As a result, Richemont will close its European data centres and migrate additional data centres in Hong Kong and the US to AWS by the end of next year. 

As part of its digital transformation strategy, the company will move more than 5,000 virtual machines and other resources to AWS to “modernise its infrastructure, raise its security posture, and drive automation across its global operations”.

There’s a lot of change going on at Richemont at present across the massive luxury business and this is a wider part of that process, even though consumers shouldn’t notice notice any obvious differences, beyond overall improvements.

Improvements should be seen as Richemont will now use AWS cloud-based systems that provide “engaging customer experiences via digitally optimised channels that use machine learning”. 

As mentioned, it’s also aiming to add “dynamic digital experiences for its e-commerce platform faster, including personalised storefronts and styling services, video chat consultations featuring fashion shows customised to the shopper’s tastes, and tailored offers for early access to new items before they hit stores”.

It’s a huge deal for both firms and Richemont’s “cloud-first strategy” includes migrating a massive number of operations to AWS as well as e-commerce systems. Its business-critical enterprise IT applications and enterprise resource planning will be migrated, along with accounting, supply chain management, manufacturing, and product lifecycle management.