Infosys gets cloudy with both Azure and AWS
- Summary:
- Infosys is making big moves in the cloud. Here's what's going on as it relates to both Azure and AWS
It's important to note that support for both AWS and Azure within one company is becoming increasingly common. There are many circumstances in which there will be an either/or choice for customers and many where one will be the more obvious choice. For example, quick test environments might well go to AWS while customers that are deeply committed to Microsoft will see Azure as a natural choice. Either way, vendors like Infosys will help customers make the right decision. So what about Infosys specifically?
I was surprised to learn (my bad) that Infosys has been one of Microsoft's largest and longest serving partners for many years and so for Infosys, supporting Azure is a natural extension of what they already do. But there are important differentiators between the offerings. This from a conversation I had with Colin Pinto, AVP, Global Alliance Manager - Microsoft at Infosys:
Microsoft Azure
There are two main differentiators. One is the [Microsoft] Cortana analytic suite, which is a development platform. There's a stack that they have built which is Azure ML and Power BI and it works quite nicely. The second aspect is on platform as a service, rather than Amazon which has pretty much an infrastructure as a service play, which also now is what Microsoft provides, but the platform as a service is much lower cost to customers as well as deeper capabilities for integration.
OK - so that's the horizontal argument but what about verticals? Here, Pinto cited healthcare, retail and manufacturing, noting that it is early adopters who are looking to see where cloud technologies can help achieve good ROI. In healthcare for example, Infosys is helping teams get access to analytics data on patient health in real time. Referring to the mix of solutions Infosys is seeing in the market, Pinto cited the energy sector where:
We have a few clients that we are actively working with where the knowledge of the application itself also is very critical. So while the infrastructure and the cloud understanding is important, the application knowledge is deeply interesting and important for understanding how migrations and optimizations and business process improvements can happen.
Listening to the various examples, it is clear to me that Infosys sees Azure as much more than infrastructure but as a platform upon which products can be built and taken to market. To that extent, Pinto suggests a bright future:
We see a variety of opportunities that will benefit clients so you will see us launch new products as well as taking existing products to the cloud while also continuing to offer clients roadmaps for getting to the cloud in specific use cases.
Amazon Web Services
So far, so good. But where does AWS sit? To better understand this part of the puzzle, I spoke with Moses Mathuram, AVP, Global Alliances Infosys. He was quick to point out that the customer executives he speaks with need assurance that the public cloud as represented by AWS is the right choice:
We have been engaging very closely with multiple stakeholders within our customers, starting right from the CIOs, then it goes through the line of business and then engage multiple CFOs as well about the value of working with AWS. I think that our announcement of AWS support goes a long way towards that because you know we have to work from a position of trust.
That tactic seems to be working. Mathuram referenced customers who are moving substantial enterprise workloads to the cloud. He also talked about using Amazon Redshift as the basis for analytics alongside encouraging customers to work with Infosys Information Platform (IIP) in the cloud.
We have worked with them more closely around areas such as using our own IIP in the public cloud. IIP is already available on AWS-3, so in case a customer wants to check it out, they can just go to Amazon Web Services, they can go the marketplace and do a test drive. At the same time, we're trying to see how we can leverage AWS services for some more of our advanced deployments, such as analytics. Recently, we've been having multiple workshops and we are on the verge of creating a few assets which will be Infosys' own IP. That is essentially leveraging AWS Redshift and AWS Lambda offerings. There's a lot going on!
But simply lifting and shifting to the public cloud only provides limited value in my experience so what else is Infosys doing that would encourage customers to consider the public cloud? The answer is not surprising when you bear in mind the many strands to Infosys business:
Here's a thing. Infosys is working with our customers to do workload assessments with the idea of rationalization. We are seeing which applications can be retired without any impact, which applications can be moved away from legacy, including mainframes, onto some other platform where that makes sense. It could mean moving to new operating systems but the goal is always the same. Drive value back to the customer through multiple opportunities. But that's not the endgame. We see exciting opportunities in seeing how customers can leverage the power of the Internet to build new business lines, to build new routes to business. AWS has a big part to play in that thinking. Obviously, this would have not been possible if we didn't have a broad set of different service lines.
It is clear that while many might view a shift to AWS and/or Azure through the eye of a single cost lens, Infosys is taking a much more expansive approach that includes catalyzing change, improving software landscapes and helping to discover and create new business approaches.
Both Pinto and Mathuram agree that it is early days, relatively speaking, but both see an acceleration in activity and engagements that will lead to cloud deployments. The last word goes to Mathuram:
Five years ago we would have been having many discussions around security and so on with a lot of caution on the part of clients. Today, we have CIOs in large clients who are telling us they are mandated to go 100% cloud. Some of them are using AWS, Azure and other things but they are moving there. In the end it is all about value not just cost and that's the thing where I think we are very well positioned to help.
My take
The BPO providers of which Infosys is one know that lift and shift is done as a growth engine and that today's CIO is looking for value over cost reduction.
We have said many times that cloud deployments provide opportunities to rethink business and while we may at times argue whether we should be considering public, private or hybrid, it is good to see Infosys using its experience and breadth of coverage to help customers find the right balance while providing the roadmaps to not only "get from here to there" but also to look well beyond the here and now. Regardless of the platform they choose to use. That is both sensible and a win-win.
When you understand that, then perceptions change.