What a Modern Retail Network Needs to Deliver and How CIOs Orchestrate It

Published 23/02/26 under:

If you’ve already read the first blog in this series Why Network Transformation Has Become Retail’s First Step to Innovation, you’ll know that retailers aren’t struggling with ideas. They’re struggling with foundations. And increasingly, the network is the foundation that determines whether innovation lands cleanly or collapses under its own weight.

If you haven’t read that first piece yet, I’d recommend starting there. It sets the context for why the network has quietly become the most strategic part of the retail technology estate.

This second blog goes deeper. It’s about what a modern retail network needs to deliver, and how CIOs orchestrate it in a world where everything is distributed, real‑time and AI‑driven. And I’ll be honest: this is where the real work begins.

Retail Networks Are No Longer “Infrastructure” They’re the Digital Foundation

When we sit with CIOs, the conversations have shifted. We’re no longer talking about circuits, routers or bandwidth. We’re talking about platform behaviour, workload placement, real‑time data, AI readiness, and operational resilience.

Gartner’s guidance reinforces this shift:

• Data, applications, experiences and services are now fully dependent on and tightly intertwined with the infrastructure they run on.
• Modernisation must be workload‑centric and business‑outcome‑driven.
• By 2027, 85% of workload placements made before 2022 will no longer be optimal.

Retailers feel this more acutely than most. Retail runs on pace, not just technology. When you’re managing hundreds or thousands of sites, you can’t transform the estate overnight. That’s why strong foundations matter they let the business move fast while the estate evolves in phases.

What “Good” Looks Like in a Modern Retail Network

Across the retailers we support, the requirements are remarkably consistent. And they align closely with core digital foundation principles.

1. Cloud‑first, workload‑centric traffic patterns

Retail workloads now span SaaS, PaaS, edge, on‑prem and multi-cloud. The network must treat them as one ecosystem not a patchwork of legacy decisions. This is exactly where Kerv’s Secure Connected Cloud offering comes in. We help retailers design cloud architectures that are intentional, workload‑aligned and secure by design not accidental outcomes of years of tactical decisions.

2. Edge compute in stores and distribution centres

AI inventory agents, computer vision, smart carts, digital signage all require predictable, low‑latency connectivity. Gartner’s 2026 predictions are clear and we stand by them:

• AI inventory agents will become a prerequisite for staying competitive
• Smart stores will rely on edge compute and real‑time data
• AI governance failures will cause more brand damage than cyber breaches

None of that is possible without a network that behaves consistently across thousands of locations.

3. Real‑time data flows

Retailers can’t afford batch thinking anymore. AI, forecasting, personalisation and operational decision‑making all depend on data moving instantly and reliably.

4. Secure, distributed environments

Retail networks span thousands of locations, partners, devices and users. Security can’t be bolted on it must be embedded. This is where Kerv’s Secure Foundations offering becomes critical. We help retailers build a security posture that is:

• Zero‑trust aligned
• Identity‑driven
• Automated
• Embedded into every layer of the architecture

Not a perimeter. A fabric.

5. Rapid change and rollout

New store formats. New digital experiences. New applications. New AI capabilities. The network must support continuous evolution; and not slow it down.

Every one of those experiences depends on the network connecting people and devices, and that’s where the power of kerv comes together adopting that technology faster without hindering them.

Insider Tip: Incremental Upgrades Don’t Work Anymore

For years, retailers tried to modernise their networks in small, tactical bursts a new circuit here, a refreshed router there, a pilot SD‑WAN rollout in one region. It kept things running, but it never changed the experience. And Gartner is clear about why: misaligned platform strategies create operational inefficiencies and technical friction. In other words, incremental upgrades can’t fix structural problems.

Modern retail now demands something fundamentally different a cohesive, cloud‑aligned, workload‑centric architecture that behaves consistently across every store, every region and every partner touchpoint. That means:

• Consistent architectures that eliminate regional variability
• Cloud‑aligned patterns that reflect how retail actually operates today
• API‑driven integration that supports unified commerce
• Secure, automated operations that scale without adding headcount
• Workload‑centric placement to optimise performance, cost and resilience
• Governance that spans I&O, cloud, apps and data so decisions aren’t made in silos

This is where SD‑WAN, SASE and cloud networking stop being “network projects” and become the connective tissue of the entire retail ecosystem creating a unified fabric that behaves predictably, scales easily and supports the pace of modern retail.

And when retailers finally make that shift, the outcomes are immediate and measurable. We’ve helped retailers successfully deliver:

• Incident volumes drop within weeks because the architecture is finally consistent
• Store deployments accelerate from months to days thanks to standardisation
• Cloud performance improves without touching the cloud simply because the network stops throttling it
• Data quality increase because real‑time flows are no longer disrupted by legacy bottlenecks
• Security posture strengthens without slowing the business, through identity‑driven, zero‑trust‑aligned controls
• Innovation land cleanly instead of causing operational chaos

We describe this as the move from infrastructure to platforms where the network stops being a bottleneck and becomes the enabler of digital business. In practice, it’s the moment retailers stop firefighting and start accelerating.

How can CIOs orchestrate this?

CIOs in retail are now responsible for an ecosystem, not an IT estate. Gartner’s recent research shows that CIOs who intentionally influence cross‑domain collaboration see significantly higher proficiency across the organisation.

The CIOs I support focus on:

• Standardising platforms
• Reducing technical debt
• Increasing automation
• Building governance for distributed, data‑driven operations
• Shaping operating models that can absorb continuous change

This is multidisciplinary, product‑led work. And it only succeeds when the foundations are stable.

How Kerv Helps Retailers Move with Confidence

When we work with retailers, we don’t start with the tech. We start with the reality of your estate the complexity, the legacy decisions, the pressure to keep stores trading and the ambition to move faster without breaking anything. Most large retail environments have grown organically over years of expansion and tactical fixes. None of that is wrong; it just means the foundations now need to catch up with where the business wants to go.

Our role is to simplify that complexity and build an environment where new capabilities AI, automation, unified commerce can land cleanly and scale reliably. Yes, we deliver SD‑WAN, SASE, cloud networking, edge compute and secure connectivity across some of the UK’s biggest retail estates. But the real value is in how we help you operate differently.

We design architectures that reflect the realities of retail: high volumes, distributed locations, unpredictable demand and the need for real‑time insight. We help you build operating models that can absorb continuous change. We put governance in place, so decisions aren’t made in silos. And we modernise without destabilising day‑to‑day operations because in retail, there is no downtime.

All of this sits under our Secure Foundations, an approach to creating environments that are resilient, scalable and secure by design.

It brings together identity‑driven, zero‑trust security with intentional, cloud‑ready architecture (including our Secure Connected Cloud approach) so your estate behaves like a coherent platform, not a collection of legacy decisions. It’s not a perimeter; it’s a fabric one that protects a distributed retail environment without slowing it down and gives you confidence that the foundations will hold as the business accelerates.

The Path Forward

Retailers investing in these foundations today are setting themselves up for the next decade one defined by real‑time decision‑making, agentic AI, automation and unified commerce. And Gartner is clear: modernisation isn’t a project; it’s a continuous evolution of the digital foundation.

At Kerv, we help retailers modernise with confidence bringing clarity to the architecture, discipline to the execution and momentum to the change. If you haven’t read the first blog in this series yet, it’s worth going back; it sets the context for why this foundation work matters so much.