AWS’ Terry Wise delivered the Global Partner Summit keynote address at AWS Re:Invent in Las Vegas on November 29, 2016.
Just over a month after announcing its key strategic partnership with VMware, Amazon Web Services on Tuesday announced that the two companies will be rolling out an integrated partner program in 2017.
The announcement came during the keynote address of the Global Partner Summit at the AWS Re:Invent conference in Las Vegas.
Additionally, Terry Wise, director of the Amazon Web Services worldwide partner ecosystem, announced AWS is launching a new public sector public program. Calling it an extension of AWS’ work in the public sector, Wise said there will be more go-to-market funding and that it is extending the program to partners in the nonprofit and educational institutions as well.
More than 400 partners already qualify, including software companies like Okta and consulting partners like Booze Allen Hamilton.
The AWS global partner ecosystem is growing at a rapid clip, Wise said. For instance, AWS’ managed service provider business is growing at more than 130 percent year-over-year. Its consulting partner business has seen 110 percent year over year growth. Nearly two-thirds of AWS partners now reside outside of the US, Wise said, with a lot of growth coming from the enterprise and public sector markets.
Wise touted the innovation of AWS customers, such as C3 IoT’s work in the Internet of Things space, and ZeroLight’s work in the automotive industry. He also highlighted software partners like Okta, “built off the cloud for the cloud.”
That growth has been driven in part, he said, by global volatility. Factors like fluctuations in energy prices, unexpected election outcomes around the globe and changing banking interest rates all make the agility of the cloud more important than ever, Wise, said.
“This is all volatility taking place in the market, and the winners are going to be those who can be agile,” Wise said in his keynote address at the Global Partner Summit. “It’s up to us to provide the foundation for innovation and agility.”
AWS re:Invent 2016
Going all-in with AWS cloud computing: Four takeaways from Matson CIO Peter Weis
Cloud compute pricing bakeoff: Google vs. AWS vs. Microsoft Azure
Amazon cuts its cloud storage prices, again
AWS rolls out SaaS subscriptions
AWS cloud costs: Amazon hopes these tools can help fight budget blowouts