Amazon's AWS re:Invent 2020 conference shifts to virtual mode this year, and the online event will stretch from November 2020 until at least January 2021, the cloud computing giant has indicated.
So what can partners expect from the Amazon Web Services team? Stay tuned to this live news blog for daily updates throughout the virtual event. Share Your News: If you have AWS re:Invent news to share, please email me the details ([email protected]) for potential coverage on ChannelE2E.
34. Network Detection and Response: IronNet Cybersecurity is offering its professional services in AWS Marketplace.
33. Compliance Tool: Amazon has launched AWS Audit Manager to help cloud customers map to compliance control requirements involving GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS and more. AWS Audit Manager is a fully managed service that provides prebuilt frameworks for common industry standards and regulations, and automates the continual collection of evidence to help you in preparing for an audit, the company says.
32. Cloud Machine Learning: AWS has announced nine new Amazon SageMaker capabilities focused on machine learning.
31. Healthcare Cloud Data Lake: Amazon unveiled HealthLake, a "HIPAA-eligible service for healthcare and life science organizations." HealthLake aggregates an organization’s complete data into a centralized AWS data lake, using machine learning (ML) to automatically normalize the data, the company says.
30. APIs - Cloud Management: CloudCheckr has announced a new API integration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Control Tower.
29. Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR): Veeam Backup for AWS v3 is now available in two options:
- Veeam Backup for AWS, a standalone AWS backup and recovery solution for protecting data on AWS; and
- Veeam Backup & Replication, unifying AWS backup and recovery with other cloud, virtual or physical data, and unlimited data portability to, from, and across clouds.
28. Partner of the Year: Cisco Systems has named AWS as its ecosystem partner of the year.
27. Cloud-Managed ERP Services: Syntax has been accepted into the AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) Program. Syntax is designated as an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner.
26. MSSP Cloud Services: Secureworks, a Top 250 MSSP, has released its security analytics software and additional software tools into the AWS Marketplace.
25. Cloud Services Distribution: Ingram Micro Cloud announced has achieved AWS Well-Architected Partner status.
24. Identity and Access Management (IAM): Okta Identity Cloud are now available in the AWS Marketplace.
23. Cloud Startup Support: Participants in Amazon's APN Global Startup Program are growing rapidly, according to Elio Narciso, principal BD, startups at AWS. Qualified startups realize benefits in three key areas—product development, go-to-market, and co-sell, Narciso asserts.
22. AWS Government Partner Training: Tech Data will offer its partners the AWS Partner Transformation Program (PTP). The program involves an assessment, training and enablement program designed to help partners accelerate the development of an AWS cloud practice.
21. AWS MSP: nClouds, a Top 250 Public Cloud MSP, has been re-certified as an AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner.
20. Professional Services for AWS: Amazon has launched the Professional Services in AWS Marketplace. The marketplace allows customers to find and buy assessments, implementation, support, managed services, and training for your third-party software that runs on AWS. Early marketplace supporters include Rackspace, Sophos, World Wide Technology.
19. Cloud Security - Firewalls: Fortinet has announced new AWS integrations involving Fortinet's virtual next-generation firewall, FortiGate VM and web application firewall (WAF), FortiWeb. The latest integrations also involve:
- Fortinet Managed IPS Rules Powered by FortiGuard Labs
- FortiGate VM Next-Generation Firewall integration with AWS Gateway Load Balancer.
- Fortinet consulting services for AWS customers
18. 5G Networks: Vodafone Business has leveraged AWS Wavelength to launch a new service that combines Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) technology with 5G networks.
17. AWS Database: SingleStore, formerly MemSQL, is now available in the AWS Marketplace.
16. Vulnerability Management - AWS and ServiceNow: Tenable's new cloud scanning technique, called Frictionless Assessment, is now available in AWS Marketplace. Customers can continuously scan and maintain visibility across cloud-based assets without needing to deploy an agent, the company says. Also, Tenable now integrates with ServiceNow to streamline vulnerability assessment and remediation.
15. AWS Consulting: Deloitte has announced a global, multi-year strategic collaboration with AWS Professional Services on cloud migration and application modernization for enterprise and public sector customers. Deloitte has roughly 20,000 global cloud practitioners, and a total workforce of 330,000 people.
14. Cloud DevOps: Amazon unveiled DevOps Guru, a fully-managed operations service that uses machine learning to make it easier for developers to improve application availability by automatically detecting operational issues and recommending specific actions for remediation, the company says.
