2nd Watch To Expand Managed Optimization Service Through Deal With Spot By NetApp

Strategic service provider 2nd Watch has struck a deal with NetApp-owned Spot to use the Spot Instance and Container Optimization technology to enhance 2nd Watch’s Managed Optimization service.

The expanded services “allow our clients to make continuous optimization decisions” in running their cloud IT environments, said Chris Garvey, executive vice president of product at Seattle-based 2nd Watch (pictured), in an interview with CRN.

Spot develops technology that drives continuous optimization of applications running on public clouds by dynamically assigning compute resources to workloads while also ensuring that applications meet service level agreements and objectives.

[Related: AWS Superstar 2nd Watch Ramps Google Cloud Play]

In June storage and cloud data services company NetApp announced a deal to acquire Spot. The acquisition was completed in July with Spot operating as a subsidiary called “Spot by NetApp.”

2nd Watch, No. 134 on the CRN Solution Provider 500 and a 2020 CRN Triple Crown Winner, is a rising star in the channel, offering cloud-focused services around business transformation, data center migration, application modernization and managed services. The company has close relationships with the major cloud platform providers and is an AWS Partner Network Premier Consulting Partner, Microsoft Azure Gold Partner and Google Cloud Partner.

2nd Watch’s offerings include services that help businesses and organizations manage their cloud spending and optimize their utilization of cloud computing resources. Garvey said the goal is “continuous optimization” – making the most cost-effective use of cloud computing resources on a minute-to-minute and even second-to-send basis.

2nd Watch provides those capabilities for development and DevOps tasks and for applications and workloads in production. The latter is a bigger challenge and that’s where Spot by NetApp comes in.

Specifically, the Spot by NetApp technology works by recommending that workloads take advantage of cost savings associated with unused “spot” cloud resources, such as AWS EC2 instances and virtual machines, that are for sale in online marketplaces at discounted prices – sometimes up to 90 percent off the on-demand price.

Partnering with Spot by NetApp, 2nd Watch will use those capabilities to enhance its Managed Optimization service to help clients move as close as possible to “continuous optimization,” Garvey said.

“Typically, non-mission critical workloads such as development and staging have been able to take advantage of the cost savings of spot instances. By combining 2nd Watch’s expert professional services, managed cloud experience and solutions from Spot by NetApp, 2nd Watch has been able to help companies use spot resources to run production environments,” Garvey said.