Foreword

Download Report PDF
New IT technologies are overhauling the way India does business, by reducing costs, enhancing efficiencies, enabling faster growth and making the Indian economic climate far more inclusive. Within this space, cloud computing plays a key role due to its inherent characteristics of flexibility, scalability, efficiency, security, speed, ease of access, and collaborative options. Together these factors enable businesses to access state-of-the-art IT infrastructure at a significantly lower cost, and have a much greater ability to grow fast. A major advantage of these services is that smaller teams and firms are liberated from the need to have a minimum scale to access the cloud. 
 
Cloud services include a combination of infrastructure, platform and software services, all integrated into a cohesive whole. Typically, the approach is modular with companies choosing the scale and scope of services as per their requirement. This modular approach enables smaller companies with more focused activities to choose a smaller subset of what is on offer, and expand their requirements as they grow. Whereas the advantages are many, and the disadvantages are only a few, a limited set of firms offer a globally competitive menu of services and products to users based in India. Among these, AWS is one of the key players, as data from the International Data Corporation shows.
The team from Research Triangle Institute has conducted a deep dive into the role of AWS in India’s burgeoning cloud services sector, through an in-depth survey of the users of AWS and other cloud services, integrating it with India’s input-output tables and finally estimating the impact on both output and livelihood. This is by no means an easy task and the team needs to be congratulated on a well-done exercise.
 
The survey of senior executives from more than 2,000 firms in India covered both AWS and non-AWS cloud service users spanning small, medium and large firms, long-established incumbents and startups, and enterprises in the social, public and private sectors, across the length and breadth of India. Purposive sampling methodology was used to ensure a representative spread. The data on the impact was then integrated with input-output tables put out by the Asian Development Bank (which sourced the underlying supply use tables from MoSPI, GOI). Additionally, data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (conducted by the National Sample Statistics Organization, GOI) was also utilised in impact calculations. The steps are very clearly laid out in the Appendices and involved calculating the reported impact on output from survey data, integrating it with the above-mentioned input-output tables to estimate the economy-wide impact, and delivering a sectoral break-up of the same. Estimating the impact on employment then becomes straightforward by using the labour component of value-added, sourced from the Reserve Bank of India.
 
As expected, the customers of cloud service providers, including both AWS and other major global players operating in India, reported significant benefits from using cloud services. These benefits include greater cost savings, increased expectations of turnover, and positive returns on investment. This is not surprising, for the high growth of such services only underscores their unarguable benefits. More specifically for AWS, the study finds that-
 
‘AWS customers attributed more than $11 billion of turnover to cloud computing. This increased turnover helped support 1.8 million jobs and $7.6 billion of labour income across India’s economy.’
 
Other interesting insights include the fact that a significant number of cloud service users report that they are able to innovate and bring out new business models only because of the flexibility-cost-quality speed combination of cloud services. This is also reflected in their ability to experiment more, reduce time to market, improve response times to changing conditions, make data-driven decisions, and enhance competitiveness. These advantages will not only help the MSME sector scale up fast but also help India in its objective of becoming a manufacturing hub and a global economic powerhouse.
 
Any good survey and consequent analysis also needs to identify challenges, and responses reveal that users are very sensitive to issues of data security, fault-free availability and reliability of services, and data loss. These are again not surprising since the greatest benefits from cloud services are obtained when not just some part of a firm’s operations but the whole business model is integrated with the cloud. I was very happy to see these concerns as market forces are already creating demand not just for a cheap service but a safe, secure and reliable one.
 
From a policy perspective, therefore, greater sensitivity and support needs to be given to this growing IT services model. While companies such as AWS can be expected to contribute to greater awareness and skilling, I also visualize the government to be a major user of such services in times to come. Needless to say, the study illustrates how proactive parts of the government have already started on that path.
 
Laveesh Bhandari

An empirical economist, author, and columnist, Laveesh is the founder of Indicus Analytics, India’s preeminent analytics company, which was acquired by Nielsen in 2014. He currently serves as the President and Chief Economist at Indicus Foundation and also holds a joint position at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress. Till recently, he held a seat on the Editorial Board at Business Standard and has been a member of RBI’s Steering Committee Overseeing Academic Research.

Introduction

India is one of the world’s most dynamic economies, due in no small part to the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure across the country. A core component of this infrastructure is the cloud services that make computing resources available on-demand to Indian organisations on a fee-for-service basis. From virtual desktops to hosted applications and databases, many of the apps and tools used in today’s digital economy are hosted in the cloud.

The adoption of cloud services is growing rapidly in India, growing from about 4.6 billion USD in 2021, to 13.5 billion USD by 2025 (IDC, 2022). 

