TD SYNNEX has been building a cloud business for many years now and is proud to be the leading distributor for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft, IBM, VMware and Oracle Cloud. There is no other distributor in the UK that can rival this line card or offer the breadth of services TD SYNNEX can deliver.
I’ve been leading the TD SYNNEX UK AWS business for four years now, and in that time have seen huge developments in what the cloud means to partners and their customers. To say I’m very excited about the huge growth prospects those partners engaged in cloud services have for 2021 is an understatement. However, for those partners that haven’t yet build a cloud business there is still plenty of time, regardless of the phenomenal growth we’ve seen, we’re still on day one. If you’re new to the idea, then read on and hopefully I’ll give some ideas for the coming year.
What does the word Cloud mean?
The term cloud has been around since the late 1990s. Today we use the word without think-ing about it as a cover all for most IT use cases. Whether it’s Private, Public or Hybrid then if we stick the word cloud behind it, we’re good to go. But what does that all mean as one person’s interpretation of cloud can always be different from the next?
A basic definition of cloud is accessing applications and data over the internet. In short, cloud is a metaphor for the internet itself and today most people are using it, whether they know it or not. Simple and easy to understand, right? Well, from here it can get complicated as over the years we’ve managed to create many more acronyms for cloud. It seems by add-ing “aaS” (as a Service) on the back of anything means you have a cloud solution! To help you through this minefield here are three core services you need to understand:
SaaS or Software as a Service in simple terms is software hosted in a central location. It’s sold to users as a monthly or yearly subscription. There is no need to manage the underlying infrastructure or software updates. If you are using something like Office 365 from Microsoft or Google Workspace, then that is a SaaS solution. Benefits of this model include lower up-front costs and huge scalability.
IaaS or Infrastructure as a Service is paying for on demand infrastructure resources. This is usually compute, memory, network and storage resources. Benefits here include rapid scalability and cost efficiencies. Amazon Web Services is by far the largest global supplier of IaaS solutions with a market share in excess of 40% and a global annual run rate of $44B, growing at 29% YoY. This puts AWS as the 5th largest enterprise IT provider in the world.
PaaS or Platform as a Service is a level of solution readiness up from IaaS. A provider cre-ates a platform on top of some infrastructure and presents the user with a service. The main benefit is users do not have to set up or manage infrastructure deployment. Also, you still only pay for what you use when you use it. A good use case is AWS Lambda that deliv-ers serverless infrastructure, or Elastic Beanstalk which allows customers to deploy production ready infrastructure by uploading their software code.
Why AWS?
AWS is the global market leader in IaaS. Their total value and capacity of IaaS is larger than the next four providers combined. Additionally, a large amount of SaaS and PaaS providers use AWS for their businesses. This makes AWS the number one platform of choice for many businesses. But why is this?
Firstly, all usage on AWS is pay as you go. This means no upfront or hidden costs and you only pay for what you use. You can also deploy services in minutes compared to months on premise. The AWS global infrastructure means you can “go global” in minutes. This means your business gets a high level of availability and scalability. The AWS economies of scale also mean that cost savings are passed on to their customers. AWS themselves always promote and urge their customers to practice good cost optimisation.
There are many use cases that business use the AWS platform for. The main ones are as follows.
Back up – Direct to AWS, within AWS or use for archiving of on-premise data.
Business expansion – Offload infrastructure to AWS for geo expansion.
High Performance Computing & Design – For research projects or graphical design.
Content delivery – Delivery of video content to users.
Application development – Creation and delivery of web apps and SaaS solutions.
Hosting Enterprise applications – Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Linux such as Red Hat etc.
Big Data and Analytics – For many different uses cases and data sources including IoT.
So, what are the key advantages that AWS brings customers? There are many and each in-dividual project will realise their own once deployed. That said you can boil these down to four clear advantages that all customers will see.
Flexibility – Effortless hosting of applications. Choice of services in any location. All means more time to focus on your business.
Cost-Effectiveness – No upfront investment or long-term commitment means minimal ex-pense.
Scalability & Elasticity – Global infrastructure combined with auto-scaling technology. Pay for only what you use when you use it.
Security – End to end security and privacy based on AWS best practices. High physical securi-ty and isolation of operations. Designed and managed to meet global certifications and standards.
So how can TD SYNNEX help you build a new cloud practice and thrive on the AWS APN Partner Network?
To build a cloud practice that provides market leading IaaS & PaaS solutions and services, you have to be aligning with the market leader. At TD SYNNEX, we’ve simplified the AWS Partner Network sign up process with the launch of our AWS Path enablement frame-work, part of the TD Cloud Practice Builder program. This program will take you from first engagement to being a certified Select level partner in 4 months via a combination clear and easy to follow sprints and online certification training. At every step of the process our Certified AWS Cloud Concierge will support you to ensure that your business fully under-stands and can visualise the steps to success as an AWS partner.
Whilst we can enable you to quickly build a scalable cloud business with AWS at the core, that’s not all that TD SYNNEX can provide. We can help you simplify many of the projects and opportunities that your customers struggle with directly by engaging you with our full cloud solutions portfolio. To get in touch with us today to find out more and take our TD Cloud Practice Builder program assessment.