What has AWS Done for Businesses in 2019

 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Businesses of all shapes and sizes can today quickly scale up their operations without having to dedicate hours to the transition and without committing dozens of personnel and massive financial resources to the project. Thanks to cloud computing, companies can benefit from not just virtually infinite scalability but also lower cost, seamless service and improved infrastructure reliability.

When it comes to enterprise cloud computing, no service has dominated as much as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Despite formidable competition from well-heeled rivals Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, AWS has retained its lead and rakes in about half of the global revenue received by infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) products. So what has AWS done for businesses in 2019?

1.    Tactical Acquisitions

AWS kicked off 2019 with the acquisition of Vancouver-based TSO Logic, a company that developed analytical solutions that help its customers plan, save and optimize their transition to the cloud. It does so by taking workload and application data then identifying the most efficient location to run them by taking into consideration requirements such as cost versus resource needs.

In July, AWS acquired part of the assets (and employees) of E8 Storage, a budding startup that focused on building data center data storage equipment with a focus on the speed of flash storage. These two transactions point to AWS’ determination to provide a customer-centric service and one that seeks to eliminate customer inconvenience.

2.    Cloud Security

One of the biggest impediments to a greater uptake of cloud computing services has been the fear many businesses have of losing physical control over their technology infrastructure. It doesn’t help that cyberattacks are becoming more brazen, sophisticated and large scale with each passing year.

As the enterprise cloud computing leader, AWS has been thrust to the forefront of cloud security spending and innovation. In June, AWS announced the launch of AWS Security Hub, a new security service that aggregates, prioritizes and normalizes security findings from a wide range of AWS products including Amazon Macie, Amazon Inspector, Amazon GuardDuty as well as 30 partner solutions.

AWS also supports numerous third party security solutions including AWS logging products.

3.    Diverse Client Base

AWS has always had a diverse client base that has enabled it to understand the cloud computing needs, expectations and requirements of various industries. With its AWS Secret Region, Amazon became the first (and so far only) commercial cloud provider that offers regions in order to serve thousands of government agencies across a wide range of data sets.

In 2019, AWS has only continued to spread the net of its client base wider than before. Today, AWS boasts an enviable client list that includes some of the world’s most recognizable businesses such as Netflix, Comcast, Verizon, Siemens, Adobe, GoPro, GE, Airbnb, Lyft, McDonald’s, Unilever, Honeywell, Philips, Expedia and Novartis.

4.    Opening More Data Centers Across the Globe

AWS cloud currently comprises 69 Availability Zones and 22 geographic Regions. It’s working on adding 9 Availability Zones in the short term as well as 3 Regions in Milan, Jakarta, and Cape Town.

AWS breathtaking infrastructural expansion is why its data center expenses have been growing by about 30 percent each year. Spreading its data centers around the world means AWS can not only offer more capacity to its international customer base but also reduce server response times.

5.    AWS Revenue is Growing Exponentially

Between 2016 and 2018, AWS revenue more than doubled. It contributed just over 10 percent of its parent company Amazon’s overall revenue in 2018 with sales following a scorching growth trajectory of more than 40 percent per year. What does this mean? Not only are new businesses signing up for the service but existing customers are upgrading their plans.

AWS has proved quite adept at listening to what customers want and developing a road map to deliver an appropriate solution quickly and thoughtfully. If 2019 is anything to go by, 2020 is bound to be another hugely successful year for AWS.