AWS Channel reseller program session

As an authorized AWS Channel Reseller, we were privileged to attend a private session (most info under NDA), before the official AWS Partner Summit Keynote started.
This session was presented by Jarrod Buckley & Ryan Cauthron, both AWS veterans and responsible for the AWS Channel Reseller Program.

Some Technology partners had a special offer for Channel Resellers attending this session. One of them was CloudCheckr, an AWS Advanced Technology Partner who we work with a lot. We were a bit surprised (but delighted) to see a quote of us on their leaflets. Nice! Thanks guys for the free promo ☺ ☺

A lot of changes and new things are about to come for resellers, but as this was a private session; we cannot disclose any more info about it here. (Sorry for that)

AWS Partner Summit Keynote (some highlights)

To be honest, we were really surprised to see more than 4000 AWS partners show up for these partner presentations.
It proves that the AWS Partner Eco system definitely works. AWS now serves more than one million customers worldwide and is still expanding at a rapid pace. About 50% of AWS partners now reside outside North America, so worldwide domination is not far away anymore ☺.

AWS vice president channels and alliances, Terry Wise made it very clear that helping AWS Partners grow is top priority for AWS. This shows in the big investments AWS has put in partner training & certification. Another goal AWS sets for itself is to give more visibility to partners, so customers can find the right partner for supporting their business.
Wise highlighted the customer-centric approach of AWS several times and the investments AWS continues to put in creating new products & solutions with the customer first in mind.

Some important things we remembered:

• New partner training available: Security Fundamentals on AWS & Security Operations on AWS
• 3 new AWS Partner Network Competencies have been added to the AWS Partner Competency program: DevOps, Cloud Migration and Internet of Things
• New AWS Direct Connect Bundles
• BYOL Windows License: Customers can now bring their own licenses on EC2 dedicated hosts
• AWS Marketplace has expanded significantly serving more than 2300 ready-to-use products available across 35 different categories from over 800 ISV’s.
• 46 partners have been rewarded with the Premier Consulting Partner status for 2016.
• Updated APN Benefits and Requirements: Read more about it here

You can check out the AWS Partner Blog for frequent updates on the APN Program.

Breakout sessions

18 (yes, 18!) breakout sessions for partners were made available at AWS re:Invent 2015.
We had the opportunity to attend some of them, but it seems obvious that it’s impossible to attend them all, let alone write reviews about all these sessions.

AWS Partner Solutions Explorer

This was actually a very nice thing from AWS to have at re:Invent.
As a customer, you can use the Partner Solutions Explorer to define your business needs and it will crawl through the AWS Partner database to present you with some AWS partners that may be the best fit for your company.

Trend Micro European Party!

We were invited to a European networking event, sponsored by Trend Micro, hosted at Morels French Steakhouse @ The Palazzo.
Many familiar faces there, but it was also a great opportunity to talk with some European AWS partners and customers.
Free drinks, hors d’oeuvres and great surroundings…. A great way to end the second (exhausting) day at re:Invent.

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Jetlag?   Never happens to me… Yeah right!

Second day here in Vegas and I found myself wide-awake at 03:00AM, so I guess even having some beers and going to bed at 11:00PM does not prevent a jetlag either.
Well, that being said, it was time to find my mandatory cup of coffee and start preparing for the first day of the most anticipated event in the tech industry: AWS re:Invent. But first, let’s ‘slack’ with the colleagues back home…

I know that the ‘real’ conference starts tomorrow, but registration already opens at 07:00AM today, so why stand in line with my 18.000 fellow-cloud-ninja’s on Tuesday while I can register within a few hours? After all, the early bird catches the worm… ☺

Looking at the schedule today, there’s not really much going on yet, but as I said before, I’ll quickly go get my entrance ticket, so I don’t have to worry about that tomorrow and start my re:Invent journey at ease.

Since we’re not planning to participate in any of the bootcamps today, I think I’ll just pass by the AWS Certification Lounge later in the day (certification lounge opens around 01:00PM) and take a look around the event venue.
Who knows? Maybe we can already score some swag today… 🙂

Keep you posted …

UPDATE: OK, I was clearly not the only early bird here, but registration went smooth; registered within 5 minutes and got my swag (an AWS re:Invent hoodie) within 10 minutes. You can find some pics below to give you a first idea of the event venue:

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Having been to several conferences (EMC World, VMWorld, Citrix Synergy, MS Techdays, several AWS Summits, …) over the past few years, taught us that events like these can be really exhausting and thorough preparation is mandatory to get the most of it.
As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, AWS re:Invent will be the biggest tech conference we will be attending this year, so let’s start with highlighting how we prepared ourselves to make sure we survive the conference ☺.
After all, we’re in Vegas and there are a lot of things to do here besides AWS re:Invent, so good planning is crucial…

AWS re:Invent Survival Guides

Some great AWS re:Invent survival guides were published by Cloudability, Cloudacademy & DataPipe which covered all the basics on how to survive AWS re:Invent.

These articles are a great starting point; so make sure to check them out:

• http://blog.cloudability.com/reinvent-2015 survival guide
• http://cloudacademy.com/blog/aws-reinvent-2015-guide/
• https://www.datapipe.com/blog/2015/09/24/an-aws-reinvent-survival-guide/
• Navigating re:Invent Webcast

Come early

Make sure you’re not ‘jetlagged’ when you are at the conference, so come a few days earlier. Take the time to relax & visit some Vegas tourist attractions. It will help you to start your conference relaxed and without headache. The ‘real’ conference starts on Tuesday, but you can already register on Monday, so go get your re:Invent pass to avoid long waiting lines on Tuesday.
You can also attend some training sessions & bootcamps or take a certification.

Create a schedule

With over 300 sessions at this year’s conference, you should really plan which sessions you want to attend to. It’ impossible to check tem all, so check the re:Invent session guide, create your personal profile, search your favorite topics and start creating your schedule.
All sessions (or at least of most of them) will be available on AWS’ YouTube channel after the conference; so don’t worry if you missed one.

Make appointments upfront

We already made several private appointments with vendors, customers and other AWS partners prior to the conference. Doing this, you’re sure you don’t miss any opportunities.
We are already looking forward to meet with the guys from CloudCheckr. Check out their event boot (#802 in the Expo Hall)

AWS re:Invent 2015 Event App

The event app features all details on the keynotes, training (bootcamps) & certifications, session catalog, event maps after hour’s activities and much more.
You can even network with other attendees and access your personal re:Invent schedule.
Download it here:

• https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/aws-re-invent-2015-official/id1037150617?mt=8
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.reinvent

Download the Venue Map

Need some help getting around re:Invent this week? Download & print the venue map before traveling.

Get certified!

Prepare for your AWS certification with the AWS Certification Exam Readiness Workshop during re:Invent – there is still time to sign up!

Nightlife

Remember, you’re in Vegas and after a hard day of training and learning, you should take the time to relax from time to time.
Don’t miss the Welcome Reception on Tuesday, the Pub Crawl on Wednesday & cap it off with the rePlay Party on Thursday! Check http://oak.ctx.ly/r/3svdl for more info.

We’ll be posting live from AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, so make sure to check out this blog regularly and follow along with us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook

CU there!

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