The third of the big hyperscaler events is kicking off at the end of this month. Google Cloud Next ‘20 took place from July to September. Then we had Microsoft’s Ignite in October. Now, last but not least, it’s Amazon’s turn. AWS re:Invent runs for three weeks starting November 30.
Telco technical teams should absolutely make time to go to these events. Just as you make time for the big telco industry events, these hyperscaler conferences will inform you of the new technology that’s coming your way, and everything you need to know about it. Every year, AWS announces a ton of new services, functionalities, partners, products launches – and there are always a few surprises in there.
In 2019, for instance, there were 75 launches and announcements of services and major features. Include the number of announcements in the run-up to the show, and I’ll bet this number is even higher.
I know a new event, new cloud environment, and massive conference agenda can be daunting and difficult to navigate. The agenda is pretty packed. But thankfully re:Invent has done a good job spreading the content out, making it much better to consume (something that anyone who attended Google Cloud Next onAir event will appreciate!) The content at that show was great, but it was too much.
So, for AWS re:Invent, I’ve created a guide for telco people with my recommendations on what talks you should check out! I’ve picked out a selection of must-attend sessions for anyone from any telco organization.
Register now, tune in for free and learn all about AWS!
This is a weird start and I don’t know what it is; airing at 8 pm Seattle time. Maybe something fun? Maybe something lame. I guess tune in to find out.
Session time:
Monday, November 30, 8-9:10pm PST
Tuesday, December 1, 4-5:10am GMT
Tuesday, December 1, 12-1:10pm SGT
It’s probably a good idea to tune in to hear one of the most important people in cloud deliver his keynote speech. Listen to AWS CEO Andy Jassy give a good run down of what AWS wants execs to listen to.
Session time:
Tuesday, December 1, 8-11am PST
Tuesday, December 1, 4-7pm GMT
Wednesday, December 2, 12-3am SGT
Moving business applications to the cloud is going to be a big part of your future. Watch AWS’ Larry Augustin talk about business applications and listen for which ones you can use to replace millions of lines of source code in your applications. If you go to only one session during the whole event, pick this.
Session time:
Tuesday, December 1, 11:15-12:15pm PST
Tuesday, December 1, 7:15-8:15pm GMT
Wednesday, December 2, 3:15-4:15am SGT
The global cloud storage market is set to grow from $50.1 billion in 2020 to $137.3 billion in just five years’ time. This will be driven by the growing data volumes across enterprises, the rising need for organizations to provide remote workforces with access to data, and the cost-saving and low TCO benefits of cloud storage solutions. It can save you a ton, but it can also be expensive. Learn from the VP of AWS Storage about the different strategies and options that’ll be key to cost management.
Session time:
Tuesday, December 1, 12:30-1:30pm PST
Tuesday, December 1, 8:30-9:30pm GMT
Wednesday, December 2, 4:30-5:30am SGT
Another session hosted by Tomsen Bokovec. A move to the cloud is not just a technological shift – it’s going to be a cultural shift in your organization, too.
Need help? Check out my blog on Jim Abolt’s framework for change.
Session time:
Wednesday, December 2, 8-9am PST
Wednesday, December 2, 4-5pm GMT
Thursday, December 3, 12-1am SGT
Bice is responsible for more than 15 fully managed, purpose-built database services, including Aurora and DynamoDB. After business applications, this is the second most important session you should tune in for. Again, it’s down to saving (even more!) money. You can save a ton of money in this area and you need to learn about how to make the most of the new cloud databases. Telcos want to know how to reduce TCO, and to date, it’s been really hard to get around the database problem. It’s time to get off the Oracle chain gang and move into cloud databases.
Session time:
Wednesday, December 2, 9:15-10:15am PST
Wednesday, December 2, 5:15-6:15pm GMT
Thursday, December 3, 1:15-2:15am SGT
The communications industry is changing rapidly. In this session, you hear how Vodafone Germany has collaborated with AWS and Amdocs and has embarked on an end-to-end transformational journey to accelerate business in the digital economy.
Session times:
Tuesday, December 8, 7:30 – 8:00am PST
Tuesday, December 8, 3:30 – 4:00pm GMT
Tuesday, December 8, 11:30pm – 12:00am SGT
In this session, Telefónica will talk about leveraging the benefits of the AWS edge cloud for critical network workloads, namely the Telefónica 5G Core (5GC) network. Telefónica Germany is deploying Ericsson’s cloud-native 5GC for private networks on AWS, and a major German automotive manufacturer is a pilot customer for a proof of concept (involving Telefónica, Ericsson, and AWS) on industrial use cases enabled by standalone 5G and powered by AWS Outposts.
