AWS: CUSTOMIZED TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS

May-June 2019

Amazon Web Services was born as the technology services arm of services arm of Amazon. Today it offers more than 190 solutions solutions to its customers and has positioned itself as the world's leading provider of technology world's leading provider of technology solutions. We approached Ricardo Rentería, director of aws in Mexico, to learn more.

Let's imagine millions of Netflix users downloading the episodes of the latest season of Club de Cuervos on a Sunday afternoon. Or millions of people looking to do their Christmas shopping on Mercado Libre during the Buen Fin. The computational capacity required to support all users and operate effectively is unimaginable. is unimaginable.

These systems were not always available to start-ups to start-ups such as these. In fact, when the Internet was born, more than four decades ago, the computer systems that were being systems that were being developed were practically inaccessible to small and medium-sized companies. Only large companies had the purchasing power to implement them.

Thirteen years ago, when the online retail giant Amazon stopped to look at its Amazon stopped to look at the ability of its technology processes to support millions of users at peak sales, it realized what a huge business opportunity it had in front of it: to move that operational excellence up and down the value chain to the entire value chain to satisfy the technological demands of its customers, from entrepreneurs to SMEs or large companies that do not have the capacity to acquire its technology. companies that do not have the capacity to acquire their own equipment and systems. equipment and systems. This is how Amazon Web Services (aws) was born.

"THE PACE OF INNOVATION IS ACCELERATED AND PROBABLY A NEED YOU HAVE TODAY CAN BE SOLVED TOMORROW".

-RICARDO RENTERÍA

Initially it was an information storage service, where customers could deposit their files securely. customers could deposit their files in a secure manner. The value proposition evolved to offer different technological different technological processes. Today it is a connected infrastructure that operates from 19 regions on a global scale and offers, through the cloud, more than 140 products and solutions, including artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain and virtual and augmented reality, applied to different needs. augmented reality, applied to different needs.

aws in Mexico

In an effort to reach more companies in Mexico, aws approached the Centro de Vinculación Tecnológica (cvt) of Caintra (Caintra). of Caintra. Ricardo Rentería, director of aws in Mexico, tells that the connection was made thanks to an Amazon partner linked to Caintra. Amazon linked to Caintra. "He told us about the He told us about the chamber, the cvt and the benefits that organizations have through it," says Rentería.

The pace of innovation in industry is so fast, according to Rentería, that SMEs are unable to keep up. Hence the importance of the cvt as a bridge between Caintra Caintra and aws members. "We are always looking to scale up, to reach more heads with this type of with this type of action models. We believe that the cvt is an ideal mechanism to reach so many associates," he says. associates," he comments.

The adventure began with working sessions in which aws presented its services from the its services, from the most basic to the most basic to the most advanced. With the premise of "always thinking the client", today the joint work between aws and cvt seeks to transmit the knowledge of the knowledge of digitalization to partners, through projects and experiences and experiences that help companies to transform themselves.

With the Smart Move forum, organized by Caintra, Amazon was able to close to 25 follow-up meetings with different partners, including organizations with more than 100 years in the market, with "very rigid and risk-averse" processes, says Rentería. in the market, with "very rigid and risk-averse" processes, says Rentería.

At the Hannover Messe 2018, where Caintra was present (through Nuevo León 4.0, a movement that seeks the digital transformation of different sectors in transformation of the different sectors in the state), aws state), aws achieved a linkage with important players in the manufacturing industry in Monterrey.

Customer experiences with aws with aws

Rentería recalls several success stories of Mexican companies that have managed to have managed to take a step forward towards their digital transformation. With the support of aws services, the Xcaret tourism group Xcaret tourism group was able to migrate the sale of photographs, which represents one of its main businesses, from an analog to a digital system, with which its clients can now download the images download images in different sizes and formats and formats, and from multiple applications and devices.

"WITH AWS IT IS POSSIBLE TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEM WITH AGILITY, FROM SUPPORTING MILLIONS OF MUSIC DOWNLOADS MUSIC DOWNLOADS TO OPERATING ALL THE LINES OF MANUFACTURING A COMPANY ON A GLOBAL SCALE"

The focus of aws is not to get companies to companies to reduce their costs or improve their processes, but to identify the needs of their to identify the needs of their customers and ensure that the actions they take are aimed at meeting them. that the measures they take are aimed at satisfying them. All thanks to the cloud. Using the Recognition system from aws, which is powered by artificial intelligence algorithms, Xcaret can also artificial intelligence algorithms, Xcaret can also analyze the sentiments of its visitors to detect opportunities and make opportunities and make decisions that optimize the experience within its parks.

