Vodafone Idea’s universal cloud

Vodafone Idea’s universal cloud earns it Red Hat award

by | May 25, 2020 | Technology, Telecom

The telco’s universal cloud deployment over an 18-month long period has helped it handle vagaries of data traffic like a breeze.
Share to lead the transformation

An old proverb is that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. In the challenging times of Covid-19, it applies well to the telecom sector at large and Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) in particular. The latest feather in VIL’s cap happens to be the ‘Innovator of the Year’ title. It’s a well-earned accolade that has its roots in Vodafone Idea’s universal cloud deployment announced on 21 October 2019 in a Red Hat release. (The actual work is understood to have started much earlier.)

Vodafone Idea Limited claimed the top honors at the Red Hat Summit 2020, for orchestrating the vision of a single, universal cloud into reality. The telco now owns the largest cloud deployment of its kind in India, linking its IT, network, and third-party applications using open source infrastructure.

The initiative

This cloud initiative, which VIL had kickstarted around 18 months ago, had started bearing fruits even before the pandemic had hit the scene. It had helped VIL transform its network infrastructure by a great measure and made it highly scalable and agile. The pandemic merely tested its limits.

When it did, VIL’s network seems to have responded quite impressively. Not only was it able to accommodate a multifold rise in traffic but also managed to handle the overnight shift in demographic patterns.

It is a known fact that after the pandemic-induced lockdowns, a majority of enterprises rushed to enable their employees to work from home. This amounted to near-zero traffic demand originating from the business clusters while a massive surge in demand happened from residential areas.

Moreover, as communication and entertainment became the lifeline for netizens during lockdowns, VIL’s network experienced a year’s worth of traffic growth within a week of lockdown. With the cloudifaction carried out over the past several months, the telco was able to scale up elegantly enough.

Not surprisingly, the company’s stock rose 86% between 1 April and 20 May, from Rs 3.04 to Rs 5.65 a share. On the day of writing this analysis, the stock traded had last traded at Rs 5.53 a share on the BSE.

The build-up

Vishant Vora

Vishant Vora: Driving cloud transformation

Vodafone Idea says it took on the challenge of transforming its network to make it future ready and building a ‘Universal Network Cloud’ that is workload agnostic from core to edge. The cloud enables Vodafone Idea to better serve its more than 300 million subscribers by simplifying and transforming its IT and telecom network operations. The new platform is deployed across many distributed Vodafone Idea cloud microsites across India, as well as its central IT operations.

Vodafone Idea’s universal cloud initiative was to rapidly transform the 100-plus data centers of the erstwhile Vodafone and Idea entities, through a shared software platform. The Red Hat OpenStack Platform was used to design efficient ‘pods,’ which could be geographically distributed and taken closer to the end- users, helping to reduce latency and enable an optimal user experience.

Better World sees these ‘pods’ as akin to microservices that leverage containerization techniques and could be orchestrated using the open-source Kubernetes container-management system.

Recognition a shot in the arm?

Vodafone Idea considers the Red Hat award to be a recognition of its early adoption of emerging technologies for enterprise and retail customers. The cloud deployment has helped the telco in reducing latency in carrying multiple workloads and optimizing costs.

VIL is now also gung-ho about its future potential, especially with regard to next-generation services like internet of things (IoT) and blockchain.

Vishant Vora, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Idea said, “A distributed universal cloud centrally orchestrated is an ambitious project for us, representing a vision for the telco future where “pods” could be geographically distributed across the country. Our vision is to build a universal cloud that will not only carry the traditional telco workloads but also carry IT and enterprise offerings for our customers. This will also position VIL very well for the nextGen services like IoT, Blockchain etc. These capabilities need to be accommodated with a versatile and scalable platform offering flexibility and control as an organization. We are extremely proud of receiving this prestigious award.”

Chris Wright, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Red Hat, noted, “We want to extend congratulations to Vodafone Idea Limited for receiving the 2020 Red Hat Innovator of the Year award. Vodafone Idea’s journey in building a Universal Cloud, hosting both Network and IT workloads, based on open standards, is truly impressive. By adopting Red Hat OpenStack Platform, Vodafone Idea Limited and its customers can more quickly adapt to changing market conditions. We are proud to be working with Vodafone Idea Limited on this shared vision and we look forward to continuing our work with them as they look to build out additional offerings on this flexible platform.”

