Globe Telecom Inc. through cloud company Cascadeohas teamed up with US-based Amazon Web Servies to help digitally transform Philippine businesses through cloud technology.
“The collaboration between AWS and Globe is a very big milestone for Filipino corporations as they continue on their journey towards transforming their legacy infrastructure into the Cloud,” said Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu.
“Being the first in the Philippines to enter this agreement with AWS supports Globe’s vision of empowering Filipino enterprises by bringing them the best of digital technology to catapult their businesses to new heights,” Cu said.
Cu noted that many companies have not taken advantage of the Cloud’s numerous benefits. The Cloud allows vast amounts of programs and data to be stored and accessed via the internet instead of physical servers.
AWS was instrumental in Globe’s digital journey almost a decade ago. This prompted Globe to offer the same experience to corporate clients so they too can increase operational efficiency, reduce costs and improve agility.
Globe’s acquisition of Cascadeo in November 2020 further helped the company improve its cloud-based services. Cascadeo is one of the global leaders in cloud consulting, with particular expertise on AWS.
Conor McNamara, managing director of AWS ASEAN, said it is important for them to have a vibrant partner community in every country they operate in.
“What I really liked about what Globe is doing is that they are externalizing their experience. They [digitally] transformed their organization and are giving the broader Filipino business community an opportunity to learn from that,” he said.
Through the collaboration, McNamara is hopeful that AWS could bring more in terms of continued investment in the region and commitment to innovating on behalf of customers.
“It’s really, really exciting. We’ve done a lot together to get to this point that we’re mutually committed to doing even more together,” he said.
Cascadeo founder and president Jared Reimer is also optimistic about the collaboration. Globe was its first customer in Asia before both parties decided on the acquisition.
“For most businesses, digital is the future. For companies getting started or scaling up their first big production applications, a lot of value comes from working with people who have done this before. That includes experts at AWS, Cascadeo and Globe. Together we can help businesses adopt Cloud faster, [make it] less expensive, and [execute it] correctly on the first try and save a lot of that reinvention,” he said.
Another huge component of the collaboration is building the Philippine workforce. The parties are set to invest significantly in bringing up the next generation of Cloud talent. While demand is multiplying, there is a lack of cloud engineering talent to deliver on the opportunity.
“There’s amazing talent here. We view this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do something significant—training, education certification. These are high-skill, high-wage jobs that are relevant globally,” Reimer said.
The goal is for computer science graduates to develop skills in real-world environments. Later on, they can transplant their learnings and experience to other Philippine enterprises.