The AWS Story in India

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the leading public cloud service provider in India. It established its first Indian office in 2011 and now operates across the country, with offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, and Coimbatore. Such is its commitment to the Indian market that two of AWS’ 26 infrastructure regions globally are focused on India. The company reported a 54% percent revenue growth for 2020 and continues to grow at a rapid pace.

AWS sponsored RTI International, an independent, non-profit research institute, to examine the economic impacts that it enables. Specifically, the study presents an analysis and key findings in three areas:
  • The benefits of AWS cloud services,
  • How these benefits generate meaningful economic impacts for the Indian economy, and
  • How AWS investments, programmes, and resources nurture and accelerate the Indian digital ecosystem.

Key Findings

AWS is driving economic transformation in India

AWS allows Indian businesses and public-sector organisations to achieve their goals, gives rise to economic growth, and provides resources that build capacity in India’s digital economy.

In 2021, AWS Cloud Services drive about INR 82,500 Crores (11 billion USD) in turnover and support 1.8 million jobs across India’s formal and informal economy

The higher turnover has more significant economic consequences through the multiplier effect, explained through the diagram given below.

The increase in turnover from using AWS cloud services led to 16.7 billion USD in GDP impacts across the country. About 6.2 billion USD (37%) of the GDP impacts are generated by AWS customers directly. Beyond these, an additional 3.5 billion USD (21%) is created by companies that supply AWS customers with goods and services. The remaining 6.9 billion USD (42%) is from the broad network of household services, retail and trade, and other service sectors that rely on consumer spending
On average, customers receive a return of Rs 3.5 for every Rs 1 spent on AWS Cloud Services 
AWS cloud services generated over INR 5,850 Crores in total cost savings for respondents. Across all survey respondents regardless of size, cost savings relative to on-premises data centres were estimated to average INR 2.33 Crores per year. 

Creating Millions of Jobs Through the Cloud

About 1.8 million jobs are directly or indirectly attributable to AWS cloud services: 
Every initial job supported by AWS public cloud creates another two jobs throughout India’s formal and informal economy.
New jobs boost employee income by $7.6 billion, supporting household spending on food, housing, and consumer goods and services.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated India’s cloud computing surge

Businesses shifted to teleworking arrangements, schools launched online classes, and the government rapidly deployed telehealth services. Further, the pandemic caused firms to reconsider or develop their organisations’ business resilience plans and increase their focus on the public cloud (Sharma et al., 2021).
Cloud adoption is greatest in the information technology sector (78%). Other sectors with high rates of adoption include banking and finance, insurance, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and healthcare.
The most common business activities hosted on the cloud were data and analytics (e.g., business intelligence apps, and data warehouses) and major business applications (e.g., CRM, ERP). These were followed by a range of data migration resources, data security applications, and infrastructure for networking and application delivery.

Facilitating Training & Technical Assistance

97% of respondents indicated that AWS provides technical assistance and training that positively affected their company
AWS has grown the talent pipeline needed to meet these growing tech-based demand across public and private sectors. Since 2017, AWS has trained over two million individuals in India with cloud computing skills and plans to continue this effort through its range of youth-, early- and mid-career training programs.

Cloud Computing Overview

Cloud computing services provide convenient network access to shared computing resources at low costs. Cloud service providers offer their customers computing resources that can be quickly scaled up or scaled-down, depending on customers’ requirements.  This flexibility is desirable because it means customers can leverage secure, up-to-date computing resources on demand. They can also redirect capital investment to other projects and avoid delays that could otherwise derail their plans.

At a high level, cloud computing consists of three separate groups of services: infrastructure, platform, and software.

  • Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) provides on-demand access to backend IT infrastructure for running applications and workloads in the cloud. IaaS lets users scale resources on an as-needed basis, reducing the need for up-front capital expenditures and on-site infrastructure.
  • Platform as a service (PaaS) offers access to a ready-to-use, cloud-hosted platform for developing, running, maintaining, and managing applications. With PaaS, developers pick from a menu to connect to servers and environments they need to run, build, test, deploy, maintain, and update applications.
  • Software as a service (SaaS) refers to the ability to host and manage software applications and handle software upgrades and security patching. Users connect to the application over the Internet, usually with a web browser on their phone, tablet, or PC.

Impact on Business Outcomes

The Strategic Rationale for the Cloud

Cloud services are an alternative to direct investments in facilities, computing systems, and staffing, allowing customers to develop technological capabilities in different spheres. There was broad agreement among customers that the key advantages of the cloud include scalability, availability, disaster recovery, automatic backups/upgrades, & simplified system integration.