As part of Red Hat Innovation Awards each year, a panel of industry expert judges select the top five winning projects from a pool of global nominations. These five projects are selected based on the set of criteria for outstanding and innovative usage of Red Hat solutions. From the five winners, the Red Hat Innovator of the Year is selected by the community through online voting.

MORE FROM BETTER WORLD

Digital transformation deals put IT sector back on track

Digital transformation deals put IT sector back on track

Buoyed by a rapid acceleration in digital transformation service deals, the Indian IT industry is back on the growth track, leaving behind the pandemic’s impact. In its strategic review 2021, titled ‘New World: The Future is Virtual,’ Nasscom estimated the IT industry to clock revenue of $194 billion in FY21, up from $190 billion a year back, registering a growth rate of 2.3% year-on-year. While the numbers may still be well-short of pre-pandemic 6-7% growth levels, Nasscom projections are really encouraging for one of the major industries in India.

The Indian IT industry is also likely to add over 138,000 new hires during the FY2020-21, taking the total employee base to 4.47 million. Much of this new workforce is expected to support the new-age technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, cloud analytics, automation, DevOps among others.

According to the Nasscom review, the indigenous domestic market, driven by hardware-led demand, continued to show resilience, growing at 3.4% in the year.

“As we look at 2021, while there are positives on the vaccination front and accelerated digitization across verticals, the technology industry in India is well geared to build on these trends and continue its transformation journey in this re-defined techad,” said Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM.

The Indian IT industry is benefitting from the strong demand for digital transformation technology deals from Europe and Asia-Pacific (APAC). Sectors such as BFSI and healthcare are likely to continue to invest significantly in digital transformational technologies in the year ahead. (See: TCS finds its new growth mojo in DX)

A quantum leap for DX initiatives

Nasscom’s assessment is not surprising since the Indian IT industry has shown remarkable resilience in the last year and played a pivotal role in accelerating economic growth, enabling businesses to overcome supply and demand disruptions through digital transformation.

The disruption caused by the pandemic was terrifying for many enterprises as they were inexperienced in managing an upheaval of such magnitude. The crisis left them no option but to fast-track their digital transformation (DX) plans to meet the evolving market needs, interact with customers and employees. The immediate focus was to deploy technology solutions to enable the remote working for their workforce and increase business resiliency.

Indian IT services majors are also making continuous efforts to build new digital transformation capabilities in India and enhancing their focus on delivering more thoughtful, practical solutions to construct agile, integrated, simplified, and customized environments for their customers. This trend is likely to create further opportunities for IT firms to accelerate digital transformation deals in India and beyond through strategic mergers and acquisitions. Notably, in 2020 alone, the industry witnessed 146 M&A deals, 90% of which were digitally focused.

“Digital transformation is the topmost priority for global corporations, and in a highly connected world that will remain largely contactless for an extended period, there are shifts in business models, customer experience, operations, and employee experience. Our CEO survey for 2021 indicates that almost 70% of companies expect investment in global technology higher than the previous year. In this hyper-digital economy, trust with the four cornerstones of competence, reliability, integrity, and empathy will be the single-most-important currency, leading the industry growth towards a better normal,” says UB Pravin Rao, Chairman, NASSCOM in a media and analyst release.

Long-term impact

The impact of the crisis is going to be experienced for a long time. While the rapid vaccination program might pacify the COVID-19 effect by the end of 2021, the enterprise tech leaders in India will continue to rely on the cloud and AI-based contactless technologies to open their physical offices cautiously. (See: CIOs’ digital transformation focus accelerates recovery for IT firms)

Digital transformation in India and the global market will continue to see a significant focus in the year ahead as companies look to accelerate growth, innovate and compete at pre-Covid levels.

