In a strategic move to accelerate cloud computing adoption across growth markets, Deloitte and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have entered into a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement. This partnership brings together the globally No. 1-ranked professional services firm and the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud to deliver large-scale transformations to customers while managing risk and driving real business change.
The expanded collaboration aims to help companies in all parts of the world to migrate their business operations to the cloud and prepare to compete in today’s digital economy. As Nishita Henry, Deloitte Global Chief Commercial Officer for AWS, said: “Moving to the cloud can be an intimidating undertaking that requires significant skills and resources. Through our expanded relationship with AWS, we are well-positioned to help our customers navigate this transition and maximise the business benefits of cloud computing in these growth markets.”
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Expanding Workforce and Location Investments
As part of the first phase of this strategic collaboration, Deloitte will launch dedicated AWS Centers of Excellence in intentional locations worldwide, kicking off across Sub-Saharan Africa, Spain, and Central Europe. It plans to make a multimillion-dollar investment that includes hiring 800+ certified specialists and training practitioners on AWS services and capabilities.
A comprehensive suite of offerings will be made available to client organisations through this extended global network, providing customers with access to a broad range of AWS services from more than 56 offices in these initial regions. Multi-disciplinary AWS consulting teams, training academies, innovation labs, and managed services will help to empower local customers in their digital transformations.
“Through our global Strategic Collaboration, Deloitte and AWS will provide customers with the end-to-end guidance and services necessary to help overcome adoption barriers and successfully migrate to the cloud at scale,” said Jim Hudson, Managing Director and AWS Global Alliance Leader at Deloitte Consulting.
To help business leaders in these markets take advantage of growth opportunities, Deloitte will leverage its global innovation in data and artificial intelligence (AI). Deloitte’s data and AI practice combines the world-class services, AI talent, and deep industry experience that enterprise leaders need as they design generative AI strategies and create innovative AI applications.
Hundreds of businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa, Spain, and Central Europe are already benefitting from the combined expertise of AWS and Deloitte. As Natali Delić, Chief Strategy and Digital Officer of Telekom Srbija, said: “We are delighted by our dynamic collaboration with AWS and Deloitte, who are market leaders in accelerating cloud innovation. Working with them will ensure that our business transformation strategy includes the right technology to enable us to respond swiftly to our evolving needs, making significant impact and elevating the experiences of our customers and employees in all the markets where we operate.”
Addressing Industry Challenges
The extreme pace of business change and the rapid development in technologies such as generative AI, with recognised challenges like a lack of digital skills, make it difficult for many companies to plan and execute their business transformation. According to The future of jobs report 2023 by the World Economic Forum, organisations identify skills gaps (60% of respondents) and an inability to attract talent (53%) as the key barriers preventing industry transformation.
To support enterprise customers to overcome these multiple points of friction as they embark and expand their cloud journey, the Deloitte and AWS collaboration will leverage the power of a global system integrator, to help them transform at scale, innovate at speed, and, in the process, meet the complex needs of an ever changing landscape.
“We are very excited about this Strategic Collaboration Agreement to help even more global organisations take advantage of the agility, breadth of services, and pace of innovation that AWS provides,” said Dr. Ruba Borno, Vice President of AWS Worldwide Channels and Alliances. “Together with Deloitte, we will realise the promise of cloud computing across every region and industry.”
Enabling Business Transformation
In collaboration with AWS, Deloitte will help companies unlock the possibilities of cloud and digital transformation through key focus areas:
– Digital transformation: Supporting transformation of core processes, applications, and skills to achieve outcomes like agility, innovation, and cost optimisation in the cloud.
– Cloud strategy and governance: Helping define cloud visions, roadmaps, and governance models tailored to business objectives.
– Cloud architecture: Supporting cloud migrations by leveraging landing zones to establish foundational security, connectivity, and automation capabilities.
– Regulated industries: Providing specialised expertise in regulated domains like energy, ecommerce, insurance, banking, manufacturing, telecommunications, healthcare, and public sector to ensure compliance in the cloud.
– Global delivery network: Leveraging Deloitte’s ecosystem of 22+ Cloud Centers of Excellence, with 100,000 practitioners across strategy, operations, and technology, in combination with AWS Local Zones, to serve customers anywhere makes for a unique offering.
For Strini Mudaly, Vice President ICT at Gold Fields, one of the world’s largest gold mining firms, these focus areas were integral in shaping their successful modernisation initiative: “As we looked for a strategic partner to work with us in unlocking innovation through the cloud, Deloitte demonstrated both their AWS knowledge and understanding of our highly regulated industry. Through their collaborative approach using the AWS rich portfolio of services, we were able to modernise key systems and data platforms quickly while maintaining the highest security and compliance standards.”
Tanuja Randery, Managing Director for Europe, Middle East & Africa at AWS, said: “Kicking off our strategic collaboration across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is testimony to the potential we see for cloud technology to transform business and drive economic growth within this region. We know from our own research with Strand Partners that in Europe cloud-enabled tech adoption could add €3.4 trillion to the economy by 2030.”
“In Africa, the appetite from businesses of all sizes to adopt cloud and AI is huge. If nurtured, its impact on the African economy will be transformative. We are proud of initiatives like the AWS Skills Center which helps build a cloud enabled workforce. Our partnership with Deloitte is another way to underscore our long term commitment and support for businesses in the region,” added Randery.
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