'Net Features : cloud backup

Finish Line Commits to Omnichannel Race

Amberly Dressler — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:30:00 GMT

With more than 640 stores across 47 states and an online presence to match, Finish Line is not only one of the largest mall-based specialty retailers in the United States, but also one of the most aggressive in terms of its omnichannel growth initiatives.

It was these initiatives that drove the company to move from legacy in-house managed software to Demandware’s cloud-based solution, announcing today that it has launched new e-commerce and mobile commerce sites on Demandware Commerce platform. With this platform, Finish Line can provide consumers a highly branded, personalized and consistent experience across channels.

“Our goal is to transform our business, not just maintain it,” said Chris Ladd, executive vice president and chief digital officer for Finish Line. “We want to drive innovation and propel the business. Demandware reduces operational complexity and puts the power in the hands of our users to create world-class brand experiences. It provides customers a better and faster online experience, rather than having technology get in the way. With Demandware’s business model, we’re mutually incentivized by success. We have a true partnership, and over the long-term, it’s much more valuable that the standard vendor/client relationship.”

The new finishline.com features an eye-catching new design and enhanced user experience, including:

The ability to buy online and pick up at a Finish Line store location
Real-time product inventory information that provides accurate availability updates
A mobile shopping site that leverages responsive Web design to optimally display on devices
Seamless integration of Finish Line’s Winner’s Circle loyalty program into the shopping cart to let consumers view their points balance at checkout
Enhanced brand landing pages showcase brand-specific content, such as products, offers, promotions, videos and blog posts
Streamlined navigation and search functionality helps consumers locate products more quickly and efficiently
Flash sales provide exclusive access to new, high-demand merchandise

“Finish Line is a true market leader with a compelling vision for omnichannel commerce,” said Tom Ebling, CEO of Demandware. “With Demandware as its digital commerce backbone, Finish Line is able to move faster in a world of continually evolving consumer behavior. We look forward to a long partnership, driven by our mutual commitment to success and retail innovation.”

Protect Yourself from a Cloud Disaster

Michael Garrity — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:30:00 GMT

Cloud-based disasters aren’t just for meteorologists anymore…

One of the biggest fears that businesses have about the cloud is losing all of their important data in a major disaster that they have nothing to do with. Most hosting companies recognize this and as the technology continues to grow and emerge, they have come up with new ways to combat this concern.

Enterprise-level cloud application availability and recovery solutions provider Hosting.com (say that five times fast) has developed its own answer and released a fully-managed Cloud Replication solution for business continuity, enterprise-class offsite data protection and disaster recovery.

The system, which utilizes VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5, works by replicating a customer’s virtualized data environment in a Hosting.com data center recovery site, where it is stored safely in case of emergency. In addition, customers will be able to customize replication and recovery, meaning IT managers will have considerable control over the process.

Tier 3 to the Rescue with Cloud-Based Backup

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:30:00 GMT

Cloud platform provider Tier 3 released a file recovery application today named Client Backup. The solution is aimed at enterprises concerned about maintaining the availability and integrity of their critical data.

“Accidentally deleting critical documents can be such a time waster as we search around—with fingers crossed—for possible back-ups or reluctantly resort to starting over completely; it’s happened to us all,” said Jared Wray, chief technology officer, Tier 3. “With our new client backup capabilities, users can get right back to work with a restored copy that’s been encrypted and replicated at our Tier 3 data centers.”

The centralized management features will certainly appeal to the IT managers among us, but the solution provides quite a few other noteworthy features including customizable backup (complete with revision histories), and hourly file backup among others.