Vodafone: A Global Digital Customer Experience Reinvention

Vodafone partnered with AWS and its internal technology arm, Vodafone Intelligent Solutions (VOIS) Digital, to create global digital platforms that leverage inner-sourced, reusable technology to deliver seamless and scalable digital experiences for customers.

This collaboration aligns with Vodafone’s broader transformation from a traditional telecommunications company (telco) to a technology-driven company (TechCo), emphasizing innovation, efficiency, and customer-centricity.

Foundation of the Collaboration

Vodafone’s collaboration with AWS provides the technological backbone for its digital platforms, utilizing AWS’s robust cloud infrastructure, scalability, and advanced services like edge computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).

VOIS Digital, as Vodafone’s internal TechCo, plays a pivotal role by developing and managing these platforms, drawing on a global workforce of over 12,000 skilled professionals across regions like India, Egypt, and Europe.

VOIS Digital focuses on creating reusable, modular technology components that can be inner-sourced—meaning they are developed internally and shared across Vodafone’s global operations—reducing redundancy and accelerating deployment.

Building Scalable Global Digital Platforms

The partnership has enabled Vodafone to build platforms that scale efficiently to meet the needs of over 300 million customers worldwide. Key aspects include:

• Cloud-Native Architecture: Vodafone has migrated significant portions of its infrastructure to AWS, adopting a cloud-native approach based on microservices. This allows for modular, scalable systems that can be updated or expanded without disrupting existing services. For example, foundational services have been moved to AWS, enabling rapid product development and deployment, with Vodafone increasing its product releases from 21 annually to 2,300 in a single year.
• Inner-Sourced Reusable Technology: VOIS Digital drives the creation of reusable technology components, such as APIs, microservices, and digital tools, which are standardized and shared across Vodafone’s markets. This inner-sourcing model reduces development time and costs while ensuring consistency. For instance, VOIS manages IT deliveries in Business Support Systems (BSS) and integration for various markets, utilizing technologies like Siebel, Salesforce, and Amdocs, supported by over 850 agile teams.
• Edge Computing with AWS Wavelength: Through its collaboration with AWS, Vodafone has integrated distributed Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) powered by AWS Wavelength into its 4G and 5G networks across multiple European countries (e.g., UK, Germany, Spain).

This brings compute and storage closer to the customer, minimizing latency and enabling real-time applications like digital twins, augmented reality (AR), and IoT solutions. This scalability enhances customer experiences by delivering faster, more responsive services.

Digital Channels and Customer Experience

VOIS Digital develops digital channels such as mobile apps, websites, interactive voice response (IVR) systems, and chatbots using agile and DevOps methodologies.

These platforms, powered by AWS’s infrastructure, integrate seamlessly with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, pulling real-time data to provide personalized, frictionless experiences. The digital assistant TOBi, available in 13 countries, exemplifies this, leveraging AWS-hosted AI capabilities to enhance customer interactions.

Seamless Delivery of Digital Experiences

The synergy between AWS’s cloud capabilities and VOIS Digital’s engineering expertise ensures that Vodafone’s digital platforms deliver seamless customer experiences:

• Personalization and Speed: By harnessing AWS’s AI and ML tools (e.g., Azure OpenAI via a Microsoft partnership integrated with AWS systems), Vodafone enhances platforms like TOBi and customer-facing applications with hyper-personalized, proactive features. This reduces customer effort and improves satisfaction, with digital channels now accounting for nearly half of Vodafone’s sales.
• Global Reach with Local Adaptation: The reusable technology framework allows Vodafone to deploy standardized solutions globally while tailoring them to local market needs. For example, the Safer Transport for Europe Platform (STEP) in Spain uses MEC and AWS Wavelength to provide real-time traffic updates, demonstrating how global platforms can adapt to specific use cases.
• Operational Efficiency: The cloud-based, inner-sourced approach minimizes manual intervention and scales effortlessly. Vodafone Connect, a contact center solution powered by AWS, supports thousands of agents remotely, integrating multiple communication channels (email, SMS, social media) into a single interface, boosting efficiency and reducing costs.

Outcomes and Impact

This collaboration has yielded significant results:

• Scalability: Platforms can handle increased demand without compromising performance, as seen with MEC deployments supporting innovative applications across industries like agriculture, logistics, and entertainment.
  Innovation: The partnership fosters rapid experimentation and deployment of new services, such as 3D digital twins and IoT solutions, with over 60 award-winning services in VOIS’s portfolio.
• Customer Satisfaction: Enhanced digital experiences have positioned Vodafone as a leader in customer experience within its industry, evidenced by its #1 ranking and a 250% increase in throughput.

In summary, Vodafone, AWS, and VOIS Digital have built global digital platforms that leverage AWS’s scalable cloud infrastructure and VOIS’s inner-sourced, reusable technology to deliver seamless, innovative, and customer-focused digital experiences. This collaboration exemplifies a modern TechCo model, driving Vodafone’s digital transformation and setting a benchmark for the telecom industry.