Jiovio Healthcare, a MedTech company that provides an online platform to improve maternal and child health, achieved multiple such business outcomes. JioVio Healthcare CEO, Senthil Kumar Murugesan, noted that “we chose AWS due to scalability, in line with our plans for expanding in different states.”

Driving Efficiency Gains for Enterprises

AWS users regarded improvements in business planning and flexibility as the primary value proposition of cloud services, remarking on the ease of use of AWS cloud services and the reduced need to have internal resources

ChitMonks, a financial technology company running a blockchain network indicated, “AWS makes it easy with very few prerequisites and helped us with sizing our assets as well. Architecturally the AWS team helped us in deployment. We didn’t require separate resources. AWS manages all of it. With services such as  S3 available on AWS, we are not thinking of in-house tools and machines.”

An Engine of Business Innovation

AWS significantly contributed to customers’ key business outcomes, such as new product deployment and dynamic responses to market conditions. In the survey, more than half of AWS customers identified the top four factors that contributed to their market success:

Facilitating Connections with the Business World & Beyond

Most AWS survey respondents indicated that AWS facilitates access to or interactions with other entities that positively affect their businesses.

Impact on Savings and Turnover

Helping AWS customers Meet or Exceed Turnover Goals

More than three-quarters of surveyed AWS customers agreed that AWS cloud services helped them reach new turnover heights, allowing them to buy new buildings and equipment, hire more people, and develop new products and services for new markets.

The total impact on turnover varied by company size. Impacts ranged from 343,000 USD for small businesses to more than 21 million USD for large ones. 

Savings All the Way for India Inc

AWS Cloud services created cost savings that helped customers outcompete their rivals.

AWS features like automatic backups have significant cost and operational advantages. ITIC’s 2021 Hourly Cost of Downtime survey indicates that the cost of a single hour of server downtime averages $300,000 or more for 91% of mid-sized enterprises and large enterprises. Nearly half of respondents to that survey said that hourly outage costs exceed $1 million (Information Technology Intelligence Consulting, 2021). 

Cost savings vary by size of firms, with small businesses estimating net cost savings of INR 41 Lakhs per year and large businesses estimating annual savings of more than 7.5 Crores.

Business and Innovation

A. Catalyzing India’s Tryst With Entrepreneurship

AWS is a valuable partner in India’s startup ecosystem- the third-largest in the world with more than 61,000 startups and a record number of unicorn startups: over 100. 

95% of AWS startup customers reported being aware of AWS’s startup programs, and 90% of those customers had participated in these programs.

AWS Activate

Activate is one of AWS’ longest-running programs. Since 2013, Activate has provided start-ups with tools and resources to accelerate business growth on the AWS cloud. This program has facilitated access to special offers and discounts from hundreds of Activate Providers offering accelerator services to early-stage start-ups, opportunities to raise seed and venture capital, and additional support such as co-working space and access to tech transfer and intellectual property experts. Alongside these benefits, Activate matches businesses with mentors and entrepreneurial support organisations to further expand companies’ networks and plug company leaders into a larger, cross-industry, global entrepreneurial community.

Activate has two tiers of support available: Founders and Portfolio. Activate Founders is for self-funded early-stage start-ups that use AWS credits, pre-built infrastructure, templates, and AWS developer support to test and grow solutions in new markets.

Activate Portfolio is for start-ups with current venture capital or incubator and accelerator partners. These more mature start-ups leverage AWS for curated training content, technical assistance, and tailored infrastructure to scale products and services. 

Qure.ai is a healthcare start-up that uses AI for medical imaging diagnostics through advanced technology that reads and interprets medical images in less than o1ne minute. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the company translated its software capabilities to deliver fast and reliable medical information when it was needed most. Qure.ai improved case triage processes so that patients could be identified in real-time as high, medium, and low risk.  Rohit Ghosh, a founding member of the company, credits AWS with the support and scalability needed to react to the changing medical needs and geographic hotspots during the pandemic.

Launched in 2014, MoEngage is an AI-based customer engagement platform that enables large enterprises to send personalised marketing campaigns and engage with over 350 million people in over 35 countries. MoEngage is now a Digital Customer Experience partner in AWS’ Partner Network and continues to innovate on its product through this expansive ecosystem of AWS partners and customers. MoEngage got started on AWS through the Activate programme and, upon contracting with its first customer, was able to go live with its product in less than a week. 

Yashwanth Kumar, MoEngage’s CTO, noted that, “this was a fantastic start as we did not have to worry about money or how much infrastructure we were using. We just focused on getting our product to market and designing our solution properly” 

SaaS Central

SaaS Central complements the Activate programme by focusing on SaaS start-ups. In partnership with Prime Venture Partners and Amazon Internet Services, AWS launched SaaS Central in 2020 with a mission of supporting entrepreneurs within this projected growth opportunity.  SaaS Central is a 10-week online programme tailored around SaaS architecture, product management, and go-to-market necessities—such as fundraising and pitch development—to accelerate start-up leaders’ skills, develop demand-driven solutions, and build network connections. To date, SaaS Central has had over 450 applicants and has graduated 32 companies. Looking ahead, AWS expects over 300 applicants in its next round.

