Cloud News
Amazon Security Boss: Why AWS Partners Are The ‘Backbone’
Mark Haranas
Jenny Brinkley, director of Amazon Security, talks to CRN about how channel partners are the ‘backbone’ of AWS and why the AWS Marketplace is ‘the future.’
AWS Partners ‘Are The Backbone Of How We Function And How We Operate’
When the COVID-19 pandemic initially hit and businesses across the globe quickly began transitioning to the cloud for their new remote workforces, AWS partners played a critical role in the cloud giant’s success.
“When the pandemic first started and then we started seeing the uptick of customer inquiries related to this digital transformation they wanted to take, and how do you build teams to be able to help scale and educate them as they make these lifts and shifts—it really did come down to our partners, because we couldn’t move that fast,” Jenny Brinkley, director of Amazon Security, told CRN.
With channel partners’ deep knowledge of AWS customers and their challenges, the Seattle-based cloud market leader was able to win more customers mindshare and help take AWS to the next level.
[Related: AWS re:Inforce Keynote: 7 Big Security, Ukraine, Ransomware Remarks]
“Partners are really going to be that lifeblood component that’s going to help not only drive some of the new services that get created, but then also help customers feel confident as they’re building on cloud—especially if they’ve been in an on-premise environment,” said Brinkley.
Brinkley spoke to CRN this week at the AWS re:Inforce security conference in Boston, where the company’s security leaders unleashed new cybersecurity products and enhanced partner programs.
AWS security leader also talked about the huge and growing importance of the AWS Marketplace.
“I’m pumped about the Marketplace. That’s the future,” said Brinkley.
“For partners that might see any concern with that, I think the pandemic did nothing but demonstrate: we have to be able to move faster, we have to be able to remove any type of friction on being able to build as fast as what the business is going to demand and what it’s going to need,” she said.
In an interview with CRN, Brinkley talks about why partners are the “backbone” of AWS, why the AWS Marketplace is the future and how AWS is stepping up to the plate to help Ukraine during Russia’s invasion.