Siemens is another success story. The company decided to modernize the manufacturing processes at its Monterrey plant in Monterrey, based on its own internet of things platform, and connect them to Amazon's cloud. Today, the plants are able to measure everything that happens on the production floors and make maintenance, optimization and safety recommendations. and make recommendations for maintenance, optimization and safety.

"WHEN INCORPORATING A COMPANY'S SERVICES TO THE AMAZON CLOUD, THEY INHERIT CLOUD, THEY INHERIT ALL THE SECURITY SECURITY BENEFITS THAT AWS OFFERS OFFERS TO ALL OF ITS CUSTOMERS.

For Rentería, agility, costs, security, elasticity and technological development are the main benefits of being in Amazon's cloud. technological development are the main benefits of being in the Amazon cloud. With aws it is possible to solve with the greatest agility, from supporting millions of music downloads to operating all of a company's manufacturing lines on a global scale, to processing all of a company's financial transactions on a global scale, to processing all of a company's financial transactions on a global scale. aws can solve any problem with greater agility, from supporting millions of music downloads to running all of a company's manufacturing lines on a global scale, processing all of a bank's financial transactions or supporting all of an online store's of an online store. Spotify, General Electric, Capital One and MercadoLibre are witnesses to this.

The benefits offered by aws to its customers customers

While large computer systems and software are expensive, Rentería assures that aws' operating model allows the client to use services on a per-cost basis. allows the client to use the services for as long as services for as long as needed and be charged only for the time used. charge only for the time used.

Regarding security, Rentería says that data has become an asset for companies, making them vulnerable to different threats. vulnerable to different threats. Y he says that, for entrepreneurs and large companies and large companies, it is difficult to protect themselves. complicated to protect themselves. At the time of When a company's services are incorporated into the Amazon cloud, they inherit all the security services to the Amazon cloud, they inherit all the security benefits that aws offers to all its customers, regardless of their size. offers to all of its customers, regardless of their size.

The elasticity offered by aws translates into a solution for different needs, depending on the seasons. depending on the seasons. For example, in the Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday sales Black Friday sales, which occur once a year, the amount of once a year, the number of requirements on websites the websites grows significantly, but decreases for the rest of the year.

With aws services, companies do not need to do not need to buy infrastructure to support infrastructure to support either their peak or off-peak computing needs, as the services are services are billed according to the actual the actual use of the infrastructure, which represents savings, in addition to the fact that it is possible to choose between different you can choose between different systems, such as Open Source, Microsoft, Oracle or sap, in order to solve needs on the Amazon platform. the Amazon platform.

Keeping pace with digitalization

With aws, companies are also exposed to technological companies are also exposed to constant technological constant; last year alone it released more than 1,600 new functionalities. The pace of innovation is fast and a need you have today can probably be solved tomorrow," he says. you have today can be solved tomorrow," says Rentería, says Rentería.

For him, training is key to the various technological benefits that can be gained by being in the cloud. in the cloud. For this reason, aws offers free online webinars and free online videos. But also, thanks to networking centers such as the cvt, "companies like Amazon can simplify the process of knowledge transfer and dissemination of technology," he says.

Digitization has evolved with unprecedented with unprecedented speed. "We are fortunate in that we are seeing digital transformation much more accelerated than in the last five years," he says, he says. And while the change taking place in the way technology is being consumed has led to an accelerated increase of entrepreneurship across all industries, it also represents a risk for those companies for those companies unwilling to join the transformation. to join the transformation. There are clear examples: companies like Uber, Airbnb, Rappi or MercadoLibre, which "started out with little and scaled up", and that constitute a challenge for established companies. companies.

For this technology enthusiast, digital transformation is no longer an option. If today's established companies "companies do not start to innovate, modernize and use these technological to use these technological benefits, it is very likely that an entrepreneur can generate something that replaces their good or service in the short term. or service in the short term.

BY SILVIA SÁNCHEZ DE LA BARQUERA
PHOTOGRAPHS JUAN RODRIGO LLAGUNO