AWS Grand Challenge

To build the pipeline of entrepreneurs, AWS and Campus Fund have invested in the AWS Grand Challenge on university campuses across the country. Over the past 2 years, the Grand Challenge has given student-led start-ups an opportunity to compete for Activate acceptance. Start-ups in the following six categories can compete: Mobility and AutoTech, AgriTech and CleanTech, Robotics, EdTech, FinTech, and Mental Wellness. To date, the Grand Challenge has had nearly 180 applicants, provided mentorship to 30 student entrepreneurs, further supported 10 finalists, and selected six winners.

The Grand Challenge 2021 winners included:

An intelligent platform for neurotechnology applications, with the initial focus on neuropathy

Started with the vision to strengthen the global advanced battery storage raw material supply chain through sustainable and eco-friendly urban mining

A platform that leverages memes to show news about recent events, targeting teenagers and making news fun and accessible

AWS Partner Network & AWS Marketplace

As start-ups grow, AWS managers connect start-ups to enterprises, government entities, and social organisations to implement market solutions and scale products and services. These efforts build on the large ecosystem of organisations within the AWS Partner Network and AWS Marketplace. The APN is a network of 100,000 partners in over 150 countries, who are well positioned to facilitate customers’ transitions to cloud-based operations. 

The Marketplace is a highly curated catalogue of business applications, security services, software, and industry-specific solutions that customers can test, purchase, and implement based on their targeted needs.

AWS Gurukul

The AWS Gurukul is a cohort of over 50 AWS partner “mentees” who are trained to provide technical support on issues that arise for their customers as they create and pilot innovative solutions. AWS is helping Partners enhance their conversations with and technical support of their customers through training and one-on-one assistance that is based directly on those partners-customer needs and experiences. 

B. The Trusted Partner for India Inc

Many of India’s top fortune 500 companies use AWS cloud services.  AWS invests time, talent and resources to support cloud-based transformations for India’s large enterprises.

Large enterprise survey respondents were 48% more likely than other respondents to attribute significant contributions to turnover goals to the use of AWS cloud services.

AWS provides large enterprises with a suite of innovative solutions, technical and operational support, and cloud migration programmes that lower the resource commitment needed to leverage the cloud for effective business operations, product development, and deployment. 

AWS Enterprise Support is a concierge-like service that provides customers with 24×7 service by engineers and technical experts who consult on a variety of company needs, such as software requirements, automation processes, and third-party operating systems. Customers are provided a technical account manager who advocates for the company’s needs and coordinates with subject matter experts of all AWS-related products and services (AWS, n.d.-d).

AWS Enterprise Solutions is a network of large enterprise peers who have used AWS experts and partners to pursue new revenue opportunities and strengthen operational efficiencies throughout their companies. This programme enables peer-to-peer learning and facilitates a community of practice on topics such as data-driven operations, data security, and workforce upskilling (AWS, n.d.-c).

AWS Migration Acceleration Programme is a cloud migration process that helps large enterprises integrate tools to accelerate operational efficiency while reducing migration cost and risk. Through tailored training, AWS guides companies on how to reduce IT cost, increase staff productivity, and improve business agility through cloud-based tools and employee capacity building. AWS partners with companies such as IBM, Infosys, and Tata Consultancy Services to implement enterprises’ migration process.

AWS Professional Services is a menu of offerings that are tailored to help enterprises meet specific business outcomes. A team of AWS experts employs best practices and documented processes to support enterprise movement on product or service creation, testing, scaling, and optimization. AWS Professional Services also includes specialty tracks for robotics, the internet of things, supply chain sustainability, quantum computing, and many other specialised technology and industry foci.

AWS Solutions Library is a collection of vetted technical solutions in current operation that can be customised and applied to meet enterprises’ needs. These solutions include off-the-shelf applications, products, and tailored tools to solve targeted business challenges. The Solutions Library includes tested industry-specific products such as FinTech identity management applications and life sciences research data management systems, as well as cross-industry technologies such as machine learning and data security and compliance (AWS, n.d.-g). 

 

Cisco’s Journey With AWS

Cisco and AWS have created a robust framework designed to enable innovation and empower digital transformation with secure, reliable solutions that reduce complexity and simplify IT across hybrid cloud environments. A senior India-based Cisco executive described the decision-making process for its AWS partnership: “AWS is the most widely deployed cloud, it is mature in its stability, security and performance. It also has the largest customer base. We wanted enough room to innovate in our offerings and were able to leverage AWS’ capabilities to do that.”