AI and ML adoption transforming recruitment workflows

AI and ML adoption transforming recruitment workflows

Megha Talpade (name changed), the talent acquisition leader of a leading organized retailer, is in a state of a quandary these days. Just like many other retailers, her company also faced hardships due to the pandemic that caused the shutdown of malls and shops for several months last year. However, as things are getting back to normal, Talpade has been assigned by the leadership to formulate a recruitment plan to expand the operations and sales team. As we continue through 2021, talent acquisition leaders like Talpade have no other option but to explore transforming the recruitment process through technologies such as AI and Blockchain to source the best talent in a cost-efficient way

What could have been a routine hiring exercise before the pandemic has suddenly looked like running a marathon! With the need for social distancing and safety likely to remain the top priority even in the waning pandemic scenario, shortlisting candidates through heaps of data and onboarding hundreds of new employees through traditional processes look like an inconceivable approach for talent heads. (See: How will AI impact enterprise ecosystems in 2021?)

Reimagining hiring experience through AI

AI is fast emerging as a top technology to transform the future of recruitment. AI-based screening tools empower companies to validate a specific number of criteria before sending the hiring managers’ selected profiles. Since the applications for a job have increased multifold after the pandemic triggered slowdown, it is no longer possible for companies to take the conventional route to shortlist candidates without a resume analysis tool.

Many companies are now looking forward to using AI to transform their recruitment processes and meet their hiring goals.

For instance, Vodafone started using AI to recruit call-center and sales staff in 2017 and has been pleased with the results. Similarly, Cathay Pacific, one of the world’s leading airlines, utilized AI-based platforms to reduce the hiring time for customer service and flight attendant roles from 3 months to 2-3 weeks.

By integrating AI-based analytical tools, talent acquisition teams can focus on the best candidates that match their core profile requirements. The algorithmic process can also scan candidates’ online behaviors by screening their publicly available comments and social media profiles and list the candidates as the top choice, recommended and not recommended at all.

AI tools can also analyze candidates’ facial movements, body language, and verbal skills through real-time AI scanning programs.

According to the 2019 State of Artificial Intelligence in Talent Acquisition report by Oracle, About 73% of organizations expect AI to increase recruitment speed, and 53% expect it to boost the overall productivity of the recruitment function. By 2022, the percentage is likely to go even higher.

In addition to screen the candidates, AI-based tools are also effective for conducting remote interviews through conversational chatbots or robots. Interactive chatbots can help businesses resolve candidates’ queries promptly and guide them with the onboarding and re-boarding process.

Credential verification through Blockchain

Blockchain technology enables hiring managers to access the complete and accurate employment history of a potential candidate. Leveraging its digital recordkeeping capability, Blockchain validates the CV of the jobseeker and removes any possibility of the candidate hiding an undesirable history. 

This means applicants cannot hide their professional historical data and credentials. It will give employers a better insight into their candidates’ natural strengths and weaknesses and assess them better for a given role.

The future will see a massive role of technology in recruitment cycles. Most of these technologies are governed by business logic, making it possible for enterprises to structure the patterns per specific inputs and solve many critical leadership hiring problems. While still at a nascent stage, 2021 is expected to see new use cases of Blockchain and likely play a key role to transform the recruitment processes.

Accelerating skills evaluation by leveraging AR and VR

These immersive technologies that were earlier restricted to the gaming industry can deliver substantial value in the new age recruitment process. By leveraging the advantage of AR and VR, companies can evaluate a candidate in an actual set-up, showcase their brand effectively and test the ability of a candidate to manage complex situations and analyze their resilience levels.

AR and VR can also make the entire recruitment cycle more engaging and exciting. For instance, Siemens was one of the first companies that started using AR and VR for driving recruitment almost a decade back. In 2011, the company had launched Plantville, an online gaming platform that simulates the experience of being a plant manager. Potential hires were given the challenge of maintaining a plant’s operation while strengthening the productivity, efficiency, sustainability, and overall facility health.

Since its launch, the game has helped Siemens build brand awareness, engage thousands of customers, and recruit several engineers.

