Best Buy picks AWS as strategic cloud provider
Best Buy has selected Amazon Web Service (AWS) as its preferred provider for cloud infrastructure services and its strategic partner for developing cloud engineering talent.
“Our purpose to enrich lives through technology has never been more important, and this new partnership with AWS is another step in our commitment to deliver outstanding experiences for our customers,” says Brian Tilzer, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Best Buy.
“Not only will AWS’s cloud technologies help us in this work, but in combination with our culture of innovation and reinvention, they will give our teams invaluable development opportunities as we continue to grow our skilled teams and remain one of the best places for amazing technology talent to thrive.”
Using cloud technologies, part of which were already supported by AWS, Best Buy was able to deploy a curbside pickup experience in just two days at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Through the collaboration with AWS, the consumer electronics retailer will accelerate the pace of its cloud migration and implementation of its cloud first strategy, beginning with moving additional retail operations workloads from on-premises datacentres to AWS.
Moving forward, it will expand its use of AWS capabilities and AWS Marketplace, a digital catalogue with software listings from independent software vendors that makes it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that runs on AWS.
In addition, the tie up will give Best Buy’s teams of technologists access to AWS Training and Certification’s cloud training curriculum and resources.
Into the metaverse
Best Buy could be well placed to cash in from the rise of the metaverse, according to a research note this week by Loop Capital Markets.
It could tap into enthusiasm for NFTs, gaming and socialising in a virtual world.
Best Buy is the largest PC retailer in the US, has big box stores where shoppers can try on different headsets and has a team of tech experts who charge for helping consumers with setup, said Anthony Chukumba, MD at Loop Capital Markets.
He added that consumers may need to upgrade computers to higher resolution displays and buy extra equipment from monitors to microphones. That could drive a massive PC upgrade cycle and one also for smartphones.
Loop based its views on a conversation with an unnamed CEO and venture capitalist who specialises in NFTs, blockchain, decentralised finance, gaming and the metaverse.
