Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Telco as a service: Future of digital with AWS and Vodafone (TLC202)

Summary

• Rui Frazon, a solutions architect leader working with Vodafone, and Chris Meads from Accenture, discuss Vodafone's journey to building a platform called Telco as a Service (TAS).
• Ben Conley from Vodafone could not attend but provided a video presentation.
• The talk covers Vodafone's mission to deliver customer value at sustainable speed with a world-class technology team, focusing on digital personalized experiences and reducing reliance on assisted channels.
• Vodafone's digital sales in the UK have increased significantly, with a 250% increase in throughput and numerous industry awards for customer experience.
• The technical architecture journey of Vodafone includes starting with basic cloud services, moving to microservices, managing complexity, adopting managed services, and now transitioning to event-driven architectures and Kubernetes.
• The cultural and people change is emphasized, with a shift from traditional waterfall to agile methodologies, empowerment of teams, and a focus on innovation and psychological safety.
• Vodafone's global strategy, Telco as a Service (TAS), aims to leverage the scale of the organization by reusing solutions across markets and building a global catalogue of capabilities.
• The transformation includes connecting engineering teams globally, creating a global technical career path, and changing the way Vodafone works with partners like AWS and Accenture.
• AWS and Accenture are helping with cultural transformation, training initiatives, and providing technologies like containers, microservices, and event-driven architectures to support Vodafone's journey.

Insights

• Vodafone's transformation from a traditional telco to a technology-driven company (tech co) is a significant shift in the industry, emphasizing the importance of digital channels and customer experience.
• The adoption of agile methodologies and a focus on innovation and psychological safety are key cultural changes that are driving Vodafone's success.
• Vodafone's strategy to check for existing solutions before building new ones and to build with global reuse in mind is a smart approach to leveraging the scale of a global organization.
• The partnership between Vodafone, AWS, and Accenture is a strong example of how collaboration with technology and consulting firms can accelerate digital transformation.
• The use of AWS cloud services, such as containers, microservices, and event-driven architectures, is enabling Vodafone to scale and innovate rapidly.
• The emphasis on training and upskilling, including immersion days and hackathons, shows a commitment to developing a skilled workforce that can support ongoing digital transformation.
• The global technical career path initiative indicates a forward-thinking approach to talent management and retention within the tech industry.
• The transformation of Vodafone's approach to working with partners from a vendor relationship to a partnership model reflects a broader trend in the industry towards more collaborative and integrated working relationships.