2022 Art work Collection

Here is a collection of artwork I did in 2022

2022 Music Year in Review

 This is what happens when you have a shared Spotify account with the family

How can Cloud help in sustainability

Cloud computing can play a significant role in sustainability in several ways. 

Optimizing the compute resources:

Enabling the use of virtual resources instead of physical ones, which can lead to reduced energy consumption and a lower environmental impact. Cloud-based services can also allow for more efficient use of resources and better resource utilization, which can further reduce the environmental impact.

Remote Work and reduced CO2 emissions:

The use of cloud-based services can facilitate remote work and collaboration, which can help reduce transportation-related emissions. Cloud providers also invest in renewable energy to power their data center, which can reduce carbon footprint.

Hyperscaler energy efficiency:

It's important to note that the sustainability of cloud computing depends on the practices of individual cloud providers and how energy-efficient their data centers and operations are. Additionally, energy consumption of the end user should be considered, for example, if the end user is running energy-intensive workloads on the cloud.

Cloud providers often use advanced cooling and energy-efficient technologies in their data centers to reduce energy consumption. This can significantly lower the environmental impact of IT operations and help organizations achieve their sustainability goals.

Overall, cloud technology can enable organizations to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, while also increasing efficiency and enabling remote work. It has a great potential to be a key enabler of sustainable IT operations.

Building an Automotive Cloud

 

The automotive industry is going through a major transformation, being on a path to recovery from the slowdown in the pandemic years and with the advancements in the connected technology space. The automobile industry has been guided by the acronym CASE (connected, autonomous, shared, electric) since early 2018. There is a recognized need for an automotive cloud that will help reduce the costs of massive compute and data storage requirements, and will bring in new ways of working, tools, and technologies that are enabled by cloud. The demands have led to major shift in customer preference and expectations from OEMs.

Three key imperatives that support CASE and will define the industry future are: 

1.       Development of sustainable products and driving new revenues through a push towards electric vehicles. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global EV stock will reach almost 70 million vehicles in 2025 and 230 million vehicles in 2030 (excluding two/three-wheelers). EV stock share in 2030 will reach 12%.[1]

 

2.       Enhanced car sales through connected infotainment providing commerce and personalization. In larger vehicles and fleet industries, there is a higher focus on driver safety and evaluation of the driver’s physical condition which needs camera data as well as vehicle sensor data.

 

3.       Thirdly, in order to maintain sustainable operating supply chains there needs to be intelligent manufacturing and connected supply chains running to optimum efficiency with tracking via RFID and IoT devices. In Aug 2021,[2] Gartner estimated that the enterprise and automotive IoT platform market will represent a USD 11.3 billion opportunity in 2025, representing a 33% CAGR from 2020. 

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[1] https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/ed5f4484-f556-4110-8c5c-ede8bcba637/GlobalEVOutlook2021.pdf

[2] https://www.gartner.com/document/4004507

All of these imperatives require dealing with large amounts of data that needs to be processed quickly at the source – thus leading to edge and fog computing solutions - in addition to transporting this data for processing back to the cloud. Thus a lot of OEMs are looking to optimize their cloud strategy and make it the foundation of their R&D, manufacturing, sales, and servicing models.

With the advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), there is a play for Automotive OEMs to build experiences in the metaverse. It’s only a matter of time before dealers jump on board and develop a metaverse dealership in which users can view inventory, check vehicles, and complete the sales transaction all while wearing a VR headset in the comfort of their office or home. Gartner expects dedicated AR clouds to be formed for each sector to help synergize the content with the underlying cloud infrastructure and remove the requirements of local hardware.

There are many use cases for edge computing within the vehicle. The capability to take data from the nearly hundreds of sensors, compute and take real-time decisions from the data available onboard instantaneously, especially around auto braking, and proximity detection to other vehicles and pedestrians have already been embedded within automobiles. The adoption is already increasing and has potential for many future use cases focused not only on the driver but also the passengers, for example, real time personalized offers when the car is moving past one’s favorite store or restaurant.

Connectivity to media streaming apps will allow personalization of the offer by combining the data available within the vehicle OEM as well as the streaming app tie-up. Adding to this the map data from and monitoring for traffic congestion will allow the autonomous vehicle to reroute its path. Edge will also allow better security monitoring and infrastructure to reduce theft and allow for better insurance policy determination.

The typical building blocks of an automobile cloud platform include:

·       Secure communication for vehicle-to-cloud connectivity

·       Data ingestion for a variety of structured and unstructured data sources – this will be process as well as transactional data

·       Data migration and cleansing through cloud-native techniques which can scale as per the volume

·       Fast and scalable analytics with dashboard visualizations to detect anomalies, and threat modelling including cabin simulations of various scenarios

·       Data models and AI to trigger workflows and notifications such as equipment maintenance, driver alerts, and route notifications and provide location-based services

·       Secure data storage with encrypted data at rest as well as in transit

·       Will need to have a zero trust architecture because of multiple devices and entry points that assumes every device and connection can be breached and hence needs verification and validation

·       Portability between on-premises and hyperscalers – hence suited for a hybrid cloud architecture

Overall, the use of the automotive cloud is transforming the way the automotive industry operates and will play a key role in the development of new technologies and business models in the future.

Digital Cloud Platform for Restaurants

 My latest blog post for Capgemini is hosted at https://www.capgemini.com/us-en/2022/04/digital-cloud-platform-for-restaurants/

Reimagining Digital Transformation

 The restaurant industry is experiencing an unprecedented transformational change. Business disruptions from the global health crisis prompted the restaurant industry to restructure and diversify its operating model and digital portfolio in response to the shift of market trends and customer preferences.

Elevated expectations for cleanliness, health, and safety are accelerating the adoption of contactless technologies, curbside pickup options, and mobile payments to minimize human interaction. Gartner predicts most organizations will leverage contactless technologies for up to 80% of their ordering and replenishment activities by 2024.

Restaurant businesses must prepare to meet the operational requirements of the new normal and drive supply chain efficiency. Furthermore, restaurants should thrive to maintain brand loyalty by providing a seamless and differentiated omnichannel experience through enhanced digital capabilities.

In this post, we will show you how Capgemini’s Digital Cloud Platform (DCP) for Restaurants empowers the industry to reimagine digital transformation by delivering compelling customer interaction and streamlined operations while reducing costs and improving efficiency.

The full version of this article is published at https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/apn/reimagining-digital-transformation-with-capgemini-digital-cloud-platform-for-restaurants-on-aws/ 

Getting Application Modernization Right

 What is App Modernization?

You frequently hear the term - and this can cover and mean a wide set of things.

If you are hampered by your legacy IT systems, you will be keen to take up an application modernization. This is an overall transformation towards a highly scalable and always-on IT ecosystem that changes the traditional project driven mindset of longer release cycles. You want to get away from siloed functions and thinking of quality and operations as an afterthought, to a mindset where you are delivering and operating applications frequently, with much smaller release cycles, improved quality and automations. 

And delivering real business value - not just falling into a trap of measuring how many Story Points were delivered in each sprint. I've frequently seen Story Points as a false measure of business value 

App modernization should provides benefits to an enterprise that accelerate their journey towards a truly digital business - for example - enabling them to launch new and innovative products and focus on their core business instead of spending costs and time in resolving IT issues.