C. Bringing Digital India to the Grassroots

AWS has collaborated with non-profits, companies, and government entities for nearly two decades in 23 states across India to solve public sector challenges and enhance the transparency and accessibility of citizen services. 

AWS’ public-sector efforts support the digital transformation of national-level and local-level governmental entities, helping to scale social initiatives that improve the lives of Indian residents.

AWS actively collaborates with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the ministry responsible for coordinating Prime Minister Modi’s Digital India Initiative, and NITI Aayog, a policy think tank of the Government of India, to transform India into a digitally connected nation.

Common Services Centres (CSC) E-Governance initiative

CSCs are physical facilities that allow for cost-effective, scalable solutions to e-government. AWS is partnering with CSC e-governance services to help make essential services more accessible at the citizen level. A CSC leader noted that scalability was a problem using legacy systems and old data centres. “When concurrent users log on to a system to access content and services, servers were not supporting that activity at scale. That has not been the case since we have been on AWS. We can add more servers as needed based on user demand, and with AWS’ platform, we can now implement scalable solutions.” 

Providing Scale to Covid Relief Efforts

NITI Aayog, a policy think tank of the Government of India, AWS, and Intel launched a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC) in October 2020

Among its notable successes, the CIC enabled the design and implementation of the COvAID platform during the COVID-19 Delta variant wave. The COvAID inventory management system tracked and helped route aid from around the world to maximize the use of equipment (such as oxygen cylinders and concentrators, personal protective equipment, and virus testing kits), medicine (including vaccines and COVID medications), and COVID-related monetary resources.

StepOne is a voluntary collective of technology and healthcare professionals that was started in March 2020 to augment government resources in the fight against COVID-19.  StepOne hosts its technology on AWS and received AWS credits for free service for several months.

For the last 2 years, the project has undertaken 8.5 million tele-consults through 30,000 volunteers in over 21 states and union territories. Averaging more than 300,000 helpline calls during the second pandemic wave in April and May 2021, the project integrated scalable technology solutions through AWS to meet the staggering demand. AWS’ ML capabilities further enabled StepOne staff to view real-time trends from helpline data to ensure that additional services such as grief counselling and childcare were automatically implemented based on specific needs.

Leveraging Satellite Data to Transform Agriculture

SatSure leverages remote sensing satellite data in combination with ML technology to provide real-time insights and analytics related to agriculture, climate change, and finance. SatSure equips farmers with information that helps them adapt and adjust practices to reduce potential losses. Since satellite imagery is the primary input for SatSure’s solutions, using the Registry of Open Data on AWS reduces transaction cost and time.

“When we started investing in IoT data, we did not have to build the pipeline from scratch. Our services achieved platform continuity much faster because of micro-services such AWS Kinesis. On AWS S3, all the publicly available satellite data refreshed regularly. If the satellite passes once in 10 days anywhere in the world, then the 10-day frequency of the global data is available with AWS. It is a big cost-saver.’’

Training & Productivity

Skilling India With the Cloud

Cloud computing, cybersecurity and other digital skills are in high demand by Indian employers and will continue to grow as the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery accelerate the pace of digital adoption. 

In 2021, job openings for cloud computing increased more than threefold, driven by corporate shifts to cloud-based operations, which have been accelerated by the pandemic.

AWS workforce development programs are an integral part of national talent development activities to upskill the current workforce and train the next generation of tech professionals by increasing access to training opportunities and fostering direct employer connections. 

AWS Educate is a free, self-paced program to learn cloud basics and gain skills that translate to future education and professional opportunities. Alongside individual learners, this programme has been used globally by over 10,000 teachers and hundreds of thousands of students. The program allows learners to explore, search for, and apply to in-demand jobs and internships with organisations all over the world. 

AWS supports the goal of developing students’ skills in cloud computing and ML through the recently launched AWS DeepRacer Student League 2022. Undertaken in collaboration with Intel, the Ministry of Education and the AICTE, the league aims to reinforce new skills and learning using a game-based approach. 

AWS Academy provides a suite of online trainings for post-secondary students interested in entry-level careers in cloud computing. The AWS Academy program began in India in 2017 and is implemented through higher education institutions in 23 states. AWS Academy implements an educator (or train-the-trainer) model and has a technical team to support curriculum implementation. Through this cadre of trained educators, the program has reached tens of thousands of students.

Alongside the student-focused activities, an Educator Network has organically grown out of the faculty network trained in the curriculum. This group of professionals connects regularly to solve problems, share ideas, provide feedback to AWS on Academy-related curriculum updates, and recommend new topics for their students.