While all these technologies hold great potential and are expected to play a pivotal role in mechanizing the top talent search and transforming the HR practices, they are yet to overcome obstacles like bias fully to make it wholly reliable. For instance, about three years ago, Amazon removed a secret AI recruiting tool from its hiring process that started to display prejudice against women candidates. For an enterprise looking at transforming its HR and recruitment practices, the best way is to identify your actual needs and partner with the right technology partner to harness the technology and increase the scope of hiring.

In adopting technologies like AI and Blockchain for talent acquisition, Talpade seems to have certainly taken note of this!

Tech Mahindra earns place in Forbes Blockchain 50

Tech Mahindra earns place in Forbes Blockchain 50

Digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services and solutions provider Tech Mahindra has been featured in the 2021 Forbes Blockchain 50 companies list, a coveted global listing of pioneering companies, startups, and influencers in the distributed ledgers space. Tech Mahindra announced that it has been recognized for its transformative and innovative platform-based approach in Blockchain implementations for global clients. Its implementation of enabling 500 million mobile phone customers in India to manage their consent and preferences to avoid spam calls and text messages, was specifically highlighted. (See: Tech Mahindra gets new blockchain accreditation)

In 2019, Tech Mahindra introduced a Blockchain-based solution using Hyperledger, to manage unsolicited commercial calls (or “spam” calls) in compliance with the regulations and guidelines of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Forbes recognized this project as unique in its scale as it remains one of the largest live ledger implementations in the world to date. In its analysis for Blockchain 50 2021, Forbes highlights that this recognition is an illustration of the trend of globalization of blockchain technology and its incipient rise in Asia, in particular.

 “We are delighted to be recognized by Forbes as one of the leading blockchain organizations of the world. Tech Mahindra is leveraging Blockchain to solve tough business problems and create a completely differentiated experience for end-users through a combination of best-in-class platforms, product innovation, and deep domain expertise. It is indeed a matter of great pride that we are the only Indian company and only IT and digital services consulting company to feature in the coveted list,” said Rajesh Dhuddu, Practice Leader in Blockchain and Cybersecurity, Tech Mahindra in an official release.

Tech Mahindra has been focusing extensively on Blockchain technology and testing its capabilities across a wide range of business verticals.

 The USD, 5.2 billion organization with around 122000 employees across 90 countries, Tech Mahindra, provides a holistic framework called ‘Block Ecosystem’ comprised of various levers: Block Studio, Block Engage, Block Talk, Block Geeks, Block Accelerate, Block Access, and Block Value, which can be used to create applications that unlock significant value for clients. 

For more details on the Forbes 50 Blockchain list and accompanying commentary, click here and here.

Three key drivers that will shape cloud ecosystems in 2021

Three key drivers that will shape cloud ecosystems in 2021

2020 was one of the most challenging years in recorded history. With many paradigm-shifting developments, the year upended the lives of almost every person on this planet. Amidst the changing times that even left many soothsayers speechless, technologies such as the cloud emerged as a silver lining and enabled businesses and economies to adapt to the new normal and survive.

Cloud, which is the pillar of the data-intensive tech ecosystem, played a pivotal role during the pandemic to navigate the change, enabling enterprises to build effective supply chains and setting-up robust remote working environments for their expanded workforce. It empowered businesses to deliver essential services during the lockdown and successfully proved the possibility of creating a more sustainable world.

In 2021, cloud computing is expected to make an even more profound impact as most businesses would focus their strategies to recover from the pandemic. Let’s look at some of the key cloud computing requirements that will impact organizations’ tech ecosystems in 2021. (See: A case for cloud-enabled COVID-19 sensors and loggers)

1. Focus on new use cases

In 2021, cloud computing is expected to make even deeper inroads into organizations as most businesses would focus on building strategies to recover from the pandemic. In general, companies are likely to increase their dedicated IT spending to the cloud, opening the market for more innovations and new growth models.

Most importantly, with technologies like 5G around the corner, cloud service providers will have a massive role in developing new use cases using complementary technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation.

The battle of supremacy between top cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Alibaba is likely to become more intense in the year ahead.

