schedules or inventory from home or on the road, and IT as-
sets of multiple stores can be accessed from one connection
through one secure log-in. Welcome to the cloud. It couldn’t
have come any sooner.
During the past few decades, the retail vertical as a
whole spent about 1 percent of revenues on IT. Today,
retailers are spending upward of 6
percent to sometimes as much as 10 percent of revenue
on IT. And whereas IT spending primarily has been
directed at e-commerce initiatives up to this point, the
connected consumer is forcing retailers to re-evaluate the
in-store experience.
Among the 42 percent of Lightspeed’s small retailers that
say they plan to increase in-store IT budgets this year, more
than two-thirds say the number one reason is “keeping up
with consumer demand.” At the same time, in-store shoppers
still generate more than 90 percent of sales for most specialty
retailers, so it only make sense that IT investment would fol-
low the money in store to some degree.
Short List of Hosted Virtual Server
Providers
National Providers
dinCloud
EasySpace
Fusion
GoDaddy
Rackspace
Rapidscale
Verio
VMware
Webair
Local Resellers and Agencies
Acuity
Technologies
Tampa, Fla.
Avoda
Communications
Greenwood Village, Colo.
Cloudnexion
eXemplify
Group
Lexington, Ky.
Intelisys Petaluma, Calif.
Liquid Networx
MicroCorp Marietta, Ga.
PlanetOne Scottsdale, Ariz
TBI Chicago
Telarus Sandy, Utah
Total Telecom
Consulting
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Venture Group
For a provider in your neck of the woods, contact Inside
Outdoor magazine at
Inside Outdoor | Winter 2016 29