Vodafone hails business efficiency and sustainability gains of Google Cloud big data partnership

Vodafone has revealed how using Google Cloud to support its big data ambitions is helping the telco giant hone its sustainability strategy, make its retail sites more efficient and provide support to aid organisations during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Less than 12 months have passed since Vodafone went public with the news that it had reinforced its commitment to using Google’s technologies by signing a six-year strategic cloud partnership with the firm. Before that, the two firms had been working together since late 2019.

As reported by Computer Weekly at the time, a large portion of this collaboration would see the two firms work together to bolster the processing capabilities of the big data platform, dubbed Nucleus, that Vodafone is using to underpin its digital transformation plans.

In a blog post, Osman Peermamode, Vodafone’s head of data and analytics, said the roll-out and continued work the pair have done to refine the capabilities of Nucleus have brought a number of benefits.

First, the setup has allowed Vodafone to simplify how it collects, processes and puts its datasets to use.

“Before our move into the cloud, the data we collected was very fragmented and costly,” said Peermamode. “Data sat in silos on our on-premise infrastructure, where it quickly became outdated, and multiple copies of datasets were just inefficient, and they decreased our data’s quality and credibility.”

Since taking action to streamline the way it manages its data, Vodafone has been able to press ahead with its efforts to provide its 300 million users with more personalised services, while also being able to roll out new offerings to them more quickly.

“We can tailor our services to each household and suggest new services,” said Peermamode. “By using the data insights from Nucleus to improve our campaigns and customer management, we are unlocking untapped value.”

Nucleus has also made it possible for the company to identify areas within its retail business, both in-store and online, that could be made more cost-efficient.

“Our new data platform also gives us a better overview of the profitability of our channels and retail stores,” said Peermamode. “This helps us to weed out unnecessary spending and makes sure our retail offering is centred around the needs of our customers.

“By channeling our retail footprint in places where they are most needed, we have been able to increase our store profitability in some markets.”

When Vodafone announced plans to expand its partnership with Google Cloud in May 2021, it said it had identified about 700 potential use cases for the capabilities that Nucleus gives it.

The ones outlined above are an example, said Peermamode, who went on to reveal how its big data infrastructure is allowing it to meet its sustainability goals, while also helping the firm to support governments and aid organisations through the pandemic.

“Google Cloud helps us to better monitor all our sustainability KPIs, from our reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to the share of energy we use from renewable sources,” he added. “We are also helping to solve global health issues, by supporting governments and aid organisations, for example, with secure, anonymous and aggregated mobile phone signal data to help tackle Covid-19. Now we can provide even deeper insights to help curb the spread of disease.

“By tapping into the collective power of Vodafone and Google Cloud, we are transforming our services for the people, organisations and communities we serve.”