AWS Names MapR a Big Data Competency Partner for Hadoop Distribution

MapR’s Big Data platform, based on open source Apache Hadoop, gained the endorsement of Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has included the company’s software as the first Hadoop distribution in the new AWS Partner Network (APN) Competency Program.

Specifically, Amazon has deemed MapR a Big Data Competency Partner for Amazon Web Services (AWS). The title is awarded to APN partners that “have demonstrated success in helping customers evaluate and use the tools, techniques, and technologies of working with data productively, at any scale,” according to AWS.

The news is another positive development for MapR, which has emerged as a leading contender in the ferociously competitive—and still developing—world of Hadoop distributions. Earlier this year, Forrester recognized MapR as the Hadoop vendor with the best overall performance and greatest market promise.

MapR’s inclusion in the APN Competency Program is also good news for the Hadoop-based Big Data ecosystem more generally, since it helps to cement the place of Hadoop within the maturing constellation of Big Data solutions. That’s especially true given that MapR offers a Hadoop distribution that is relatively pure-play in nature, mostly open source and fully compatible with the Apache Hadoop API.

MapR, as one might expect, is taking the news well. “As the first Hadoop distribution company in the APN Competency Program, we’re excited to be recognized for helping customers successfully use Hadoop in production environments at any scale,” said Jon Posnik, vice president of Business Development at MapR Technologies. “This validation from AWS reaffirms the value that the MapR distribution provides in the cloud by delivering unparalleled flexibility, scalability and cost-effectiveness.”