BASKING RIDGE, N.J: Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications and a provider in communications and IT solutions, today announced that it is supporting The Association for Retail Technology Standards, for fostering modern technology infrastructure to enable retailers better serve their customers.

Working with other key retail industry players, Verizon is calling for an open-standards approach to retail IT that would enable rapid integration of disparate applications and technology platforms, both internally and across vendors and partners.  As a result, retailers would be able to lower operating costs, better manage their inventory and workforces, and more effectively support multiple sales channels, said press release.

According to industry experts, retailers are increasingly realizing the importance of open-standards IT systems to power their business operations so they can interact more efficiently with vendors and suppliers. 

However, for the most part, the retail industry continues to rely on a web of proprietary technologies and applications that can be difficult and costly to integrate.

"Verizon is focused on helping retailers modernize their IT infrastructure in 2010 through an open-standards approach we are calling the Verizon Framework for Retail," said Ravi Bagal, vice president and global managing director - retail, Verizon Business. 

He added "This new approach will provide the essential IT platform to connect existing and new applications so that retailers can improve their business agility and flexibility to better serve customers."

As part of this effort, Verizon would work with a number of committees of The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), focusing on retail technology issues including service-oriented architecture, cloud computing and mobile commerce.

Additionally, Verizon has co-authored "Cloud Computing in Retail," an ARTS white paper that is being released at the National Retail Federation BIG show Jan. 9-13 at the Javits Center in New York, the release added.