Bursting Amazon’s partner bubble

Amazon is missing out on a big chunk of the enterprise-class data-centre market largely because it has failed to look beyond the narrow confines of the born-in-the-cloud partners that have been built from the ground up to join forces with the web-services giant.

Amazon is stepping up its partnership with those born-in-the-cloud existing partners with its just-launched AWS Managed Service Program. The big problem with the program is that it ignores the thousands and thousands of elite enterprise data-centre partners and managed services providers that are driving the next-generation data-centre strategies at the vast majority of businesses of all sizes.

Ironically, Amazon declared with the launch of the program that it simply does not have enough partners in the ecosystem that really understand and can deliver cloud managed services.

“We’re really focused on the customer, and they’re telling us they need more partners with AWS managed services capability,” said Terry Wise, director of the AWS worldwide partner ecosystem, in an interview with CRN US.

“We need more partners that can deploy SAP effectively on AWS, and partners that know digital marketing and the Internet of Things. So it’s really driven by the customer – that’s why you’re seeing us invest more.”

These kinds of partners are not hard to find; just ask SAP, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco or any number of other vendors with solid channel programs. Cisco launched its first managed-services program nearly nine years ago.

Amazon has not discovered companies like this because of its complete lack of understanding around the managed-services and trusted-adviser model that has been in place since the start of the 21st century. The company, in fact, seems to look at legacy solution providers as resellers – a view pulled right out of the late 20th century.

Amazon’s antiquated channel stance is dooming its managed-services program from being anything other than an add-on for born-in-the-cloud providers already working closely with the company. But its myopic view of the channel is not only affecting its partner strategy, it is preventing it from building the next-generation web services that could power more business-class customers to move towards the Amazon cloud.

No-one has a deeper knowledge of the complexity of the legacy hardware and software environments of enterprise customers than today’s solution providers. They know the pain points – practical and political – that are holding back cloud strategies.

Amazon has been built from the ground up as the swipe-your-credit-card web services cloud provider. Customers looking for a trusted adviser should beware.

Amazon will allow you to plug into its cloud computing grid if, and only if, you are willing to play by its rules. In other words, you can have it any way you want it as long as it is the Amazon way.

The same rules apply to partners. That’s too bad because a more modern view of the channel would benefit Amazon, the channel and, subsequently, its customers.

FACTFILE: AWS Managed Service Program

The AWS Managed Service Program was unveiled at the AWS re:Invent conference.

AWS is looking for partners that can deliver higher level services, such as orchestration and automation, according to Terry Wise, director of the Amazon Web Services worldwide partner ecosystem.

Partners with expertise in DevOps are also a good fit for the program, said Wise.

MSPs that join the AWS Managed Service Program get access to technical support, alongside training and marketing resources.

Notable Australian partners in AWS’s partner ecosystem include ITOC, Bulletproof, Melbourne IT, CloudHouse, Base 2 Services and SMS Management &Technology.

Steve Burke is news editor of CRN in the United States.