AWS re:Invent: Cloud Migration Services A 'Massive' Opportunity For Solution Providers

Solution providers offering valuable cloud migration services to businesses today don't have to look any further than the tools within AWS Marketplace, Hasan Usmani, global sales enablement lead for Amazon Marketplace, told solution providers during the the AWS re:Invent conference Monday.

The AWS Marketplace is armed with software offerings for each step of the migration and post-migration process, he said.

Cloud migration services are in high demand among business customers today. That's because more than 50 percent of software workloads will move to the cloud by 2020, Usmani said.

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With software representing an approximately $146.3 billion opportunity for the channel over the next two years, partners who don't consider adding migration services could be missing out on a "massive" opportunity -- especially partners who are already offering cloud consulting services today, he said.

"Customers want to be cloud-ready," Usmani said. "The cloud consultant partner [offering migration] now, all of a sudden, becomes this partner who can actually do a full end-to-end solution for customers," he said.

The AWS Partner Network (APN), the Seattle-based company's global partner program for its cloud services arm, today consists of consulting partners including VARs, MSPs and systems integrators. Amazon also has a network of technology partners made up of hardware and software vendors.

Cybersecurity solution provider Optiv is an APN consulting partner that is helping its customers understand the obstacles theyl face in moving to the cloud, how to secure their cloud environments, and what to expect as their cloud strategy matures, according to Sean Catlett, senior vice president of emerging services for Denver-based Optiv.

Optiv's white-glove solutions are giving it an edge over its competition, but Optiv knew it had to keep up with end customer demand for agility, he said. That's where the AWS Marketplace came in.

Optiv's security solutions on the AWS Marketplace can complement a customers' existing AWS services, Catlett said.

"The ability to maintain cloud workloads securely is important, and that hasn't changed much. But what we see now in 2017 is a focus on flexibility and scalability," he said. "If you look at what agility means to their business, for us to be able to be a part of that story … is really helping us as a differentiator to our clients."

If cloud migration is the customer's main cloud initiative, leveraging third-party tools within the AWS Marketplace to help improve security and automation just makes sense, Amazon's Usmani said.

For partners, the AWS Marketplace not only can make their jobs a little easier, but it can also unlock new revenue opportunities, he said.

"Channel partners and ISVs should capitalize on the opportunities the cloud is bringing you," Usmani told solution providers. "And you can use the Marketplace to create better experiences for customers."