Top cloud platforms — especially Amazon Web Service, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud — are expected to gain from this amplified focus. While AWS is likely to retain its supremacy, Microsoft, Google and Alibaba will continue to take aggressive steps to close the gap. To cater to the low-latency and high-redundancy capabilities required by several of these new applications, cloud service providers will look forward to adding intelligent edge capabilities in their solutions.

2. Hybrid and multi-cloud strategies to take center stage

As enterprises become more mature to understand the benefits of a strong cloud ecosystem, they also become more aware of adopting the multi-cloud approach to avoid the unnecessary risk of getting locked into certain vendors. And this cloud computing trend is likely to make a substantial impact in organizational tech ecosystems in 2021.

Kunwar Singh, Lead, Cloud Offerings portfolio across Microsoft Applications and Infrastructure Services, HCL, noted in an HCL blog post, “The hybrid cloud environment provides an essential blanket of security for mission-critical workloads, elasticity for delivery, and high performance to match the ever-growing need for constant innovation. To summarize, today, more than ever, hybrid cloud is an essential partner to businesses, as companies reposition themselves to maintain productivity, creating an efficient mobile workforce and staying poised to handle adversity.”

It is expected that organizations that plan to take a hybrid cloud route will focus on building an intelligent operative ecosystem to govern varied processes effectively.

3. More emphasis on governance and security

CIOs and technology leaders will continue to put more emphasis on deploying services without worrying about infrastructure overheads. Considering the continuous expansion of the distributed workforce, the industry will also focus on developing services and applications around network security, compliance, and privacy to secure sensitive data across the cloud ecosystem.

“For control, privacy, and regulatory concerns, private cloud has been leveraged to a greater degree as compared to public cloud services. From now on, the demand for public cloud services is also slated to rise along with a surge in private and hosted cloud models, ” says, Krishna Rao RV, Senior General Manager, IT AIG Hospitals.

While cloud security and governance will be a key focus area, it also remains one of the biggest challenges for organizations to expand their cloud programs. The industry is also battling with a massive shortage of IT Security professional talent and needs to find the best solution to resolve this issue. In the year ahead, there could be an upsurge of new talent programs and initiatives by the cloud computing providers to fortify necessary skill sets to drive further cloud adoption in enterprise tech ecosystems.

Mathan Babu Kasilingam joins Vodafone Idea as CISO

Mathan Babu Kasilingam joins Vodafone Idea as CISO

Mathan Babu Kasilingam

Indian telecom operator Vodafone Idea has appointed Mathan Babu Kasilingam as its new CISO and Data Privacy Officer. Kasilingam has joined the company in place of Amit Pradhan, who has recently quit the telecom operator to join Mandiant Consulting (Mandiant is a US-based firm that performs advanced cyber investigation, forensics, and incident response).

Kasilingam will be spearheading cybersecurity initiatives, digital security entities, data privacy compliance at Vodafone Idea in his new role. He will also have a huge responsibility to shoulder since data privacy and compliance has become a critical focus area for all the leading telcos.

This is the second technology leadership appointment that Vi has announced in the last four months. In November last year, the telco named Jagbir Singh as its new chief technology officer, following the exit of Vishant Vora. (See: Vishant Vora quits as CTO of Vodafone Idea).

Mathan Babu Kasilingam has over two decades of robust experience in the information security field. He has previously worked with companies such as the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), HDFC Bank, Symantec, Wipro Infotech, and BT Global Services in various security and data compliance domains. At NPCI, where he has worked for three years before moving to Vi, Kasilingam introduced several new initiatives and data protection practices.

Kasilingam holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar (SSN) College of Engineering and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. In his free time, Kasilingam loves playing badminton and enjoys listening to music. 

About Vodafone Idea (Vi)

Vodafone Idea Limited is a pan-India integrated GSM operator, offering 2G, 4G, 4G+, VoLTE, and VoWiFi services. With a subscriber base of 290 million, Vi is India’s third-biggest mobile telecom operator and sixth-largest globally. Vodafone’s Indian arm and Idea Cellular had merged their operations in August 2018 in a highly competitive Indian telecommunication market.

