IBM and AWS are creating a path to modernization with industry-leading solutions

Modernization journeys are complex and typically highly customized, depending on an enterprise’s core business objectives and overall competitive objectives. However, one way to simplify the transformation and speed up the process is to take an industry-wide approach. Any vertical modernization approach must balance deep vertical sector expertise with a solution-based methodology that meets specific business needs.

As part of their partnership, IBM and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are developing a variety of industry-leading plans and solutions designed to help customers modernize applications for a hybrid IT environment that includes the AWS Cloud.

The solutions, some in pilot stages and others in early development, reach across a variety of major industries, including manufacturing, financial services, healthcare and transportation. Examples:

• An intelligent welding solution for the industrial sector
• Anti-fraud system for insurance companies
• Solutions to transform customer service
• Digital and virtual health solutions
• Supply Chain Solutions for Healthcare and Life Sciences
• A travel integration fabric for the travel and transportation industry

These industry-leading solutions leverage IBM and AWS’ deep expertise in the specific security, interoperability, and data management requirements that impact vertical sectors. This approach ensures that application modernization efforts meet any applicable certification requirements and address business-related issues.

“A common modernization path consolidates technical assets, while an industry-focused initiative is more of a problem-oriented project,” says Pravina Varadarajan, modernization proposal lead and strategist for IBM’s Hybrid Cloud Migration Group.

With the right industry solution and implementation partner, organizations can move toward effective modernization. Along with the right technology and tools, the right consulting partners can help accelerate transformation, particularly when they can collectively demonstrate deep and diverse expertise, modernization schemes and industry plans.

Consider, for example, the important area of ​​security controls. Companies in different industries have basic requirements related to data security and controls, but different industries have particularly focused considerations.

• In healthcare, the security of personal health data is key, governed by national standards set forth in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

• The financial services industry must adhere to a diverse set of security requirements, ranging from the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) to payment card industry (PCI)-compliant security measures designed to protect credit cardholder information.

“Industry verticals have different compliance and regulatory challenges that must be considered when performing any type of application refactoring or modernization,” notes Hilton Howard, head of global migration and modernization at AWS. “Healthcare and life sciences companies have different governance and compliance challenges and how to manage data compared to technology companies or energy and financial services companies.”

AWS/IBM advantage in the industry

IBM and AWS have established several mechanisms and programs to codify their rich vertical industry expertise and make it readily available to customers in critical sectors. IBM and AWS experts are collaborating to identify potential joint offerings and solution plans designed to provide a modernization roadmap that sits above shared technical guidance. Most of the recommendations and results are codified from joint initiatives conducted with large customers to provide an accelerated path to problem solving for a wider audience. Deliverables can be reference architectures or industry-specific proofs of concept—the goal is to offer enterprise expertise and near-turnkey solutions designed to optimize modernization and accelerate payback.

“Sometimes it’s best practices, solution design, or some combination,” says Varadarajan. “It’s about using internal or external tools to solve specific business problems.”

In addition, the joint AWS and IBM Enterprise Transformation Program (ETP), focused on large-scale transformation and modernization efforts, helps enterprise customers adopt new digital operating models in a structured and prescriptive manner, and transform with AWS to achieve strategic business outcomes. The program creates a meaningful partnership between AWS, IBM and the customer to deliver an integrated program. This builds on a one-to-one enabler that delivers priority customer initiatives powered by AWS while building sustainable organizational capabilities for ongoing transformation.

“Applying an industry lens keeps decisions grounded in business guiding principles,” says Varadarajan. “The goal of transformation is not only to become more modern, but also to change the way companies adapt to the new norms of doing business in the digital world.”

Modernization of United’s revenue management has begun

United Airlines moved to the cloud to modernize its revenue management system to reduce costs while also landing on a platform that doesn’t limit its ability to apply modern revenue management processes. The airline also sought to give analysts finer control over data access so they could be more analytical and creative in making revenue management decisions.

Working with AWS and IBM, United built and scaled a data warehouse using Amazon Redshift, an off-the-shelf service that manages terabytes of data with ease. Critical success factors included the use of DevOps practices, an emphasis on disaster recovery and system stability, and continuous analysis of design and migration decisions. Next stop: the porting of the sophisticated forecasting module, scheduled for 2022.

For more information visit https://www.ibm.com/consulting/aws