Microsoft has partnered with technology companies to launch the Retail Cloud Alliance (RCA), an initiative aimed at educating and empowering retailers to leverage cloud technology effectively.

Microsoft will collaborate with its partners to develop resources that cover a broad spectrum of topics, including optimising supply chains, personalising customer experiences, enhancing security and compliance, scaling operations, and future-proofing retail.

Resources are available in the form of reports, webinars, podcasts, and videos.

The RCA programme invites all retailers, regardless of their size or current technology infrastructure, to join. Members and cloud-compatible solution providers include ADOBE, Sunrise Technologies, and Icertis.

Microsoft has previously worked with major retailers such as Walmart, Kroger, and GameStop on technological infrastructure.

The RCA cites a Google Pulse survey which found that “industry leaders are increasing their use of cloud-based services and products (41.4%), planning to migrate from legacy enterprise software to cloud-based tools (33.4%), and migrating on-premises workloads to the cloud (32.8%).”

Cloud technology is identified as a key disruptive force facing retailers in the coming years and is one of the areas that companies investing resources in now are expected to reap rewards from.

GlobalData’s thematic intelligence finds that the cloud services revenue for the retail sector was valued at $20.1bn in 2021 and is expected to achieve a CAGR of more than 17% by 2026.