Event 1

Summary Report: “Vietnam Cloud Day 2025: Ho Chi Minh City Connect Edition for Builders (Track 2: Migration & Modernization)”

Event Objectives

  • Complete large-scale migration and modernization with AWS
  • Modernize applications using generative AI–powered tools
  • Group discussion: Application modernization—Accelerate business transformation
  • Transform VMware with AI-driven cloud-modernization technologies
  • AWS security at scale: From development to production

Speakers

  • Nguyen Van Hai - Director of Software Engineering, Techcombank
  • Nguyen The Vinh - Co-Founder & CTO, Ninety Eight
  • Nguyen Minh Nganh - AI Specialist, OCB
  • Nguyen Manh Tuyen - Head of Data Application, LPBank Securities

Key Highlights

1. Learn large-scale migration and modernization strategies with AWS through real-world case studies from Techcombank

  • The Modernization Journey of Techcombank’s

    • Assess: Inventory the environment and identify gaps.
    • Mobilize: Establish CCoE, define guardrails, and build cloud fluency.
    • Migrate & Modernize: Prioritize high-impact workloads.
    • Reinvent: AI, automation, data products, new business models.

  • Generative AI in Modernization.

    • Code Transformation: Java 8 -> 21, .NET -> .NET 8
    • Dependency Mapping: Automatied analysis of system relationships.
    • Environment Assessment: Amazon: thousands of services modernized with AI

  • Solutions and strategies Techcombank applied when using AWS services. Modernization with AWS native technologies:

    • Amazon EKS
    • Amazon Aurora MySQL
    • Amazon MSK
    • Amazon ElastiCache for Redis OSS.

  • Overview of the Modernization Strategy Blueprint.

    Align: Executive sponsorship and business drivers
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Assess: Understand people, process, and technology
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Mobilize: CoE, governance, training
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Modernize: Replatform, refactor, rebuild
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Reinvent: Data, AI, and modern apps for innovation

2. Gain knowledge about modernizing applications using Generative Al-powered tools, with practical insights from VPBank

  • Modernization is the process of progressively transforming applications to achieve the availability, scalability, business agility, and cost optimization benefits of running on the cloud.

Top 4 Use cases – App Modernization with GenAI.

Use case 1: Streamline VMware Migration with AWS Transform for VMware

Accelerate infrastructure migration and modernization with intelligent discovery and automated execution

  • Slash VMware migration timelines with AWS Transform’s intelligent automation.

  • Convert complex network configurations in hours instead of weeks using Al-powered discovery, dependency mapping, and automated wave planning.

  • Scale your migration practice with automated security group creation, intelligent EC2 instance selection, and flexible deployment options including hub-and-spoke or isolated VPC configurations.

  • Gain up to 90% improverent in execution times while reducing manual effort by 80%.

Use case 2: GenAI Development with AWS Serverless and Container Solutions

Build Enterprise-Ready GenAI Applications Across AWS Serverless and Containers Platforms

  • AWS offers two powerful paths for GenAI application development and deployment:

    • Serverless with AWS Bedrock: Rapidly develop and deploy GenAI applications using AWS Lambda, ECS with Fargate, Step Functions, and EventBridge. Ideal for chatbots, document generation, and intelligent content processing. Leverage the latest AWS Bedrock updates and reference architectures.

    • Container-Based with Amazon EKS: Build, train, and run GenAl apps on Kubernetes, benefiting from its powerful orchestration capabilities. Utilize open-source tools and cloud-native services for scalable GenAl workloads. Flexible deployment across cloud and on-premises environments with constant innovation from the OSS community.

  • Choose one approach or combine both to best fit your specific GenAI application requirements and accelerate your AI journey.

Use case 3: Revolutionize .NET Modernization with AWS Transform for .NET

Transform legacy Windows applications to cloud-native with AI-powered automation.

  • Modernize Windows-based applications up to 4× faster with AWS Transform for .NET.
  • Leverage AI automation to analyze dependencies, refactor code, and optimize for Linux deployment while cutting licensing costs by up to 40%.
  • Transform hundreds of applications in parallel with automated testing and validation câpbilities—from legacy MVC applications to WCF services.
  • Advanced features include automatic UI modernization, private package handling, and intelligent wave planning, delivering comprehensive modernization with exceptional speed.

Use case 4: Elevate Platform Engineering with GenAI & IDP

Harness the power of intelligent assistants like AWS Transform Developer with Internal Development Platforms.

  • Scaling modernization at an enterprise level requires time and investment to develop Internal Development Platforms (IDP). Gartner predicts that by 2026, 80% of software engineering organizations will establish platform teams as internal providers of reusable services, components, and tools for application delivery.

  • Harness the power of intelligent assistants like AWS Transform Developer with IDPs to:

    1. Create workflows and automate repetitive tasks.

    2. Learn IDP best practices leading organizations, such as Adobe, Expedia, JPMC, and Goldman Sachs.

    3. Understand AWS container blueprints and reference architectures to deliver accelerated velocity and scaling for an enterprise scale modernization initiative.

