Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - Understanding the measurable value of the cloud (GDS103)

Summary

Pranav Bhushan, the global leader of cloud economics at AWS, discusses the importance of identifying the right KPIs for assessing the value of cloud migration.
The talk emphasizes that cost savings are only a small part of the value derived from cloud migration, with only 5% attributed to IT hardware cost reduction.
Customers reported that 30% of the value came from staff productivity, 15% from operational resilience, and a significant 55% from business agility.
IDC was hired to measure customer value from the cloud, revealing the four categories of value.
AWS commissioned a benchmarking survey to gather data on KPIs from 2000 customers, which showed the benefits of pre and post-migration.
Real-world examples from PBS, Netflix, and Salesforce were shared, highlighting the benefits of using AWS services like Amazon Personalize and AWS regions.
Eric Satri from AWS Cloud Economics and Sridhar Ayala from Adobe shared insights on creating ROI analyses and business cases for migrations.
The importance of considering economic value beyond cost, such as agility, staff productivity, and operational resilience, was stressed.
Adobe's decision to migrate GPU workloads to AWS was used as a case study, demonstrating the application of AWS's cloud economics framework and the benefits of focusing on core competencies and time to market.
The session concluded with a call to action to think beyond cost when evaluating cloud migration and to utilize AWS benchmarks and white papers for guidance.

The traditional focus on IT hardware cost reduction is insufficient for capturing the full value of cloud migration. Businesses should consider broader KPIs that reflect operational improvements and strategic advantages.
Business agility, which includes the ability to launch products faster and penetrate new markets, constitutes the majority of the value derived from cloud migration, according to AWS customers.
Real-world examples from industry leaders like PBS, Netflix, and Salesforce illustrate the tangible benefits of AWS services in improving customer engagement, reducing errors, and accelerating market entry.
Adobe's case study reveals the importance of a comprehensive approach to evaluating cloud migration, considering factors such as core competencies, time to market, and the ability to scale with growth.
The session highlights the need for flexible frameworks that can be customized to different use cases and the importance of building muscle memory for creating business cases as technology evolves.
AWS provides benchmarks and white papers as resources for customers to make informed decisions about cloud migration, emphasizing the role of AWS's Cloud Economics team in assisting with these analyses.