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Actually the entire concern is irrelevant long term. No way places like Target and Walmart continue to outsource critical SaaS services to contractors. Retail i

Actually the entire concern is irrelevant long term. No way places like Target and Walmart continue to outsource critical SaaS services to contractors. Retail is turning into a SaaS game, and Walmart and Target don't strike me as the kind of organizations that would be caught flat footed by that change. The reality is, in 2 years, there's a non-trivial likelihood that organizations like that may not be giving out those kinds of contracts at all. Too critical. Too much value add going forward. To own that infrastructure will confer too much competitive advantage for, say, Target to allow Walmart to build that out unchallenged. If you're in the business of serving large retailers services like this, you should probably be wargaming out some possible pivots before the market for those services begins to shrink. But there's a silver lining to those changes for everyone else, it's entirely possible that these retailers may go into providing those services that are going to start being on the critical path so to speak. Think Walmart and Target building out AWS competitors, or package delivery services, etc etc.

fragmede 7y ago
I disagree about Walmart possibly being caught flat footed. While it's valid to point out that Walmart Labs exists Wich means Walmart has a finger in the data science and ML pie, Walmart got caught off guard with online sales, to the point that they are credible competition to Amazon Prime - better in some areas, worse in others - this fact is barely known, with most of my friends (which is hardly the most scientific data set) happy customers of Amazon Prime. If Walmart was caught so flat-footed, and so unknown in this area, arguably central to the future of their business, it's hard to see them as a credible threat to Amazon.com or AWS, and not for lack of trying re: Amazon.com.
- jjeaff 7y ago
  I don't think Walmart was actually caught off guard with online retail. But because they had (and still have) such a massive retail market share, the powers that be inside Walmart undoubtedly stifled innovation in order to avoid cannibalizing their retail arm. (The Innovators Dillema). But wmt seems to have mostly woken up and correctly organized their power structure to empower the e-commerce arm. They even brought in an outsider (founder of jet.com).

fragmede 7y ago

I disagree about Walmart possibly being caught flat footed. While it's valid to point out that Walmart Labs exists Wich means Walmart has a finger in the data science and ML pie, Walmart got caught off guard with online sales, to the point that they are credible competition to Amazon Prime - better in some areas, worse in others - this fact is barely known, with most of my friends (which is hardly the most scientific data set) happy customers of Amazon Prime. If Walmart was caught so flat-footed, and so unknown in this area, arguably central to the future of their business, it's hard to see them as a credible threat to Amazon.com or AWS, and not for lack of trying re: Amazon.com.

jjeaff 7y ago
I don't think Walmart was actually caught off guard with online retail. But because they had (and still have) such a massive retail market share, the powers that be inside Walmart undoubtedly stifled innovation in order to avoid cannibalizing their retail arm. (The Innovators Dillema). But wmt seems to have mostly woken up and correctly organized their power structure to empower the e-commerce arm. They even brought in an outsider (founder of jet.com).