Common modernization drivers

  • Reduce costs

    • Reduce/eliminate Windows & SQL Server licensing costs
    • Create architectures that match cost to actual load
    • Leverage ARM64 architectures for better price-performance

  • Increase pace of innovation

    • Decompose monoliths into smaller services / microservices
    • Take advantage of new technologies and C# language features
    • Automate manual processes

  • Improve ability to scale

    • Scale individual components / services
    • Granular scaling with containers / serverless

  • Attract and retain talent

3. Gain insights from top industry experts through panel discussions on application modernization

.NET Framework vs cross-platform .NET

  • .NET Framework:

    • Windows-only OS
    • Version 1.0 released in 2002
    • Final version is 4.8*, released in 2019
    • Monolithic installation—A large number of libraries are installed at once.
    • EC2, Elastic Beanstalk, ECS, and EKS.

  • .NET (formerly .NET Core)

    • Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS)
    • Version 1.0 released in 2016
    • Current GA version is 8.0, released in 2023
    • Supports side-by-side installations
    • Most libraries are distributed individually
    • EC2, Elastic Beanstalk, ECS, EKS, Lambda
    • Fargate

AWS Transform: Orchestrated intelligence

  • Unified web experience -> End-to-end automation -> Dedicated agency -> Goal-driven -> Human-in-the-loop -> Simplified collaboration

AWS Transform for .NET

  • Customer benefits

    • Reduce operating costs by up to 40%
    • Eliminate operating system license commercial costs
    • Access a larger developer pool
    • Cloud scale and performance.

  • Technical benefits

    • Vulnerability remediation support
    • Cross-platform support: Windows, macOS, Linux (x86-64, arm64)
    • Compatibility with x86-64 and arm64
    • LightweightContainer
    • Lambda serverless architecture

Complete language upgrades in minutes via Amazon Q

  • Accelerate application modernization Automatic Language Upgrade (Java, .NET)
  • Reduce Technical Debt
  • Save Costs and Improve Operational Efficiency
  • Enhance Competitive Advantage

Kiro application: Specification-driven development solution

  • Kiro helps developers and engineering teams ship high-quality software with AI agents.
  • Kiro turns your prompts into clear requirements, system designs, and discrete tasks.
  • Iterate with Kiro on your specifications and architecture.
  • Kiro agents implement the specification while keeping you in control.

Agent hook

  • Delegate tasks to AI agents triggered by events such as ‘file save’
  • Agents auto-execute in the background based on your predefined prompts
  • Agent hooks help you scale work by generating documentation, unit tests, or code performance optimizations

Advanced context management

  • Connect to documents, databases, APIs, and more with native MCP integrations
  • Configure how you want Kiro agents to interact with each project via directive files
  • Drop in an image of your UI design or a photo from your architecture discussion and Kiro can use it to guide implementation

Power, flexibility, and security

  • Compatible with VS Code

    • Kiro supports VS Code Open VSX plugins, themes, and settings in a streamlined AI-ready environment

  • Advanced Claude models

    • Choose between Claude Sonnet 3.7 or Sonnet 4, with more options coming soon

  • Enterprise-grade security

    • Kiro is built and operated by AWS

Use cases

  • Build new applications

    • Quickly go from prototype to production code and deployment, with best practices baked in, including structured design, runbooks, or test coverage scope

  • Build on existing applications

    • With smart specification and context management, Kiro makes it easy to integrate and extend existing applications while maintaining consistency

  • Refactor and modernize

    • Kiro understands your codebase and can precisely guide refactoring across codebases exceeding one million LOC

4. Learn about AI-driven cloud modernization tailored for VMware environments

The future state of your VMware workloads

RELOCATE: Amazon EVS
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REHOST: Amazon EC2
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REPLATFORM TO CONTAINERS: Amazon ECS or Amazon EKS
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REPLATFORM TO MANAGED SERVICES: Amazon RDS, Amazon FSx, Amazon WorkSpaces, and more
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REFACTOR: Modern Application

=> Rapid adoption, foundational cloud benefits and quick ROI....................---->....................All native cloud benefits and high ROI

AWS Transform for VMware

  • Modernize VMware workloads onto Amazon EC2 with purpose-built AI agents
  • Automate and simplify transformation tasks
  • Reduce costs and licensing fees with Amazon EC2
  • Enhance security, scalability, and resilience
  • Drive innovation with over 200 AWS native services

Mapping VMware native technologies to AWS

VMware to AWS native technology mapping

An agentic AI-based approach to VMware modernization

1. Connect to your VMware environment
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2. Analyze workloads, dependencies, and readiness
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3. Transform VMware network configurations into AWS native constructs
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4. Generate intelligent wave plans based on application dependencies
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5. Validate with your team, then execute

=> Step-by-step transformation with human-in-the-loop validation

Why AWS Transform for migrating from VMware?