AWS also supports early- to mid-career professionals in developing and deepening digital skills. The AWS Training and Certifications programme comprises over 500 free, on-demand courses, interactive labs, and live training classes. Individuals can pursue training guided by their current or desired roles—such as web development—or by the solutions they want to implement—such as data security.

In addition to self-paced training options, AWS re/Start is a 12-week, free skills development programme to prepare trainees for cloud careers. Re/Start is currently implemented in over 25 cities across 12 countries, building a workforce pipeline for low-income individuals interested in entering technology fields.

To specifically support women’s career opportunities, AWS partnered with the Dream Collective to launch SheDares in India in February 2022. This self-paced, online programme provides interactive courses to help those with non-tech backgrounds pivot to a tech-centred career (The Dream Collective, 2022). This programme has reached women entering the technology field for the first time or re-entering after a career gap, providing training plus community support, mentorship, and job opportunities.  

References

  1. Abell, T., Arndt, H., & Lim, May-Ann. (2021). Cloud computing as a key enabler for tech start-ups across Asia and the Pacific. Asian Development Bank. Sustainable Development Working Paper Series. https://seads.adb.org/report/cloud-computing-key-enabler-tech-start-ups-across-asia-and-pacific

    Input-Output Economic Indicators. https://data.adb.org/dataset/india-input-output-economic-indicators
  2. AlphaBeta and Access Partnership. (2022). AWS commissioned report. Building digital skills for the changing workforce in India.
  3. Amazon. (2022). AWS and Intel announce DeepRacer Student League 2022 in India. https://www.aboutamazon.in/news/aws/aws-and-intel-announce-deepracer-student-league-2022-in-india
  4. Amazon. (n.d.). Our upskilling commitments: Workforce programs for the public. https://www.aboutamazon.com/impact/empowerment/training-for-the-public
  5. Amazon Press Centre. (2021). AWS re/start India prepares local talent for cloud careers. https://press.aboutamazon.in/news-releases/news-release-details/aws-restart-india-prepares-local-talent-cloud-careers
  6. AWS. (2019). Business value on AWS: Realizing business value with the AWS Cloud value framework. https://aws.amazon.com/executive-insights/content/business-value-on-aws/
  7. AWS. (2020a). A 10-week online programme for early-stage Indian SaaS startups: SaaS Central – powered by AWS and Prime Venture Partners. https://yourstory.com/2020/08/online-programme-indian-saas-startups-aws-prime/amp
  8. AWS. (2020b). Serving a digital-first India: Technology for progress and inclusion. eSanjeevani helpline offers critical telemedicine services. https://pages.awscloud.com/rs/112-TZM-766/images/Serving_a-Digital_First_India.pdf
  9. AWS. (2022a). AWS activate providers. https://aws.amazon.com/activate/portfolio-detail/ 
  10. AWS. (2022b). AWS activate startup credits to scale faster. https://aurelia.ventures/des/aws-activate/?utm_term=aws%20activate&utm_campaign=Vampire1&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=3931823193&hsa_cam=14744401602&hsa_grp=126402796726&hsa_ad=547847325077&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-354543839750&hsa_kw=aws%20activate&hsa_mt=p&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=CjwKCAiA1aiMBhAUEiwACw25Mal84avkhosCzihA3hMsPaHv5KYfAhgbykhsM2xM0vFzXmGMbKRc2BoCPFEQAvD_BwE
  11. AWS. (2022c). Grand challenge program.
  12. AWS. (2022d). Join the AWS partner network. https://aws.amazon.com/partners/
  13. AWS. (2022e). L&T IDPL. SAP on AWS Helps L&T IDPL Transform into a Digital-first business. https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/idpl/?did=cr_card&trk=cr_card
  14. AWS. (2022f). MoEngage builds market-leading ai marketing app on AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/moengage/
  15. AWS. (2022g). Sony. SonyLIV Grows Subscriber Base Tenfold and Enhances Streaming Platform Supported by AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/sonyliv/?did=cr_card&trk=cr_card
  16. AWS. (2022h). Tata CLiQ. Tata CLiQ Delivers an Immersive, Omnichannel Experience with Fast-Growing Online Marketplace on AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/tatacliq/
  17. AWS. (2022i). What is AWS marketplace? https://aws.amazon.com/mp/marketplace-service/overview/
  18. AWS. (n.d.-a). AWS academy. https://aws.amazon.com/training/awsacademy/ 
  19. AWS. (n.d.-b). Customer Success Stories. https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/?customer-references-cards.sort-by=item.additionalFields.sortDate&customer-references-cards.sort-order=desc&awsf.content-type=*all&awsf.customer-references-location=location%23apac&awsf.customer-references-segment=customer-segment%23enterprise&awsf.customer-references-industry=*all&awsf.customer-references-use-case=*all&awsf.customer-references-tech-category=*all&awsf.customer-references-product=*all&customer-references-cards.q=india&customer-references-cards.q_operator=AND
  20. AWS. (n.d.-c). AWS educate. https://aws.amazon.com/education/awseducate/?nc2=sb_ep_edu 
  21. AWS. (n.d.-d). AWS enterprise solutions. https://aws.amazon.com/enterprise/?nc2=h_mo
  22. AWS. (n.d.-e). AWS enterprise support. https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/plans/enterprise/
  23. AWS. (n.d.-f). AWS migration acceleration program. https://aws.amazon.com/migration-acceleration-program/
  24. AWS. (n.d.-g). AWS professional services. https://aws.amazon.com/professional-services/
  25. AWS. (n.d.-h). AWS solutions library. https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/
  26. AWS. (n.d.-i). AWS training and certifications. https://aws.amazon.com/training/
