BEDIN Shop Systems wanted to create a reliable, easy-to-use point-of-sale (POS) and in-store solution. By choosing the Windows Azure platform, the company delivered aKite, a cloud-based system that can be rapidly deployed and accessed from anywhere in the world through an internet connection. The solution has achieved immediate success, and was chosen by Bottega Veneta of the Gucci Group for its newest retail stores.
Business Needs
BEDIN Shop Systems, based in Cornuda, Treviso, Italy, has more than 20 years’ experience in developing POS and in-store systems for retailers. The company, which is a Microsoft Certified Partner, has established an international reputation as a pioneer in Microsoft technology applied to small and medium-sized retailers, independent stores, and chains.
POS systems play a mission-critical role in retail operations. If they fail, businesses are likely to lose sales because customers will go elsewhere when the payment process is delayed. Therefore it’s important that retailers have POS systems on which they can depend, particularly during busy periods.
System performance and data centralisation have always been key, but POS technology has traditionally not delivered this to everybody’s satisfaction. On-premise solutions offer high availability, but are complex to manage. On the other hand, hosted solutions are simple to use, but don’t give businesses the confidence they need. Wladimiro Bedin, Chief Executive Officer of BEDIN Shop Systems, says: “Neither solution has successfully delivered everything that customers require. There have always been compromises, causing either management complexity or concerns over reliability.”
But the evolution of cloud services promised to solve the problems. Bedin says: “With just a personal computer and an internet connection, retailers can access cloud-based solutions, linking stores with central offices and delivering business insight in real time. Plus, it also gives retailers the simplicity, scalability, and reliability that they’ve always wanted.”
BEDIN Shop Systems looked to create a cloud-based POS and in-store solution that would help the company capitalise on a market with great potential and drive growth globally. “A customer could access our solution anywhere in the world,” says Bedin. “But to achieve success, we needed an environment that would deliver a secure and reliable service, and quickly scale to meet demand for more capacity.”
Solution
The company decided to build its cloud-based POS solution on Windows Azure. Bedin says: “It was an easy decision. Windows Azure is an advanced cloud service offering, where fault tolerance, load balancing, and disaster recovery are handled automatically—giving our customers reliability.”
BEDIN Shop Systems migrated its aKite Retail Web Services (RWS) solution—which it has developed over many years—onto the Windows Azure platform. Because RWS is a service-oriented application built using Microsoft .NET, Windows Communication Foundation, and Microsoft SQL Server data management software, it was easy for developers to integrate with the cloud infrastructure. “We didn’t have to change the interface,” says Bedin. “We simply adjusted the Windows Communication Foundation smart client configuration to make communication with services on Windows Azure transparent.”
The architecture of the cloud-based aKite suite consists of web services published on Windows Azure web role instances, and asynchronous server processes running in worker roles. Components are built with managed code and communicate with each other through Windows Azure storage services. Bedin says: “It was easy to work with the Microsoft SQL Azure database service because it was compatible with our existing Microsoft SQL Server code.”
Sales personnel complete transactions in aKite through a smart client known as POS.net. Managers then control sales, stock and orders using the client, called SHOP.net. Bedin says: “Each transaction is queued locally and synchronised with the SQL Azure database. From there it is forwarded to the customer’s own management systems in near real time.”
Benefits
BEDIN Shop Systems can offer customers the reliability and simplicity they want from a POS and in-store solution with Windows Azure. It has shown retailers that a cloud-based system is fast to set up and easy for personnel to use, while delivering unlimited scalability, but—importantly—without the capital costs.
Microsoft commitment and design ensure high reliability. Microsoft offers a service level agreement for Windows Azure that helps avoid service interruption. Plus, aKite performs the majority of its operations locally, so if there’s a disruption only a few operations are temporarily affected.
Cloud-based architecture delivers simplicity. “Customers need only client devices to connect to the cloud,” says Bedin. The system is also easy to integrate with customers’ enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, and business intelligence solutions.
Retailers deploy POS solutions in minutes. Bottega Veneta—a brand of the Gucci Group—recently installed the aKite system at the first of its PopUpStores. Adriano Voglino, Management Information System Manager at Bottega Veneta, says: “It took just a few minutes to deploy aKite, after which employees could monitor sales in real time. aKite and Windows Azure will be our standard system for this store format from now on.”
System design offers unlimited scalability and easy integration. Bottega Veneta values aKite because it can be extended easily as the company opens more PopUpStores. Bedin says: “Windows Azure offers customers scalability without limits and easy integration with other on-premise or cloud-based applications.”
Cloud-based system cuts capital costs. Retailers with aKite can expand their businesses quickly without the capital costs of scaling the solutions in stores and at headquarters. “Customers don’t have to worry about their infrastructure,” says Bedin. “Just one connection to the cloud is enough to effectively manage a single store or thousands worldwide.”
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
