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对陈旧的企业堆栈进行自上而下的现代化改造可能有点像爬山，至少对Backcountry首席技术官Sridhar Nallani来说是这样的。2020年，他受聘于该公司，负责这家户外装备网上商城的数字化改造。
尽管2020年Backcountry的在线业务收入接近10亿美金，但是这家户外装备网上商城整个业务运营都依赖于一个陈旧的、名为ATG的电子商务平台。虽然完成了数字化的基础工作，但是公司的高管团队知道，是时候进行转型了。
B2C专家Nallani（之前曾帮助Gymboree、Gap和Macy's完成现代化改造）被任命为顾问，帮助Backcountry发现数字化战略中的漏洞并制定相应计划。
“当时也就是在2020年初，他们希望当前的技术状态进行评估，”Nallani说。他从2020年3月开始评估，8月被任命为首席技术官。“这家公司很棒，客户群忠诚度非常高，但技术能力完全不行。”
Nallani用15个指标来衡量Backcountry公司的整体基础设施，其中有13个或者14个被标为“红色”，也就是有严重缺陷，而唯一的亮点——该公司的电子商务系统——也是被Oracle淘汰了的。他说：“这意味着[Backcountry的电子商务系统]要么已经过时了，要么根本就是个小透明。对于一家规模十亿美金的公司来说，这非常令人震惊。Backcountry有95%的收入来自在线，但却是构建在这种平台上？”
Nallani从顾问转变为CTO，肩负着艰巨的任务，因为有许多技术空白需要填补，这其中当然也包括了需要更换掉这个过时的电商平台，并迁移到云端。当时Backcountry还缺少许多对在线零售商至关重要的核心服务——他们没有CMS、没有分析、没有数据平台、也没有数据湖。最重要的是，Nallani不得不说服高管团队把资金投入在为期三年的路线图和技术改革上，而这个项目会将给Backcountry业务的方方面面带来改变。
幸运的是，包括CEO和CFO在内的高管层愿意应对这些技术挑战，为业务助一臂之力，即使这意味着他们要放弃静态报告的方式，学习使用能够产生实时数据和可操作洞察的高管仪表板。
他说：“这是一个痛苦的过程——让人们开始以不同的方式思考，改变他们的运营逻辑，”但是这种转变是至关重要，因为“当你可以获得实时可见性和可操作的数据时，游戏规则就发生改变了。”华东CIO大会、华东CIO联盟、CDLC中国数字化灯塔大会、CXO数字化研学之旅、数字化江湖-讲武堂，数字化江湖-大侠传、数字化江湖-论剑、CXO系列管理论坛（陆家嘴CXO管理论坛、宁波东钱湖CXO管理论坛等）、数字化转型网，走进灯塔工厂系列、ECIO大会等
一、3C路线图：CDP、CMS、Cloud
和很多IT领导者一样，Nallani发现这个挑战是令人振奋的，“我喜欢面对挑战，复杂的难题令我着迷，这种难题更有意思。”
他说，对于任何在线零售商来说，迁移到云端并实施参考架构——包括电子商务和前端客户体验(CX)系统——都是至关重要的。近年来，电子商务平台已经发展成为云、分析、CX UI 和数据湖的组合，也就是客户数据平台(CDP)。
他解释说，在CDP方面他选择了Amperity。“CDP处理与顾客相关的一切，包括有关购买商品的顾客数据、浏览和点击数据、订单历史和个人资料/偏好等等。我们在其中增加了人口统计、天气、本地化、生活阶段等内容以增强顾客记录。”他补充说，Amperity不仅可以“识别你的顾客”，而且“提供可实时动态显示的定制内容以推动转化”。
不仅如此，Backcountry还采用了Adobe Customer Experience Management内容管理系统(CMS)，提供动态页面和高级客户体验。Backcountry公司的150名IT员工每天都会调整这些体验和高管仪表板，以便为顾客和高管提供更高效、更有吸引力和更新的体验。
当然，如果不迁移到云端，这一切都将是不完整的。Nallani坚信云能带来的盈利优势，以及云可以加速面市速度。谷歌云平台为Backcountry提供了起飞的“燃料”，谷歌Looker提供实时分析和预测分析，谷歌BigQuery数据仓库处理“端到端的一切：产品、销售、订单、库存、供应链等等”，谷歌Mulesoft提供了API访问的集成层。
二、第4个C：变革管理
为了实现愿景，Nallani必须让高管团队相信他的计划能带来的好处，因为从0一下到60可能是很难被接受和认可的。
这其中涉及到对C级高管进行大量的说服和培训，让他们接受和使用Nallani计划提供的高级服务，尤其是高管仪表板。他说：“这些高管中很多人都是很出色的领导者，但是从未有人给他们介绍过整个客户数据平台的概念，而对于我们这些以前做过这件事的人来说，我们知道我们是可以发挥作用的。”
Nallani说，现在是Backcountry开始现代化之旅的第二年，迁移到云端的过程大约已经完成了一半，开始整合先进的个性化和人工智能战略，后者主要基于谷歌技术，可能也包括谷歌的Vertex平台。
由于顾客留存和客户增长对零售商来说至关重要，因此个性化也被视为电子商务的“圣杯”。Nallani表示，Backcountry已经启动了大规模个性化计划，需要时间才能看到成果。
“个性化并非微不足道，在较高层面上涉及到数据湖、CDP、AI/ML平台、电子商务网站、电子邮件、聊天或任何其他顾客的触点。对我们来说，Amperity负责CDP和AI，但个性化方面我们计划采用谷歌的零售API和推荐API。”
他估计，人工智能个性化需要6个月到1年的时间才能“真正进入活跃的阶段”。“现在我们还没有到这个阶段，但是我们在这方面下了很大的赌注。”
Nallani表示，Backcountry作为一家私营公司不会公布具体的财务业绩，但是目前收入规模超过10亿美金，3年增长近20%，利润翻了一番多，就业绩而言，Backcountry的面市速度是两年前的10倍。华东CIO大会、华东CIO联盟、CDLC中国数字化灯塔大会、CXO数字化研学之旅、数字化江湖-讲武堂，数字化江湖-大侠传、数字化江湖-论剑、CXO系列管理论坛（陆家嘴CXO管理论坛、宁波东钱湖CXO管理论坛等）、数字化转型网，走进灯塔工厂系列、ECIO大会等
三、从本地到云端再到……实体店？
Backcountry旅程最后一个阶段可能会让人感到意外。Backcountry预计于2023年春季完成从本地到云端的全面迁移，之后希望发展另一个销售同名品牌商品的渠道：实体店。