  27. AWS Programme Staff. (2022a). Information shared on March 8, 2022.
  28. AWS Programme Staff. (2022b). Information shared on May 10, 2022.
  29. AWS Public Sector Blog. (2020). NITI Aayog and AWS establish Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center in India. https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/niti-aayog-aws-establish-frontier-technologies-cloud-innovation-centre-india/
  30. Bhadada, P., Gupta, V., Godbole, V., Sethi, S., Ventures, C., Peddi, V., & Mittal, T. (2022). India SaaS Report 2022 – punching through the global pecking order. https://zinnov.com/india-saas-report/
  31. BusinessToday. (2021). MeitY to establish Quantum Computing Applications Lab in collaboration with AWS. https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/meity-to-establish-quantum-computing-applications-lab-in-collaboration-with-aws-284995-2021-01-20
  32. BusinessWorld. (2022). Digital Transformation-Indian Talent (IT)+ Information Technology (IT) = India Tomorrow (IT). https://www.businessworld.in/article/Digital-Transformation-Indian-Talent-IT-Information-Technology-IT-India-Tomorrow-IT-/17-07-2021-396977/
  33. Biswas, M., De, N., and Chatterjee, P. (2018). Cloud Technology and Start-up Business Growth in India. International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering Vol. 6(7) July 2018.
  34. Cisco. (2016). Cisco overview. https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/global/en_in/assets/pdfs/detailed_fact_sheet.pdf
  35. Cisco. (n.d.). Security. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/global-partners/aws.html#~security
  36. Dataquest. (2019). Digital India Initiative: Services launched so far under this programme. https://www.dqindia.com/digital-india-initiative-services-launched-far-programme/
  37. ETech. (2022). Healthtech startup Qure.ai raises $40 million in funding led by Novo Holdings, HealthQuad. The Economic Times.
  38. Fortune India. (2021). Fortune 500. India’s largest companies.
  39. Government of India. (2018). National Digital Communications Policy 2018. Available at https://dot.gov.in/sites/default/files/EnglishPolicy-NDCP.pdf
  40. Hindu Times Tech. (2020). AWS partners with Niti Aayog to bring its first Cloud Innovation Centre to India. https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/aws-partners-with-niti-aayog-to-bring-its-first-cloud-innovation-centre-in-india-71603111242506.html
  41. IDC. (2022). Worldwide Semiannual Public Cloud Services Tracker.
  42. IDC. (2021). Market Analysis Perspective: India Cloud 2021.
  43. Interntional Labour Organisation. (2022). Periodic Labour Force Survey.
  44. Inc42. (2021). Student startups powering next-gen innovation: Meet the winners Of The Grand Challenge 2020. https://inc42.com/buzz/student-startups-powering-next-gen-innovation-meet-the-winners-of-the-grand-challenge-2020/
  45. India Business News. (2022). India to overtake Japan as Asia’s second largest economy by 2030: IHS. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-to-overtake-japan-as-asias-2nd-largest-economy-by-2030-ihs/articleshow/88762500.cms
  46. Information Technology Intelligence Consulting. (2021). ITIC 2021 global server hardware, server OS reliability survey results. https://itic-corp.com/itic-2021-global-server-hardware-server-os-reliability-survey-results/#:~:text=ITIC’s%202021%20Hourly%20Cost%20of,(SMEs)%20and%20large%20enterprises
  47. International Data Corporation. (2021). Market analysis India Cloud. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=AP47745822
  48. Interview with AWS India programme staff. February 8, 2022.
  49. Minister of Electronics and IT. (2019), Digital India Vision and Vision Areas. https://www.digitalindia.gov.in/content/vision-and-vision-areas.
  50. Minister of Electronics and IT. (2022), GI Cloud (MeghRaj).
    https://www.meity.gov.in/content/gi-cloud-meghraj.
  51. Murthy, S. V. (2020). Measuring informal economy in India” Session II traditional estimation practices: Determining the level and growth of the informal economy.
  52. NASSCOM. (2020). NASSCOM riding the storm – towards the giant India SaaS opportunity. https://nasscom.in/knowledge-center/publications/nasscom-riding-storm-towards-giant-india-saas-opportunity
  53. NASSCOM. (2022). Cloud as a catalyst for business transformation: 2022 trends.
  54. National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2011). The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing.
  55. National Statistical Office (2022). Periodic Labour Force Survey. Government of India Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. https://www.niip.gov.in/web/plfs/home
  56. NITI Aayog. (n.d.). Atal innovation mission. Oveview of Digi-Yatra. https://aim.gov.in/
  57. NITI Aayog. (2021). NITI Aayog, AWS, and Intel Collaborate to Accelerate Digital Innovation in India. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1759652
  58. NITI Aayog. (n.d.). Atal innovation mission. Oveview of Digi-Yatra. https://aim.gov.in/
  59. NITY Aayog. (2021). Twitter post on COvAID. https://twitter.com/nitiaayog/status/1390267193829445632?s=24
  60. Padmanabhan, A. (2022). Economic Survey 2022: At least 14,000 new startups recognised in India, up 20 times in five years. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/economic-survey-2022-at-least-14000-new-startups-recognised-in-india/articleshow/89243366.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst 
  61. Pennam, S. (2016). Why Cloud Computing is the future for startups and small businesses. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-cloud-computing-future-startups-small-businesses-sudhakar-pennam
  62. Pragativadi. (2022). Govt Acting As Facilitator In Creating a Workforce for the Future: Dharmendra Pradhan. https://pragativadi.com/govt-acting-as-facilitator-in-creating-a-workforce-for-the-future-dharmendra-pradhan/.

