NextPoint Makes it Personal

Team Telaid attended NextPoint 2019 in Colorado. The event offered a unique opportunity to spend some real time with retailers who are deploying cutting-edge technologies. This is one of Telaid's favorite events of the year because it's an opportunity to get up close and personal with retailers who are living the digital transformation.

At a typical show, we might have 10 - 20 minutes tops with a retailer at Telaid's booth. But NextPoint offers concentrated quality time with these individuals at meals, cocktail hours or on the golf course. Here’s what we learned based on some meaningful, lengthy conversations with retail leaders.

Reliability is King – Timelines are aggressive, budgets are tight and the pressure for performance is high. The task of overseeing the successful deployment and use of emerging technologies to improve the customer experience, reduce inefficiencies and streamline supply chains weighs heavily on leaders in retail. The pace and scope of work is more than their internal IT teams can handle alone. Again and again, retailers at NextPoint talked about the importance of reliability in their integrator partners. They need to be able to trust that things will be handled with efficiency and competence. And apparently, finding reliable partners is not as easy as it seems.

Uptime Support Needed – Once technologies are deployed, maintaining uptime is critical. Retailers need managed services to ensure their technologies are properly maintained and handled. In some cases, legislation and company initiatives imposing safety, sustainability and transparency criteria are pushing IT teams to the limit with new requirements. For example, sustainability and data security initiatives are requiring retail IT teams to implement end-of-life recycling or sustainable disposal of technology or certified destruction of equipment to reduce risk of data breaches. These requirements are expected to be handled with speed and dependability. Retailers are seeking partners who can step in and offer third party support services to meet their various needs.

Creativity Required – Due to the newness of these technologies and the fact that retailers are leveraging technologies to differentiate their offerings in a hyper-competitive market, technology implementations are not always straightforward. In some cases, retailers are looking for unique integrations between existing and new technologies, or creative ways to deploy in challenging conditions. They need partners who can dive in and bring creative solutions to the table to ensure success.

Here at Telaid, we strive to be the partner that meets these retailers’ demanding standards. As we look ahead to 2020, we evaluate our own people, processes and tools to identify where adjustments or investments are needed. We are thankful to NextPoint attendees and our customers for sharing their true reactions, thoughts, concerns and dreams. Their willingness to make it personal allows us to bring our A-game every time.