Judge: AWS Does Not Have to Reinstate Parler

In perhaps the busiest week of the year so far for channel news, some might have slipped under the radar. After all, in a week dominated by a presidential inauguration, a Malwarebytes hack by the same group that took down SolarWinds and a legal battle between VMware and Nutanix, it wouldn’t be hard to miss other activity. Therefore, we bring you a roundup with the latest on the Parler lawsuit against Amazon Web Services. Furthermore, get the scoop on the new addition to the board of Google Cloud MSP SADA. And find out which certifications cloud MSPs Ensono and Navisite recently earned.

Judge Sides Against Parler After AWS Took Down the Site

Ten days after Amazon Web Services booted Parler from its servers, taking down the right-wing social media network, a judge says nothing has to change — at least for now.

On Thursday, a judge in Seattle rejected Parler’s request to reinstate the site. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein did say, though, she was not dismissing Parler’s “substantive underlying claims” in the process.

“The court rejects any suggestion that the public interest favors requiring AWS to host the incendiary speech that the record shows some of Parler’s users have engaged in,” Rothstein wrote in the order, according to CNBC. “At this stage, on the showing made thus far, neither the public interest nor the balance of equities favors granting an injunction in this case.”

AWS kicked Parler off its platform on Jan. 11, five days after the riot at the U.S. Capitol. AWS contended that Parler refused to remove violent content and plans to disrupt the Jan. 20 presidential transition. Moreover, the cloud computing provider said Parler was not abiding by rules it had agreed to regarding violent speech, that the site was “hosting content advocating violence and failing to timely take that content down.”

Parler, for its part, accuses AWS of breach of contract and of colluding with Twitter, violating antitrust laws.

AWS is one of several cloud companies to cut ties with Parler in the wake of the Jan. 6 events in Washington, D.C.

Google Cloud MSP SADA Appoints Kherlopian to Board

SADA has bolstered the cache of its board with the addition of Armen Kherlopian.

Kherlopian brings deep expertise in data science and artificial intelligence to the Google Cloud Global Partner of the Year. He joins SADA board members Lusiné Yeghiazaryan, chief audit executive at GoPro, Wendy Pfeiffer, CIO of Nutanix and Teena W. Piccione, executive vice president and CIO at RTI International, all of whom joined last year.

SADA’s Armen Kherlopian

Kherlopian, who holds a Ph.D., has made original scholarly contributions on algorithms as applied to several areas. Those include health, media, finance and security. He has served as chief science officer at Genpact and as a senior data scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton. Kherlopian also has worked with the FDA and NASA, co-founded startups (Voxface, Exteros, MedfoLink) and led a startup accelerator (BAJ Accelerator). He serves as a board director at Scylla, which delivers artificial intelligence to the private security sector, as well.

“Armen’s extensive experience in the enterprise and academia … will help expand the way we think about solving the biggest data problems for our customers,” said Tony Safoian, CEO of SADA. “His ability to align with our CTO, Miles Ward, on go-to-market ideas, packaged offerings and market demands will be helpful to our product and business strategy plans.”

Kherlopian said SADA has “repeatedly demonstrated the ability to accelerate high-value use of cloud tech, enabling clients to gain value from strategic data assets while enabling access to AI-powered algorithms that support business outcomes.”

SADA has been focusing on its data management and analytics practice in recent months. The Kherlopian appointment was a natural fit. The MSP recently unveiled …

… a large data project with MadHive and launched the National Response Portal for COVID-19 management. And last month, SADA said it had earned the Data Analytics Partner Specialization in the Google Cloud Partner Specialization Program.

Cloud MSPs Ensono, Navisite Earn Important Competencies

Two cloud MSPs said this month they each have achieved another competency with big-name vendors.

Early in January, Ensono announced it now holds VMware Cloud Verified Status.

Ensono’s Andri Sianipar

That means “our clients can have the confidence that Ensono holds robust private cloud capabilities and our infrastructure framework provides application flexibility and management across the full range of hybrid environments,” said Andri Sianipar, vice president, infrastructure at Ensono.

A couple weeks later, Navisite said it has earned the AWS Migration Competency status. That designation shows that Navisite provides the technology and expertise to help customers move to AWS through all phases of migration, including discovery, assessment, planning, migration and operations, the company said.

The certification also extends Navisite’s capabilities across proprietary and open-source technologies, according to the cloud MSP.

“As more companies move to hyperscale cloud environments, our team is ready to support them … throughout all phases of their migration and beyond so they can take full advantage of the cloud-native benefits, efficiencies and innovation that AWS has to offer,” said Jim Ball, vice president of global alliances at Navisite.