Slalom unveils Melbourne AWS Launch Center

US-headquartered cloud integrator Slalom has launched its first AWS onramp outside the US in Melbourne.

Dubbed the AWS Launch Center (due to copyright in the US), the initiative is designed primarily to assist executives in customer organisations to better understand what the cloud platform can offer their organisations. AWS personnel will work alongside Slalom staff on these projects.

The company forged a strategic collaboration agreement with AWS in late 2019 which saw it launch similar offerings in Seattle, Chicago and Atlanta. It has in excess of 200 technology partners including AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce and Adobe.

Earlier this year, the consultancy launched its ANZ business and now has operations in Melbourne and Sydney. The company said it would bring 200 new jobs to the region over the next two years.

Specifically, the new centre combines AWS’s Professional Services team with the integrator’s business transformation, software engineering, and analytics capabilities.

The company intends to open a physical office location in Melbourne later this year, with the Launch Center operating virtually in the interim due to lockdown restrictions.

Slalom’s Australia boss Michael Shimota told CRN that Australia was the ‘perfect backdrop’ for the offering.

“It's a mature market, but one that is accelerating really quickly on leverage of cloud technology. And that's across the commercial and public sector.

Shimota said the local market had reached “a point of inflection” in adoption of public cloud and attributed this to the work done in recent years by the public cloud giants and particularly AWS.

“We're seeing a massive uptick in demand for these things, whether it's a pure journey to cloud, or whether it's companies that want to become more like digital natives in terms of upcoming product development.

He also said he was seeing many organisations driving through the use of data and analytics to better inform their decision making about their own internal processes and their and their customers and their customer experience.

AWS ANZ channel chief Davinia Simon said in a statement that the Launch Center would help local organisations to quickly transition their infrastructure, workforce, processes, and applications to the cloud, in a unique and immersive environment.

“Through this joint collaboration, our aim is to equip organisations with the tools to make the transition to the cloud, with the confidence of having Slalom’s proven consulting and technical skills and AWS’s leading cloud services and migration experience supporting them,” Simon added.

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with Slalom and collaborate to transform Australian organisations as they modernise their systems, increase efficiency, and drive innovation leveraging AWS.”