没错，就是实体店。Backcountry和它的竞争对手REI、Patagonia一样，把目光瞄准了在主要城市设立实体店。Backcountry于1996年在美国犹他州帕克城成立之时，曾经有过线下零售业务，但此后大部分业务都是基于网络的。现在，Backcountry正重新审视实体零售店这个业务战略，目标是为户外运动爱好者提供有关商品的真实体验。Backcountry有两家零售店——一家在帕克城，另一家在科罗拉多州博尔德——未来还计划在西雅图、加州斯坦福、华盛顿特区、波士顿、丹佛等城市开业。
这并不是说Backcountry要改变他们主要的销售策略。Nallani说：“把一切都放在云端非常重要，我可以光速配置和生成任何系统，我可以瞬间扩大规模，一切都是实时的，而且很安全，我不必自己去处理正常运行时间/停机时间。谷歌云平台一直是游戏规则的改写者。”
原文：
Undertaking a top-to-bottom modernization of a dusty enterprise stack can feel a bit like scaling a mountain. At least that has been the experience of Backcountry CTO Sridhar Nallani, who was hired in 2020 specifically to overhaul the online retailer’s digital presence.
Despite nearly $1 billion in online revenue in 2020, the web-based outdoor recreational retailer was running its entire business on an outdated and unsupported e-commerce platform called ATG. It got the basic job done but the company’s executive leadership team (ELT) knew it was time for a transformation.
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B2C expert Nallani — who had previously helped modernize Gymboree, the Gap, and Macy’s — was tapped as an advisor to identify the holes in Backcountry’s digital strategy and come up with a plan.
“They wanted an assessment of the current state of technology at that time, in early 2020,” says Nallani, who began his evaluation in March 2020 and was later appointed CTO in August. “The company is awesome and has such phenomenal loyalty from its customer base. But tech was in the total doldrums.”
Out of 15 metrics Nallani used to measure the company’s overall infrastructure, 13 or 14 came out as “red,” meaning very deficient, and the only bright light — the company’s ecommerce system — was being phased out by Oracle. “That means either [Backcountry’s ecommerce systems] were past end of life, or they didn’t exist. This was pretty egregious for a billion-dollar company,” he says. “Ninety-five percent of revenues are coming in online and you’re on this kind of platform?”
Moving from advisor to CTO, Nallani’s task was monumental, as there were many technology gaps to fill, including an antiquated ecommerce platform that needed to be replaced and a migration to the cloud, of course. Backcountry also lacked many core services critical for an online retailer — no CMS, no analytics, no data platform, and no data lake. On top of that, Nallani had to persuade a team of C-suite executives to invest in a three-year roadmap and technology overhaul that changed every aspect of Backcountry’s business.
Fortunately for Nallani, the ELT — including the CEO and CFO — were willing to tackle the technical challenges that would bolster the business even if it meant dumping static reports and learning to use executive dashboards that yielded real-time data and actionable insights.
