AWS and Deloitte new ‘Cloud Garage’ in Mumbai will allow companies to experiment with their solutions before taking them live

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Deloitte have launched a new endeavour called the ‘Cloud Garage’.
• The new concept is a first for both companies in combining a physical space with virtual infrastructure to help companies experiment with their cloud solutions before taking them live.
• According to the company, the main industries set to benefit from the new environment are financial services, energy and renewables, retail, manufacturing, and telecommunications.
  

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Deloitte are extending their global collaboration by opening a ‘Cloud Garage’ in India’s financial capital, Mumbai. This is a pivot from their old approach, which was more point-to-point, to one that adjusts for the new business models emerging in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The garage is a sort-of a playground where the infrastructure is there for people to come in, ideate, put forward their prototypes, figure out what will work and what will not work, find a viable product and then really scale,” Romal Shetty, the president of consulting at Deloitte India told Business Insider.

Outside India, AWS has been hosting Startup Garage events in the UK since 2019 to create a community of entrepreneurs and startups to work on technology-related topics. But, this is the first time there’s a dedicated permanent space for the Cloud Garage. There’s an actual physical garage set up in Mumbai at Deloitte’s Knowledge Centre supplemented by virtual infrastructure.

The main beneficiaries of AWS’ and Deloitte’s Cloud Garage
The main industries that are set to benefit from the new environment are financial services, energy and renewables, retail, manufacturing and telecommunications, according to the company.

Shetty highlights the example of going to put fuel in your car. According to him, the Cloud Garage would allow oil marketing companies to find ways to make the process from queuing up at a petrol station to making the payment for gas completely contactless — something a company would not have thought is an urgent requirement in the pre-COVID world.

For telecommunication companies, AWS India and Deloitte have already built one possible product around customer value management. According to Shetty, the product can be designed around each individual customer, like a labourer, housewife or anyone else. It can also detect customers who may be unhappy with a particular service and find ways to bring them back.

“This asset was built by AWS India and Deloitte. It is now being taken globally,” said Shetty.

But, not all solutions have to be geared towards customers. Solutions can also be for internal use like making factories smarter using the Internet of Things (IoT) or make employees more productive.

Proof of concept
The solution is currently an exclusive partnership between AWS and Deloitte. The aim right now is to perfect this model and work out all the kinks before expansion, according to Puneet Chandok, the president of commercial business for AWS India and South Asia.

“Many parts of Deloitte will also get inspired saying that if we can make this work for customers in this part of the world, then we can also take it to other parts of Deloitte globally,” said Chandok.

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