AWS re:Invent Day 3: What Partners Wanted to Hear

AWS RE:INVENT — Amazon Web Services’ annual event took a partner focus during Wednesday’s keynote, led by Doug Yeum, head of AWS worldwide channels and alliances since July.

Speaking to thousands of partners, Yeum said, “I am personally committed, and AWS is committed, to making sure that all of you are successful.”

With that in mind, Yeum made a point of noting that Amazon Partner Network, which launched in 2012, has reached tens of thousands consulting and technology partners, respectively, since that time. And in 2019, APN adds 50 new partners worldwide every day, Yeum said.

That’s because more organizations are choosing AWS as their cloud vendor, he added. To support that demand, AWS so far has more than 175 services.

AWS’ Doug Yeum

“That equates to new opportunities for all of you,” Yeum said. And, he said, “We will continue to open new regions in all the world’s major economies and many emerging ones.”

In addition, the Amazon Partner Network is attracting more types of partners. When APN launched, it served mostly born-in-the-cloud system integrators, Yeum said. Now, the array contains next-generation managed service providers, specialized and established SIs, IP solution providers, ISVs and hardware manufacturers.

“Growth is driving partner diversification in the APN,” Yeum said.

Growth also is coming from the C-level imperative for digital transformation, he noted.

“Customers turn to APN partners to help with that journey,” Yeum said. ““For [organizations] to be competitive in their respective markets, they have to … rethink the way they deliver services and experiences to their customers.”

Partners are vital to helping steer clients in their digital transformation efforts, even while furthering their own evolution, Yeum said.

“Wherever you’re located, whatever your industry may be or whatever specialty you may have, there are so many different types of opportunities for all of you to grow your businesses with AWS,” he said.

Yeum also sat down with AWS CEO Andy Jassy to talk about ways partners can transform to keep pace with a cloud-first world. Jassy recommended four key approaches. First, he said, prioritize.

“You have to make some hard decisions about what you’re going to do with the business,” Jassy said.

Then, he said, think about how to use machine learning and artificial intelligence. Next, make sure to offer per-hour pricing and, finally, help enterprises modernize, he said.

As expected, AWS made a series of partner-centric announcements during Yeum’s keynote. One of the most significant was the APN Global Startup Program launch. The initiative helps startups become “enterprise ready” by providing increased, proscriptive benefits and more resources, Yeum said. Candidates must have raised Series A or later funding from a top venture capital fund; have an innovative enterprise technology solution running on AWS with at least one product in general availability; and an executive team committed to AWS. So far, the APN Global Startup Program has more than 270 launch partners.

AWS also said AWS Marketplace has added 100 new independent software vendors and that these vendors now can handle private offers in the Marketplace. AWS rounded out the partner program announcements with the release of the Service Ready Program, which reduces the time customers spend finding …

… the right partner product, and the new AWS Public Safety and Disaster Response Competency, which certifies partners in offering related technologies.

On top of AWS’ announcements, vendors attending re:Invent 2019 continued to release news of their own. Here’s another roundup:

Aviatrix Unveils CloudWAN Platform

Cloud networking software vendor Aviatrix this week launched Aviatrix CloudWAN for Cisco branch routers.

The platform enables optimal path and lowest-latency routing to applications running on AWS.

“At the scale we operate in our cloud environments, we can’t do networking manually,” said John Deatherage, cloud architect at Docker, the enterprise container developer. “It has to be abstracted and automated. Aviatrix is that … layer for us. Their new CloudWAN service and integration with the new AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager will allow us to extend the automation layer to our branch offices.”

The Aviatrix controller has full knowledge of the customer’s AWS environment and configures branch office routers to direct traffic over the best path to applications on AWS. Customers use existing Cisco branch office routers without requiring hardware or software upgrades. This, paired with multiple internet connections, enables a highly available, optimally routed multisite-to-cloud solution, Aviatrix said.

“CloudWAN extends Aviatrix’s … orchestration and control reach beyond the cloud core to enterprise branch offices in a way that enables Cisco branch routers deployed worldwide to connect to AWS with the least latency possible,” said Sherry Wei, founder and CPO at Aviatrix.

David Brown, vice president, Amazon EC2, at AWS, agreed.