  • Lower costs

    • Eliminate VMware licensing fees
    • Optimize infrastructure costs with AI-driven instance right-sizing

  • Faster migration

    • Accelerate network transformation up to 80× Minimize disruption, preserve application integrity, and speed up the transition

  • Improved security

    • Strengthen security with a cloud-native foundation
    • Migrate safely with a human-in-the-loop validation process

  • Innovation at scale

    • Reduce technical debt and build modern, scalable applications
    • Seamlessly integrate with over 200 AWS native services like data lakes, advanced analytics, and AI/ML

5. Connect and learn directly from AWS Solutions Architects and industry experts

  • In this part, experts presented the challenges faced in the early stages of full-system modernization from on-premises to AWS.

    • They proposed specific plans and strategies for each area, executing the most critical parts first.
    • They also adhered to current regulations and laws in management and did not collect user information.
    • Once on AWS, the most important factor is the ability to scale rapidly, which leads to substantial gains when moving to the AWS environment.
    • Applying AI is proving highly effective in their businesses—for example, anh Vinh has applied AI to detect potentially fraudulent transactions and defend against hackers in Blockchain.

6. Understand AWS security best practices from development to production environments

What I Learned

  • 5-step framework: Align → Assess → Mobilize → Modernize → Reinvent.
  • GenAI-assisted modernization: code transformation (Java 8→21, .NET→8), dependency mapping, environment assessment.
  • Prioritize high-impact workloads, human-in-the-loop, measure ROI.

Design Thinking

  • Problem→Pilot→Scale; prioritize value-first.
  • Strangler Fig refactor by parts; event-driven mindset.
  • Platform thinking/IDP, security-by-design, early governance.

Technical Architecture

  • Microservices, containers (EKS/ECS/Fargate), serverless (Lambda/Step Functions/EventBridge).
  • Data: Aurora MySQL, MSK (Kafka), ElastiCache (Redis).
  • VMware→AWS: rehost EC2 → replatform containers/managed → refactor app.
  • Multi-arch (x86_64 + ARM64), end-to-end observability.

Modernization Strategies

  • Assess/Mobilize/MM/Reinvent (Techcombank blueprint).
  • AWS Transform: for VMware & .NET (automated migration/testing/UI modernization).
  • Cost-first: drop Windows/SQL licenses, right-size, ARM64.
  • Scale & Innovate: decompose monolith, CI/CD automation, adopt GenAI.

Application to Work

  • Build a migration backlog by ROI; select a small pilot.
  • Standardize container baseline (EKS) + Bedrock pattern for GenAI.
  • Use Amazon Q/Transform to upgrade languages & refactor quickly.
  • Design an internal IDP: service templates, golden paths, policy guardrails.

Experience at the event

“GenAI-powered Migration & Modernization provided a comprehensive view of transforming applications & databases at enterprise scale. Highlights: demos of automated VMware/.NET migration, serverless–container reference architectures, quantitative ROI lessons and battle-tested governance models, along with case studies that significantly shortened migration time and reduced costs.”

Learning from highly specialized speakers

  • Techcombank: operate with CCoE, measure business outcomes, 5-step roadmap.
  • Ninety Eight: AI anti-fraud, strong security posture, real-time.
  • OCB/LPBankS: data products, automation, safe cloud scale.

Hands-on technical experience

  • Clear view of dependency mapping, wave planning, auto SG/EC2 sizing, hub-and-spoke VPC.
  • Auto code upgrade, cross-platform .NET, automatic UI modernization.

Modern tool adoption

  • AWS Transform (VMware/.NET), Amazon Q (auto language upgrade).
  • Bedrock, Lambda, ECS/Fargate, EKS, Step Functions, EventBridge.
  • Aurora, MSK, ElastiCache, EC2; IDP tooling; Kiro (spec→tasks/agents, MCP).

Networking and exchange

  • Finalize best practices from SAs & major banks; governance/security checklists.
  • Connect for mentorship, pattern reuse, ROI comparison & benchmarking.
  • The event created opportunities to interact directly with experts, peers, and business teams, helping to strengthen the ubiquitous language between business and tech.

Lessons learned

  • Applying DDD and event-driven patterns reduces coupling and increases scalability and resilience.

  • A modernization strategy needs a phased approach and ROI measurement; avoid rushing a full system overhaul.

  • AI tools like Amazon Q Developer can boost productivity when integrated into the current development workflow.

  • Modernize with strategy: measure ROI, prioritize by value.

  • Automation + GenAI shortens timelines and reduces technical debt.

  • Platform/IDP is a scale lever; security-by-default is indispensable.

  • Human-in-the-loop ensures safety for broad automation.

Some photos from the event

VietNam Cloud Day 2025

Over 400 passionate technology developers in Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh gathered at the AWS office (36th Floor) to watch the live plenary session from Hà Nội, sharing the excitement and knowledge about AWS Cloud Day Vietnam 2025

Overall, the event not only provided technical knowledge but also changed my mindset about application design, system modernization, and more effective cross-team collaboration.