“This is a painful process — to get people to start thinking differently and changing their operational psyche,” he says, adding that the shift was essential, given that “the game changes when you can have real-time visibility and actionable data.”
The 3C roadmap: CDP, CMS, cloud
Nallani, like many IT leaders, found the challenge invigorating. “I love to be in these situations,” he says. “I gravitate towards the tougher puzzles — they’re more interesting.”
For any online retailer, migrating to the cloud and implementing a reference architecture — including both ecommerce and front-end customer experience (CX) systems — are paramount, the CTO says. In recent years, e-commerce platforms have evolved into a combination of cloud, analytics, CX UIs, and data lakes dubbed customer data platforms (CDPs).
For its CDP, Nallani selected Amperity, which provides headless e-commerce, he explains.
“CDP handles everything related to the customer, which includes customer data on products they purchased, browse and click data, their order history and profile/preferences, etc. We add things like demographic, weather, localization, life stage, and more to this to enhance the customer record,” he says, adding that Amperity not only “identifies your customer” but also “provides customized content to be displayed dynamically in real time to drive conversion.”
To make good on this, Backcountry also adopted Adobe Customer Experience Management, a content management system (CMS) that helps the retailer deliver dynamic pages and advanced customer experiences. The company’s 150-member IT staff tweaks these experiences, as well as its executive dashboards, daily to deliver a more efficient, engaging, and updated experience for customers and execs alike.
Of course, none of this would be complete without a shift to the cloud. Nallani is a firm believer in profit-making benefits of the cloud, as well as the inherent speed to market the cloud can provide. Google Cloud Platform fuels Backcountry’s stack, with Google’s Looker providing real-time analytics and predictive analytics and Google’s BigQuery data warehouse handling “everything end to end: product, sales, order, inventory, supply chain, and more.” The company also uses Mulesoft to provide an integration layer for API access.
The 4th C: Change management
To realize his vision, Nallani had to convince the ELT of the benefits of his plan, as going from 0 to 60 can be a tough sell.
This included a fair amount of education and training to get C-suite leaders to accept and exploit the advanced services his plan provides, especially executive dashboards. “Many of these folks are awesome leaders, but they’ve never been introduced to this whole customer data platform concept, and for those of us who have done this before, we know we have a role to play,” the CTO says.
Now in the second year of its journey, Backcountry is about halfway through the process of migrating to the cloud and beginning to piece together its advanced personalization and AI strategy, which will be based primarily on Google technology, including possibly its Vertex platform, Nallani says.
Because customer retention and growth are critical for retailers, personalization is seen as the “holy grail” of ecommerce. Backcountry’s Personalization At Scale program, which is already under way, will take time to pay off, the CTO says.
“Personalization is not trivial, and it involves, at a high level, a data lake, CDP, AI/ML platform, ecommerce site, email or chat or any other customer touch point,” Nallani says. “For us, Amperity takes care of CDP and AI but the way we are planning to go is to use Google’s Retail API and Recommendation API to drive personalization.”
The CTO estimates it will take six months to a year to “be in a truly humming stage” on AI personalization. “We’re not there now. But we’re making big bets on it,” he says.
The privately-held company would not release specific financial outcomes, but Backcountry’s revenues are now more than $1 billion, showing a three-year growth of almost 20%, and its profits have more than doubled, Nallani says. In terms of performance, the company’s speed to market is ten times what it was two years ago, he adds.
From on-prem to the cloud to … brick and mortar?
The final phase of Backcountry’s journey may come as a surprise. As the company moves to complete its full-scale migration from on-premises to the cloud by the spring of 2023, it is also looking to grow another channel for selling its namesake branded gear: reality-based commerce.
That’s right. This dotcom aims to have a physical presence in major cities, just as its competitors REI and Patagonia do. Founded in 1996 in Park City, Utah, Backcountry once had a retail presence but has since built the bulk of its business on the web. It is revisiting the retail store as a business strategy in order to give its outdoors enthusiast customers a real-life experience of its wares. The company has two retail stores — one in Park City and another in Boulder, Colo. — and plans to open doors in Seattle; Stanford, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Boston; and Denver, among other cities, the CTO says.
That’s not to say Backcountry expects to shift its primary sales strategy. “It’s extremely critical to have everything in the cloud,” Nallani says. “I can provision and spawn up any system at light speed. I can scale things in literally an instant. Everything is real time. Things are secure and I don’t have to deal with uptime/downtime myself. The Google Cloud Platform has been and is the game changer.”
本文主要内容或原作者Paula Rooney，仅供广大读者参考，如有侵犯您的知识产权或者权益，请联系我提供证据，我会予以删除。
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