“Our customers need to allow branch-office access to AWS workloads in a frictionless way,” he said. “By integrating the Aviatrix CloudWAN service with our new AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager, we can make routers in branch offices more intelligent when communicating with AWS.”

Aviatrix CloudWAN is available by launching the Aviatrix Controller v5.2 AMI from AWS Marketplace. Existing customers just need to update their Aviatrix software to the latest version.

Aruba Integrates SD-WAN with AWS Transit Gateway

Aruba has integrated its SD-WAN platform with the new AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager.

This simplifies deployment and management of networks connecting remote branch locations to Amazon virtual private clouds. Users may administer connectivity among AWS resources and their on-premises locations using either Aruba Central or AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager. Aruba Central automates with APIs that interact with AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager.

“This new capability helps to simplify and streamline network management for customers, so they can focus on driving their businesses forward,” said David Brown, vice president of Amazon EC2 at AWS.

Aruba says its software-defined branch technology brings together cloud-managed SD-WAN, wired and wireless networking and security, all managed through the Aruba Central interface. The idea is to …

… improve pure-play SD-WAN deployment, according to the company.

“With branch locations scaling up to the hundreds, if not thousands, of sites, the need for flexibility and simplified management powered by the cloud is critical,” said Kishore Seshadri, vice president and general manager of SD-WAN solutions at Aruba, which is owned by Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “The integration between Aruba’s SD-WAN solution and AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager uses the power of the cloud to seamlessly connect branches to workloads in any region.”

Aruba is demonstrating the SD-WAN-AWS Transit Gateway platform this week at AWS re:Invent.

Barracuda Pairs Cloud Security Guardian with Amazon Detective

Cloud security company Barracuda Networks said this week is has integrated Cloud Security Guardian with AWS’ Amazon Detective security service.

Cloud Security Guardian provides visibility into cloud workload security, facilitates compliance and automates security-incident remediation. Amazon Detective analyzes, investigates and identifies the cause of security findings or suspicious activities. It automatically collects log data from AWS resources and uses machine learning, statistical analysis and graph theory to help users visualize and conduct faster and more efficient security investigations.

With the Amazon Detective integration, Barracuda customers can gain deeper insight into threats or violations exposed by Cloud Security Guardian. For example, if Cloud Security Guardian detects a policy violation in a specific region, the customer can drill down into Amazon Detective and investigate whether a breach occurred due to the violation, whether there was a lateral impact, and so on. This enables the ability to fix the problem before more attacks occur, Barracuda said.

“The integration with Amazon Detective makes it simple for customers to take their response a step further and understand the impact of the threat by learning more about the context of an attack, such as if there was a spike in inbound or outbound traffic flow after the attack or if there is additional intelligence available about the IP making the attack,” said Tim Jefferson, a senior vice president at Barracuda.

Fortinet Extends Cloud Security on AWS

Cybersecurity vendor Fortinet has extended its cloud security for advanced security on AWS.

The company has integrated its FortiGate-VM with the recently released AWS CloudFormation third-party resource provider framework and now offers new Fortinet managed rulesets for AWS Web Application Firewall.

In addition, Fortinet’s cloud security now supports Amazon Virtual Private Cloud Ingress Routing enhancements.

“The cloud provides a number of business-critical benefits, and having the right security solutions in place is key in successful cloud operations,” said John Maddison, executive vice president of product and CMO at Fortinet. “As organizations increasingly leverage AWS, our collaboration to deliver cybersecurity solutions on the cloud helps to enhance security and allow organizations to reap the full breadth of benefits the cloud provides.”

Fortinet is exhibiting at this week’s AWS re:Invent expo.

Digital Guardian Puts Data Protection Platform in AWS Marketplace

Digital Guardian reiterated this week that its Data Protection Platform now is available in AWS Marketplace. The software combines data loss prevention with endpoint detection and response in one agent and management console.

“The cloud-delivered Digital Guardian Data Protection Platform is designed to scan files and databases on Linux or Windows servers running on AWS and apply controls to extend additional enterprise-wide data protection into cloud infrastructure,” said Connie Stack, chief strategy officer at Digital Guardian.

Digital Guardian first announced the platform’s availability in late November, just before re:Invent.

Digital Guardian is a Select Technology Partner in the AWS Partner Network.