Introduction: Modern Retail Requires Modern IT

Retail is evolving rapidly — customer expectations, omnichannel sales, and real-time inventory all demand fast, scalable, and secure IT systems. Yet, many mid-sized retail businesses still operate with outdated servers, siloed systems, and reactive IT management.

This was exactly the challenge facing one of Robust Softech’s U.S.-based clients — a 200-store retail chain struggling with performance bottlenecks and escalating costs due to legacy systems.

This case study outlines how we helped them fully modernize their infrastructure, achieve operational agility, and reduce costs by over 40%, all while maintaining business continuity.

Client Background & Challenges

Client Profile:

• A mid-sized U.S. retail brand with physical stores, eCommerce presence, and warehouses across 4 states

• 15-year-old legacy IT systems managing POS, ERP, and inventory

• Internal IT team of 6, limited cloud experience

Key Challenges:

1. Frequent downtime in POS and ERP systems

2. Data silos between store operations and online sales

3. Inability to scale during high-traffic sales events

4. Rising costs from aging hardware and licensing

5. Difficulty integrating with third-party apps (e.g., CRM, logistics platforms)

Goals of the Modernization Project

The client engaged Robust Softech with the following outcomes in mind:

• Improve uptime and system reliability

• Reduce IT operating and infrastructure costs

• Integrate legacy ERP with modern tools

• Enable better data visibility and analytics

• Ensure security and compliance

Our Approach: Phased Modernization with Zero Downtime

We proposed a hybrid cloud strategy to modernize infrastructure without disrupting store operations. Our approach included:

1. Infrastructure Audit & Planning

• Mapped dependencies between POS, ERP, inventory, and reporting systems

• Identified outdated servers and high-risk components

• Designed a migration plan with rollback protection

2. Hybrid Cloud Deployment

• Migrated ERP and analytics workloads to Azure

• Retained in-store POS systems locally for latency needs

• Connected all components via secure Azure VPN Gateway

3. Containerization & Automation

• Refactored reporting and reconciliation modules into Dockerized microservices

• Introduced CI/CD pipelines for regular updates without downtime

4. System Integration

• Integrated ERP with:

  • Shopify (eCommerce)

  • HubSpot (CRM)

  • FedEx & USPS APIs (shipping and logistics)

5. Security & Compliance

• Implemented Zero Trust access model

• Deployed Azure Defender and cloud firewall policies

• Enabled automated data backups and logging for compliance audits

Tech Stack Used