13. AWS Aurora vs Microsoft SQL Server: Amazon escalated the relational database wars against Microsoft's flagship SQL Server. The moves include the next version of Aurora Serverless, as well as a new capability that makes it easier for customers to migrate from SQL Server to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, the company says. Keep an eye on Babelfish for Aurora PostgreSQL, which allows customers to run SQL Server applications directly on Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL with little to no code changes, Amazon asserts.
12. Four Container Services: Amazon announced four new container offerings to "help customers develop, deploy, and scale modern applications." The lineup includes: (1) Amazon ECS Anywhere and (2) Amazon EKS Anywhere, which enable customers to run Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS in their own data centers. Plus, (3) AWS Proton provides developers with a new service to automate container and serverless application development and deployment. And (4) Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR) Public allows developers to share and deploy container software publicly, the company says.
11. Partnership - Auto Industry: AWS and BlackBerry announced a multi-year, global agreement to develop and market BlackBerry's Intelligent Vehicle Data Platform -- which is known as IVY. The platform will allow automakers to provide a "consistent and secure way to read vehicle sensor data, normalize it, and create actionable insights from that data both locally in the vehicle and in the cloud."
10. Data Protection Rivalry: Cohesity and Rubrik each plans to showcase their offerings at AWS re:Invent 2020. Among the areas of focus for Cohesity: Data Management as a Service on AWS. Also, Rubrik is showcasing new integrations on AWS -- including the forthcoming Rubrik Andes 5.3 release.
9. Zoom and Alexa: AWS remains Zoom Video Communications' referred cloud provider. Moreover, AWS and Zoom are collaborating to "develop new solutions for Zoom’s enterprise users" that have hybrid office and remote work models. For instance, Zoom will integrate its video meeting service into select Amazon Echo Show devices and incorporating Alexa for Business features, including voice control, into its Zoom Rooms service.
8. Apple macOS on AWS: Amazon has unveiled Mac instances for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) to help Apple developers write applications for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV hardware. The cloud service is built on Mac mini computers.
7. AWS Data Lakes: Informatica announced a new Governed Data Lake Management Solution for AWS. The result: Joint customers to govern, secure and scale a data lake on Amazon S3, the company says.
6. AWS Outposts Partners: A growing number of technology companies are now approved partners for AWS Outposts -- which essentially allows Amazon's cloud services technology to run on-premises. Recently approved AWS Outposts partners include Talend, a data integration company, and Portworx by Pure Storage.
5. AWS Partners of the Year: Honorees in Asia Pacific and the Middle East include Citrus Consulting Services, Commencis, Minfy Technologies, eCloudvalley, Oceania and CMD Solutions, Consultancy.org reports.
4. AWS Global Partner Summit: re:Invent will feature a Global Partner Summit on December 3 keynoted by Doug Yeum, head of Global Partner Organization; Sandy Carter, vice president, Global Public Sector Partners and Programs; and Dave McCann, vice president, AWS Migration, Marketplace, and Control Services. We'll post a recap.
3. AWS Cloud MSPs: Roughly 65 percent of the world's Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs support AWS, according to ChannelE2E 2020 research. The big question: How can AWS grow from scores of certified MSP partners to hundreds -- or thousands -- of certified MSP partners? The short answer involves Amazon promoting this 12-step journey for partners to build AWS MSP practices. We'll be listening for potential partner program incentives during the virtual event.
2. VMware Cloud on AWS: Roughly 18 percent of the world's Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs support VMware Cloud on AWS, according to ChannelE2E 2020 research. Moreover, VMware Cloud on AWS continues to grow revenue over 100% year-over-year, VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger said during the company's November 24 earnings call. Actual dollar figures remain undisclosed, but it's clear that VMware and Amazon have a lot riding on their relationship. So it's a safe bet VMware Cloud on AWS updates and milestones will surface at the virtual event -- potentially in the area of VMware Tanzu.
1. AWS Cloud Security: Amazon has introduced multiple security-related tools and enhancements over the past year. It's a safe bet more enhancements are coming. Among the areas to watch:
- Amazon Detective, a cloud service designed to help partners and customers investigate security incidents across their AWS workloads. Amazon Detective officially launched in April 2020. Early partner integrations include Barracuda Networks, Check Point Software Technologies, Expel and McAfee.
- Access Analyzer for Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), a tool designed to help organizations minimize the risk of S3 storage bucket data leaks. Access Analyzer surfaced in December 2019.
- Major MSSPs flooded the AWS re:Inforce 2019 conference, which focused entirely on cybersecurity. It's a safe bet Amazon will potentially tout MSSP relationships at this event.
Keep checking back for more updates.