No Surprise: AWS re:Invent 2020 Conference Will Be Virtual

Amazon Web Services’ trailblazing re:Invent conference is the latest industry event to go entirely virtual as the coronavirus crisis continues to ravage the world.

The public cloud leader confirmed to CRN Wednesday, as first reported by CNBC, that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, re:Invent 2020 will not take place as an in-person event in Las Vegas, as it has the past eight years.

Instead, the virtual format will offer a series of keynotes, product launches and training sessions between Nov. 30 and Dec. 18, an AWS spokesperson told CRN. Online attendance will be free, with more specific information to be made available in the coming weeks.

[Related: Coronavirus: VARs Look To Virtual Conferences As IT Events Cancelled]

AWS re:Invent is arguably the industry’s most-important conference because of Amazon’s dominance in the public cloud market, massive ecosystem and its tendency to launch dozens of products and highlight its roadmap for innovation at that event.

Partners eagerly anticipate keynotes from AWS CEO Andy Jassy and Amazon CTO Werner Vogel that not only set the AWS agenda for the following year, but for much of the cloud industry as well.

Last year, 65,000 attendees descended on the Venetian Resort for re:Invent 2019, with almost every ISV and solution provider in the world represented in that mix.

Amazon’s major public cloud competitors, Google and Microsoft, have also cancelled live events through the rest of the year.

Google Cloud’s premier conference took place earlier this month as Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir. Microsoft shifted its Ignite and Build conferences to digital affairs as well.