Data modernization: How Vodafone Italy updated its cloud-based data architecture.
By constructing a contemporary, AI-ready data architecture on Google Cloud, Vodafone Italy is transforming its business practices and improving real-time data processing, scalability, and process efficiency. With the help of Vodafone Italy’s cloud-based platform Nucleus, this change seeks to simplify data administration and open up new AI-driven possibilities.
The engineering team at Vodafone Italy created Nucleus, which brings all analytical use cases into a cloud-native environment by utilising BigQuery and Google’s AI infrastructure, as well as a powerful data mobility application and an extensive ETL framework. Vodafone is able to integrate disparate data silos into a centralized, real-time data ecosystem to this contemporary design, which also improves data agility, scalability, and AI-driven insights.
Vodafone Italy redesigned its data pipelines inside this adaptable ecosystem in collaboration with Amdocs and Google Cloud to enhance business-critical operations and streamline operational workflows. Vodafone Italy established a scalable basis for analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning by integrating its enterprise data platform (VID) and operational data store (ODS) on Nucleus.
The migration to Nucleus was completed in about 12 months after thorough planning and design, and neither the company nor its customers had any problems.
Improved agility, more effective regulatory reporting, cost optimization, and better real-time processing across critical functions like finance, operations, and marketing are just a few advantages of this updated architecture. Furthermore, Nucleus serves as a guide for Vodafone Group’s larger cloud modernization plan, assisting in guaranteeing scalability and future-proofing the company’s data environment.
Laying the foundation for data modernization: The road to Nucleus
As part of a massive digital transformation, Vodafone Italy introduced “NEXT,” a daring, company-wide effort, in 2017 with the goal of modernizing its data management and business support systems (BSS).
A data management transformation, which aimed to create a simplified, AI-ready data ecosystem and eradicate inefficiencies brought about by fragmented legacy systems, such as Teradata, SAP, and BSS workloads, was at the Centre of this journey. The project standardized financial, commercial, and operational data procedures to increase reporting efficiency, real-time data accessibility, and regulatory compliance.
This transformation allowed Vodafone Italy to apply data-driven decision-making across the firm and accelerate new product launch, boosting scalability, governance, and agility. Understanding the intricacy of contemporary telecom operations, Vodafone Italy selected Amdocs as its main systems integrator, leveraging its proficiency in data management and BSS to successfully negotiate the difficulties of a highly regulated sector.
Vodafone Italy’s next innovation leap, Nucleus cloud-first data platform, was made possible by the foundation established by NEXT. Its goal is to future-proof its digital infrastructure and enable new Artificial Intelligence-driven possibilities.
Transforming the data architecture: A unified, intelligent approach
By moving from dispersed data silos to a centralized, two-tier business intelligence platform built for scalability, governance, and real-time insights, the NEXT initiative represents a breakthrough in data architecture.
Tier 1: Operational Data Store
The Amdocs Logical Data Model (aLDM), a TM-Forum-certified model specifically designed for telecommunications, serves as the foundation for the Operational Data Store (ODS). This layer, which is implemented using the Amdocs Data Hub, provides a unified, 360-degree view of customer behavior and interactions across all touchpoints by seamlessly integrating data from various apps in almost real-time.
Tier 2: Vodafone Integrated Dimensional Data model
Vodafone’s enterprise data warehouse, the Vodafone Integrated Dimensional Data (VID) model, was created by Amdocs and Vodafone’s business and IT departments. Vodafone’s governance and compliance rules make it a single source of financial and analytical information. VID streamlines data governance, speeds up decision-making, and improves operational efficiency by combining hundreds of terabytes of data into a streamlined model with a few hundred entities.
These layers serve company-wide mission-critical apps including financial reporting, campaign management, intelligent customer engagement, advanced AI and analytics, and martech solutions. Near-real-time data access and self-service let Vodafone teams innovate, improve customer experiences, and acquire deeper insights at scale.
Nucleus: Progressing the data modernization of Vodafone Italy
Vodafone Italy aimed to further improve flexibility and interoperability within its data ecosystem, which already had a modern data foundation. In order to accomplish this, the business started modernizing VID and incorporated it smoothly into a larger, cloud-first architecture that was intended to be more effective, scalable, and AI-ready.
Vodafone Italy started this transformation initiative in June 2023, establishing a 12-month strategy aimed at organizing, testing, and carrying out the development of this vital resource. In order to maximize VID’s interaction with Nucleus and provide integrated data processing and improved analytics capabilities, the modernization process was carefully planned.
Vodafone Italy teamed up with Amdocs once more to propel this success, utilising its extensive knowledge of VID and aLDM. Amdocs and the technical team at Vodafone Italy worked together in the Nucleus environment to hasten the transition to a data architecture that is more flexible, scalable, and prepared for the future.
Seamless data modernization for business continuity
By utilising BigQuery and a “clone and shift” strategy in conjunction with Google Cloud and Amdocs, Vodafone Italy was able to successfully modernize its data architecture through its migration to Google Cloud. This painstakingly organized 12-month transformation preserved complete data integrity and user experience while facilitating a seamless transfer without interfering with business operations.
Vodafone had access to a full suite of data management tools within the Nucleus framework and was able to reap the benefits of cloud-native features, such as improved scalability, agility, and real-time insights, by duplicating their current data platform within BigQuery.
Conclusion
Vodafone Italy‘s transformation journey is a prime example of how the cloud can propel data unification, AI integration, and large-scale operational efficiency. This collaboration, along with Amdocs, demonstrates how businesses can maximize customer experience and IT efficiency while unlocking previously unheard-of value through cloud-powered innovation. To look forward to further facilitating Vodafone and Amdocs’ data-driven growth and are honored to be their partners on this journey.