Session times:
Tuesday, December 8, 10:00 – 10:30am PST
Tuesday, December 8, 6:00 – 6:30pm GMT
Wednesday, December 9, 2:00 – 2:30pm SGT
Security is one of the issues I hear about time and time again from the telco public cloud resistance. But you can’t compete with the amounts that AWS spends on security – so why would you risk security of your company and customers’ data by not moving to the public cloud? Spend the hour and you’ll walk away fully impressed with AWS and maybe a little bit sad about how your security in your datacenters doesn’t compare.
Session times:
Tuesday, December 8, 10:15-11:15am PST
Tuesday, December 8, 6:15-7:15pm GMT
Wednesday, December 9, 2:15-3:15am SGT
As the United Kingdom has an ever-increasing demand on its network infrastructure, it’s critical for Openreach (BT Group) to deliver world-class service by redesigning and applying new data analytics and processes to a traditional manual workforce. In this session, discover how Openreach built a data lake platform leveraging AWS Glue, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon EMR to leverage insights from seven years of historical data. Learn how 150 agents in its Service Delivery Contact Centre can now enhance the customer experience and improve customer satisfaction through the use of AI/ML. Finally, hear how Openreach is able to make better decisions across key processes, systems, networks, and its people.
Session times:
Wednesday, December 9, 7:30 – 8:00am PST
Wednesday, December 9, 3:30 – 4:00pm GMT
Wednesday, December 9, 11:30pm – 12:00am SGT
Global video provider BlueJeans (a Verizon company) supports employees working from home, healthcare providers shifting to telehealth, and educators moving to distance learning. With so many people now working from home, BlueJeans saw explosive growth in traffic since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In just two weeks, its usage skyrocketed 300% over the pre-COVID-19 average. This session covers BlueJeans’ journey with AWS and the architecture that was required to scale its operations while saving costs during the pandemic.
Session times:
Wednesday, December 9, 7:30 – 8:00am PST
Wednesday, December 9, 3:30 – 4:00pm GMT
Wednesday, December 9, 11:30pm – 12:00am SGT
This isn’t telco-specific and is geared instead toward all the verticals, but it’s the only one in the whole conference geared towards industry. I’ll be honest, GCP did a better job with a telco track than AWS, maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised? It’ll be presented by Sandy Carter, VP of AWS Global Public Sector Partners and Programs, someone with a strong track record in leveraging the public cloud to drive growth and help modernize organizations. Give it a go.
Session time:
Wednesday, December 9, 8-9am PST
Wednesday, December 9, 4-5pm GMT
Thursday, December 10, 12-1am SGT
Move analytics to the public cloud and you could enjoy 70% TCO savings, plus get faster insights and deliver better customer experiences. I’d prepare for this talk by watching the Google Cloud Next London talk given by head of data at Vodafone, Simon Harris, where he talks about how Vodafone evaluated the 3 BFCs and ended up with GCP for its big Neuron project. Watch that talk, then come listen to Pathak’s talk to compare how AWS does analytics.
Session time:
Wednesday, December 9, 9:15-10:15am PST
Wednesday, December 9, 5:15-6:15pm GMT
Thursday, December 10, 1:15-2:15am SGT
Here’s me hoping that you see the management tools and governance goodies and you switch just for the screens. I mean, who doesn’t love a bunch of sexy NOC screens? Sign me up.
Session time:
Tuesday, December 15, 11-12pm PST
Tuesday, December 15, 7-8pm GMT
Wednesday, December 16, 3-4am SGT
Last but definitely not least – make sure you round off your three weeks of re:Invent by tuning into this session. Rudy was one of the pioneers of the AWS business: he helped establish Amazon’s cloud computing arm, and founded its Sales and Business Development function in 2005. Learn how to design to optimize for AWS and public cloud computing. After three weeks you should be raring to go!
Session time:
Wednesday, December 16, 9:15-10:15am PST
Wednesday, December 16, 5:15-6:15pm GMT
Thursday, December 17, 1:15-2:15am SGT
Shoot me some tweets on Twitter @TelcoDR and let me know what you think and enjoy!
-dr
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