India needs a coherent industry approach for 5G success

India needs a coherent industry approach for 5G success

The last two decades have been instrumental in reshaping India’s economy. And the telecom sector has played a pivotal role in this transformation. From being voice dominated to data-centric, India’s telecom sector with over 1.17 billion connections has ensured businesses acquiring new capabilities, consumers obtaining new, exceptional services and resources. The industry is now keenly looking at the launch of 5G services to enter the next growth phase.

India’s top telecom operators have recently announced their plans to launch 5G this year. While Bharti Airtel has recently tested its live 5G network in Hyderabad using 1800 MHz spectrum, last year, Reliance Jio too had revealed its plans to launch 5G in the latter half of 2021 using standalone architecture.

There has been an upward trajectory of the learning curve, which has significantly helped the telecom sector attract global investments. Even during the COVID-19, the telecom sector, with its profound penetration of low-cost data and voice calls, kept the economy afloat and built necessary resilience. However, the 5G technology in India could realistically take at least a couple of years to make its emergence felt.  (See: Tipping point for 5G networks likely in 2023, says Report)

When introduced, 5G is likely to unleash the power of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and the internet of things (IoT) to bring an altogether new era of hyper-user experience.

Laying the foundation for 5G success

Much of the 5G’s future in India would be dependent on the Indian government’s plan to leverage it for smart city services such as automating traffic signaling, street lighting, smart parking, real-time public transport information, and nursing public infrastructure through drones.

Unlike previous wireless standards, 5G needs a well-conceived industrial strategy. Many organizations are still grappling with limited device availability, policies and regulations, overhauling security architectures, and restricted use case success to form a concrete strategy around 5G.

While the Indian telcos may have set ambitious targets to be ready for commercial 5G services by the end of this year, the leap would be challenging, especially in the consumer segment, unless there is a broader range of affordable 5G devices are available.

Besides, the telecom operators, sitting on razor-thin margins, would need cost-effective but quality gear to support the new networks. This requirement could be well-supported by several flagship schemes launched by the Indian government, such as Digital India and Make in India.

Another crucial area for the success of 5G is the efficient and more customer-centric business models for enterprises. The fabric of business processes could get a turbo boost from AI-driven IoT.

While businesses are keen to know about the potential of 5G, they need to be made aware of the specific advantages offered by 5G compared to the legacy wireless technologies such as 4G and Wi-Fi. Telcos will need to demonstrate the successful use cases driven by 5G and its applicability in the Indian market. Otherwise, there is a fear that many enterprises could only see this up-gradation as an incremental improvement, which is not the case. (See: Here’s how 5G could be a catalyst for IIoT and Industry 4.0)

Resolving the telco’s dilemma

The immediate twelve months after the launch of 5G in India will be heavily focused on managing the cost and complexity of building out 5G networks, spectrum slabs, new revenue generation methodologies, and return on investment (RoI) for telecom operators.

They will also be under tremendous pressure to reimagine themselves as digital service providers while keeping a check on their operating expenses. From a user standpoint, considering the Indian economy’s price-conscious nature, telecom companies would need to reasonably launch their products and services without losing the quality quotient.

A well-crafted strategy, investment in new tools and network modernization, and comprehensive government policies will play a crucial role in addressing several of the above issues.

Learning from the global successes

In 2021, both enterprises and telecom service providers will be focusing on maintaining network services, deploying remote network monitoring solutions, expanding internet services, and undertaking research and deployments of global delivery centers.

The Indian government is also needed to develop innovative policy solutions to find the right spectrum price for forthcoming 5G auctions. Another most desirable attribute for 5G success is the availability of end-to-end solutions. Globally, many IoT-related developments are underway in remotely operated robotic surgeries, driverless vehicles, and several other connected devices and applications. India is likely to learn from the immersive experiences of global markets.

Moreover, telecom service providers will need further to develop their app ecosystems and partnerships with OTT players to garner more subscribers and ARPUs.

5G is likely to enable the next wave of industrial transformation with automated supply chain models and orchestration. However, the CIOs would look forward to lucid 5G plans from the telecom service providers rather than the transactional deliberations to achieve substantial outcomes from AI and IoT implementations.

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