The pandemic has been unkind to many retailers, with customer expectations shifting seemingly overnight. During the great recession of 2008–2009, e-commerce grew, and brick-and-mortar retail declined. As the economic recovery took hold, that trend continued while off-price, discount, and emerging players succeeded by appealing to new consumer demands. For example, in January 2020, fast-paced home delivery was perceived as a unique selling point offered only by select stores.

It’s one of the great paradoxes of doing business in the 21st century: Customers expect more personalized products and services even as in-person customer contact decreases. This is just one of several disruptive trends facing every industry. At the first day of Hitachi Financial Services Summit 2021, I addressed these challenges in a keynote session with Marek Chlebicki of Raiffeisen Bank International.

Businesses and consumers are getting better at recognizing the direct carbon cost of the products they use. As such, we’re seeing an increased use of sustainable materials in consumer goods and global products. That is a big positive trend, but there’s a bigger picture to explore. Value chains make up 90% of an organization’s environmental impact, according to the Carbon Trust.

Modern Data Foundation for AI-Driven Results The following is Part II of a three-part series. In Part I of this series, I noted the following: “With just a few clicks on my smart device, I can review data on every place I’ve been, how much I spent, each step I took, what the weather was like and who I was with. Businesses collect the same abundance of data. However, are we getting the benefit and insights from what’s collected?

Shifting customer behavior in the wake of the pandemic has forced many financial organizations to accelerate their digital transformation plans. According to a recent survey of financial C-suite executives, these organizations are increasing their technological investments to address the changing landscape. The cloud — a necessary component of any digital transformation — is a focal point of these investments.

When power company executives were asked to list the most important issues facing their organizations, 45% overwhelmingly cited their top concern as “renewables, sustainability or the environment.” At the same time, global energy consumption continues to rise faster than the population. These two realities are reshaping the international energy sector. The push to produce more energy, in a greener manner, is propelling the industry to re-imagine the power grid of the future.

When conversations turn to digital transformation, it is usually smart phone apps, dizzying feats of AI, and domestic robots that capture all the attention. But the unsung heroes of I.T. know the truth: digital infrastructure is the foundation on which data-driven transformations are built. And increasingly we’re talking about two qualities digital infrastructure must possess if it is to be an effective backbone for digital transformation.

A more agile and efficient infrastructure is key to realizing the cost savings and productivity gains businesses needed to succeed in today’s highly competitive market. Recent surveys by Roger Magoulas & Steve Sawyer, May 19, 2020, show that 88% of enterprises are currently using cloud in some form or another. This adoption is not surprising as clouds have been around now for several decades since Amazon Web Services (AWS) was launched in 2002.

Forbes Insights defines the modernized data center as being built to change just as much as it is built to last. One of the key pillars for a modernized data center is an agile data infrastructure. The Forbes Insights briefing explains, “This means it’s not wedded to any specific deployment method or solution set.

“You’re crazy if you don’t start in the cloud; you’re crazy if you stay on it,” quips a recent blog post from Andreessen Horowitz. Many companies are surprised by cloud bills that have shot past their expectations. Indeed, IDC predicts increased investment in public cloud cost management through 2022 as enterprises seek to cut cloud waste by 50%. This is the Cloud Cost Paradox.