    Reserve Bank of India. (2022). KLEMS Database from Reserve Bank of India.

  63. Sangni, P. (2020). Amazon cloud business grew by 54% in India in FY20. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/amazon-cloud-business-grew-54-in-india-in-fy20/articleshow/79782615.cms
  64. Sharm, A. (2020). How Indian health tech companies are using AWS technology to combat the spread of COVID-19. https://abhishek-sharma58585.medium.com/how-indian-health-tech-companies-are-using-aws-technology-to-combat-the-spread-of-covid-19-2e9dd9da7124
  65. Sikarwar, D. (2021). CovAid portal set up for real-time monitoring of relief. The Economic Times. News. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/covaid-portal-set-up-for-real-time-monitoring-of-relief/articleshow/82448411.cms
  66. Siwicki, B. (2021.) AWS physician expert talks new uses cases for telehealth, machine learning, cloud. Available at https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/aws-physician-expert-talks-new-use-cases-telehealth-machine-learning-cloud
  67. StepOne. (2021). Join StepOne to fight Covid. https://projectstepone.org/
  68. The Dream Collective. (2022). SheDares. https://www.thedreamcollective.com.au/programs/she-dares/
  69. The Indian Express. (2021). Project StepOne now prepares to take on Omicron challenge. https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/project-stepone-now-prepares-to-take-on-omicron-challenge-7686399/
  70. Times Now News. (2021). IT professionals demand up to 70% hike for switching jobs, turning down several offers. https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/industry/article/it-professionals-demand-up-to-70-hike-for-switching-jobs-turning-down-several-offers/784219
  71. Vennam, S. (2020). Cloud computing. https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/cloud-computing?lnk=fle 
  72. Verma, P. (2021). Demand for cloud-based workforce at an all-time high. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/demand-for-cloud-based-workforce-at-an-all-time-high/articleshow/81925047.cms
  73. Vikas, S. (2021). AWS launches Amazon Digital Suite for small business in India. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/aws-launches-amazon-digital-suite-for-small-business-in-india/articleshow/82100667.cms
  74. Your Story. (2020a). Startup news and updates: daily roundup. https://yourstory.com/2022/06/startup-news-updates-daily-roundup-june-11-2022-amazon-aws-npci-cred-kunal-shah/amp
  75. Your Story, Amazon Web Services. (2020b). Campus fund and AWS launch grand challenge – a unique pan India competition for student entrepreneurs.
  76. YouTube. (2019). CSC e-governance services India Ltd scales on demand with AWS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LZzVe13JkU
  77. YouTube. (2019,a). Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence Builds Innovative Health Solutions Using AWS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsDZfDdta7o.