‘Innovation is key’ may be an
overused phrase, but it rings true
especially in this digital age as
we have seen many businesses
which are able to offer solutions
to society’s current problems
continue to flourish.
RETAIL
SPOTLIGHT
For instance, a host of IT services—
including database storage, analytics, and machine learning among others—helps
retailers become more efficient, productive and increase engagement and reach
with their customers.
AWS Philippine Country Head Mr. Stephen Thomas Misa looks into how the
retail industry can benefit from innovation and technology and shares how their
company’s core values help drive success.
Philippine Retailing: How important is innovation in the success of a
company?
Stephen Misa: Today, where disruptive technologies such as the cloud, continue to
level up the competitive playing field, having a culture of innovation is crucial to a
company’s success. For instance, the cloud plays a key role in driving innovation,
enabling organizations to experiment and collaborate more – without having to
fear failure. With the cloud’s agility and speed, teams can quickly build, experiment,
and innovate, to launch new products and services that transform their businesses
and deliver better customer experiences.
Technology at the
heart of retail
Interview with AWS Philippine Country
Head Stephen Thomas Misa, who shared the
importance of innovation and technology for
retail in today’s digital age.
PR: Can you give us some tips on what companies should consider in
getting a particular service for their business?
Misa: The first step, is for companies to always consider the needs of their
customers and work backwards from there, instead of the other way around. They
should focus on solving a specific problem that would add value to their business
and benefit their customers. For instance, AWS’s No. 1 leadership principle is
customer obsession, which means that when we work with customers, we always
start by understanding what they need – and together, we design a plan, and
ultimately deliver the products and services they require to address their specific
needs.
PR: How do you see the local retail industry moving forward in terms of
technology?
Misa: The local retail industry has huge potential in leveraging new and emerging
technologies such as data and analytics, Internet-of-Things (IoT), artificial
intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML), among others. The Philippines is
home to some of the biggest shopping malls in the region, and retailers have the
opportunity to leverage on the massive customer data they’ve accumulated through
the years, to understand their customers better, gain useful insights that would
allow them to make better business decisions, and improve the overall customer
experience. This is crucial in helping them gain more customers, as well as maintain
customer loyalty.
PR: Can you share with us some Good Practices of AWS that make it a
preferred partner, service provider of companies?
Misa: As mentioned earlier, our No. 1 principle is “customer obsession.”
Everything the company does or develops starts with the customer in mind – and
works backwards from there. Likewise, we help customers create a culture of
experimentation – a best practice, because innovation comes from experimentation.
Experimentation gives teams some freedom to implement existing projects in new
ways.
We also help customers start with small projects that are meaningful enough, but
basic – such as a simple website, a mobile application, an API to easily access data,
or a file backup/disaster recovery improvement – then they can scale up, based
on their needs. Likewise, shared responsibility is important. Security is our top
priority, so when moving to an AWS infrastructure, responsibility for security is
shared between AWS and the customer.
PR: How do you see AWS growing in the Philippines in the next 5 years?
Misa: The growth of AWS in the Philippines is aligned with the company’s global
growth trajectory. We are seeing more businesses and organizations embracing
the cloud, and as we continue to add new services, keep pace with innovation,
strengthen our partner and customer ecosystem, and leverage on our huge head
start compared to other players in our space, and most important – delight our
customers, we are confident of our continued growth globally.
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