By: Brian Wilson
With AWS re:Invent just around the corner, the team here at Zenoss is getting excited for another opportunity to engage with customers and prospects to talk about hybrid IT and where the industry is headed. I was reflecting on all of the announcements and messages that we’ve heard over the past two years at AWS re:Invent and I started to think about what we might hear this year. Here are my four predictions.
Predictions for big announcements at AWS re:Invent event
1. Hybrid is real
This will be the big theme for AWS this year at the re:Invent event. In years past, AWS has promoted the complete cloud stack, leaving little room for the large investments so many companies have already made in infrastructure, either in our own data centers or in those provided by another MSP or cloud vendor. I expect to see a very specific shift to embracing the hybrid reality that the vast majority of large enterprises are engaged with today. AWS has traditionally fought this message, expecting more proliferation of the ‘all cloud’ enterprise, but the inertia of, and valid need for, on-premises and traditional service provider infrastructures is still strong.
2. Amazon will Announce a Partnership with Cisco. That hybrid reality is strongest in large enterprises, a market segment AWS wants a bigger piece of. In order to really take hold in this segment, AWS is finding that technology alone is not enough they need partnerships and alliances with suppliers that the Fortune 500 and Global 2000 depend on. (Much like Zenoss, AWS recently announced it strategic partnership with VMware.) Cisco is in the midst of a software transition and has a very strong enterprise presence, where AWS has set its sights. A perfect fit? Not exactly, but maybe close enough to be interesting for both parties. Look for more announcements in this area, both from a technology perspective and for go-to-market efforts.
3. More Price Cuts and More Regions. OK, this one is a given but still worth mentioning. Regions continue to grow domestically and internationally which is a great thing for all of us. In addition, the capabilities in regions continue to homogenize, making it easier for domestic companies to take their solutions and technologies abroad. In fact, this is how Zenoss was able to scale our SaaS solution globally, ensuring a common experience for customers and keeping cost structures relatively uniform.
4. Something Else Cool for Analytics/Machine Learning. I see this as the second priority focus for AWS behind embracing hybrid IT. AWS did quite a bit in this space in the last year (think Kinesis, Elasticsearch and Redshift), we’re going to continue to see more. There are a number of vendors in the whitespace of AWS solutions that could be impacted, and you can bet they will be watching Amazon’s announcements closely.
Check the Zenoss blog after AWS re:Invent to see how well my crystal ball is working. And if you are at AWS re:Invent, stop by the Zenoss booth #2640 to say hello!
