The automotive industry is on the verge of tremendous change. Their products are increasingly software-based, their customers have new expectations of the buying and operating process. People are placing increasing value on sustainable and mobility-enhancing products and services. This requires a massive shift from the automobile manufacturers. They need to adapt the way they design, develop and manufacture their products and services. It would help if you redefined how you communicate and interact with customers across the various channels. And they have to shape the cooperation with the governments to guarantee the necessary infrastructure across the board. The challenge for companies is toOn the one hand,
Cloud computing allows the automotive industry to advance its transformation and build a healthy business model for the future. Automakers have already started rethinking their design and manufacturing processes and redesigning the entire customer experience. The ability to store and analyze data that enables vehicle technology and safety to be assessed is paramount. Using the cloud has the potential to lower data storage costs and accelerate vehicle development and production.
Since most businesses require global coverage, scaling is a crucial factor. An exponential level can be achieved through the use of the cloud. The cloud promises more data storage at lower costs and faster access to new technological tools. These advantages can result in more differentiated products and services.
Data is at the heart of autonomous vehicles. The cloud is the only way for automakers to keep up with new competitors and be genuinely “digital native”. The data volume required for autonomous driving requires a cloud-based approach. This is the only way to continuously evaluate and further develop the tools to support the complex software required for the vehicles’ operation and safety.
Data is also helpful for designing new services, for example, additional safety measures or experiences inside and outside the vehicles. Traffic pattern data provide comprehensive information on urban mobility and can also be used to develop service offers in cities and municipalities.
In the future, data from the automotive industry, local public transport and other mobile technology companies will serve as a source for how we design our cities, towns, parks and farmland. Given the complexity and cross-industry nature of services, the cloud will be critical to progress.
The path to the cloud is often combined with a “lift and shift” strategy. However, to leverage the natural advantages of the cloud, engineering, working methods and operating processes must be fundamentally rethought and adapted. The cloud offers the opportunity to create a flexible technology landscape that can be quickly expanded with the help of new partners. The focus is more on the development of defined DevOps skills than on infrastructure management. Cloud implementation requires a mindset shift and change across the company. Even if this does not have to be done on the first day, a clear definition and coordination across all disciplines are essential.
From our experience at Publicis Sapient working with cross-industry companies, it is critical to define guiding principles for three areas: deployment, processes, tools and technology
We have found that deploying the cloud has reduced provisioning times for critical application components by 50 to 80 percent, while infrastructure costs have decreased by 30 percent. The standardization of APIs for mobile and web traffic and the complete decoupling of the web has increased the independence between the teams, ensured availability of 99.99 percent and enabled a recovery time of fewer than ten minutes.
Despite all the good reasons why the cloud is the future, some misunderstandings still prevail. To understand the business, operational, and economic benefits, it is important to dispel these myths. Knowing this, decision-makers will get the most benefit from moving to the cloud.
It is a legitimate concern of customers that safety comes first. Traditionally, automobile manufacturers have secured their technological infrastructure on-site and thus created trust. But even on-site data centres can be hacked remotely, as some Chief Security Officers had to realize painfully. In particular, manual processes and insider threats pose a significant risk.
Many automakers do not yet have the necessary experience to design cloud foundations securely. Cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and Google Cloud, on the other hand, invest billions of dollars each year to ensure that their solutions are secure and offer world-class security features, including data encryption and masking.
The degree of trust in a cloud solution depends on the experience gained through implementing security functions in the cloud foundations. When companies define appropriate guidelines, implement a secure DevSecOps operating model, and train and hire the right talent, their cloud environments can be more secure than on-premise solutions.
Gaining experience is the key to safety. The top priority must be setting up cloud environments in a secure manner and working with cloud providers to improve security measures given the constantly changing threats.
Controlling data access is critical to protecting people’s data and privacy, maintaining customer trust, and ensuring that competitors do not have access to product innovation. Therefore, data sovereignty, data residency and data sovereignty dominate the discussions between decision-makers at C-level.
Much of the discussion about data residency has been shaped by worried private individuals. When it comes to dealers, suppliers or partners who manage the data residency in the cloud, the topic is critical. However, leading cloud providers can meet the data residency requirements. Dealers, suppliers and partners can thus determine in which data centre region their business-critical data and applications are stored and how and when they can be transmitted.
Exorbitant cloud costs are an urban myth. Instead, the cloud is a catalyst for comprehensive business transformation, and its benefits can outweigh the technology investments. However, to achieve savings, automotive companies need to take two steps.
Firstly, it is essential to introduce a new cost management system. Companies should switch from a fixed cost model – including depreciation – to a more variable cost model that considers the new pricing models of cloud providers. An understanding must also be developed within the organization of how consumption determines costs, and changes in demand can lead to better cost levels.
Second, old infrastructures have to be taken out of service to take advantage of the savings from the cloud. This poses a challenge for many organizations as, for example, data centres have to be shut down while applications are still running on them.
The market for cloud providers is developing rapidly, both in terms of the number of players and what they offer. This requires a constant review of the market and a regular update of the strategy for the cloud infrastructure.
These three providers are established worldwide: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. But there are also other players like Alibaba, Oracle and Salesforce that are leaders in certain regions. In services, cloud providers are increasingly offering additional and industry-specific services or creating ecosystems with independent software providers. This results in a dynamic supplier market that offers considerable opportunities to advance your transformation.
With the cloud, many technological hurdles and restrictions for new business ideas are removed. By switching to the cloud, companies benefit from many add-ons and drivers that can be used to solve complex business challenges. Experimentation, the key to innovation, is becoming easier and easier thanks to new tools and technologies in the cloud.
The cloud provides the infrastructure and is also the catalyst for end-to-end transformation without endangering data security. The move to a cloud-native automotive company has the advantage of significantly lower operating costs and new sources of income. For the mobility industry, the path to the cloud is the only option to achieve its stated goals for the next decade – electric vehicles, software-oriented and autonomous vehicles.