Software & Solutions for Marketers is the final installment in our Marketers’ Guide to Data Management and Analytics series. Throughout this series, we’ve covered major terms, acronyms, and technologies you might encounter as you seek to take control of your data, improve your analytics, and get more value from your MarTech investments.
In this last section, we will cover various aspects of software and solutions for marketing, including:
The differences between the cloud and on-premise (on-prem) solutions
Customer data platforms (CDP)
Custom development (custom dev)
Cloud vs. On-Prem
Cloud
Also known as “cloud computing,” the cloud is a global network of software and services that run over the internet on someone else’s server, as opposed to running locally on your computer or server.
Why It Matters for Marketers:
Get the flexibility your business needs. Today’s marketing teams are mobile, require a variety of working schedules, and are often spread across geographies and time zones. Cloud-based software and services are accessible by any device with an internet connection, quick to set up, and reliable to access, regardless of the user’s location or device.
Deliver the level of service your customers expect. Hosting your website or e-commerce business on the cloud means your site won’t get bogged down with high traffic or large data files. Additionally, hosting your data in the cloud reduces the amount of siloed information, empowering teams to work more seamlessly and deliver a higher quality, more personalized experience to customers.
Spend your money on campaigns, not infrastructure. While many softwares are sold with on-premise or cloud options, the cloud-native options (tools such as Snowflake, Azure, AWS, and Looker) enable marketers to use these technologies with little to no reliance on IT resources to maintain the back-end infrastructure.
Real-World Examples:
Most marketing organizations use cloud-based applications such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or Sprout Social. These cloud-based applications allow marketing users to quickly and reliably create, collaborate on, and manage their marketing initiatives without being tied to a single location or computer.
On-Prem
On-premise or on-prem refers to any software, storage, or service run from on-site computers or servers.
Why It Matters for Marketers:
Most marketing software is run on the cloud these days. Cloud solutions are faster, more dynamic, and more reliable.
So why would a business choose on-prem? Today, there are two main reasons a business might still have on-prem software:
The company is in a highly regulated industry where data ownership or security are big concerns.
The company has legacy on-prem solutions with massive amounts of data, making the switch to cloud more challenging.
However, many of these companies still recognize the need to update their infrastructures. On-prem is harder to maintain and has reduced up-time as glitches or breaks are fixed at the speed of IT teams. What’s more: on-prem solutions can bottleneck your insights and ability to deliver insights at scale.
With this in mind, even companies with more complicated situations can use a hybrid of cloud and on-prem solutions. By doing this, they migrate less sensitive information to the cloud while keeping more regulated files on their own servers.
Real-World Examples:
In marketing, it’s likely that most data will be in the cloud but if you’re working with a client in a highly regulated industry, like government or healthcare, you might have some on-premise data sources.
Healthcare companies have patient privacy regulations like HIPAA about how customer data can be used, including marketing campaigns. In this case, an on-prem solution might be a better alternative to protect patients’ rights.
Customer Data Platform (CDP)
A customer data platform is a software solution that synthesizes customer data from various sources to keep them in sync with each other. CDPs often additionally offer the ability to send this data to a database of your choice for analytics.
Why It Matters for Marketers:
CDPs allow your various tools (such as your CRM, Google Analytics, and e-commerce systems) to stay in sync with each other around customer data. This means if you change a detail about a customer in one system, everyone else sees this update come through automatically without any manual updating.
Real-World Examples:
CDPs make it really easy to create quality account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns. CDPs deliver a persistent, accurate, and unified customer base, making it easy to use data throughout the ABM campaign.
For example, selecting and validating target accounts uses data from across your entire organization. Once pulled into the CDP, you can perform analytics on that data to identify the best accounts to go after. You will have thousands of attributes to better understand which customers are more likely to purchase.
One note: CDPs do not usually tie these customers and their information to other subject areas like products, orders, loyalty, etc. They are also not meant for analytic use cases. If you are doing deeper, company-wide analysis, you might want a data warehouse.
Custom Dev
Custom development, or custom dev, is a term that refers to any application or solution developed to satisfy the requirements of a specific user or business rather than for general use.
Why It Matters for Marketers:
Even the best out-of-the-box software or solutions are designed to overcome the challenges of a broad user base, providing functionality that only satisfies generalized needs. Custom dev solutions address your specific business needs in a way that gives you a competitive advantage or reduces the amount of time spent trying to make a generic software match your unique needs.
Real-World Examples:
One retail company was receiving flat files from a monthly vendor report that were hard to integrate with the rest of their reports. This made it challenging to get the deeper insights their marketing team needed to make informed omni-channel decisions.
As there were no tools available in the market with a connector to their system, a custom dev solution was needed. An application was created to automatically take in these flat files from the vendor so the marketing team could receive new data without the lengthy request and ingest process that relied heavily on IT resources. This enabled the marketing team to easily target the same customer across channels by using personalized campaigns that aligned with purchasing habits and history.
Another example of custom dev is the implementation of automated customer touchpoints. Adding features that trigger events based on business rules is a great way to personalize your customers’ experience. For example, you could create a rule that emails customers a coupon for their most frequently purchased product when they haven’t made a purchase in the past six months.
Throughout this Marketers’ Guide to Data Management and Analytics series, we hope you’ve learned about the different tools to manage, integrate, analyze, and use your data more strategically to get the most out of your investments. Please contact us to learn how we can help build and implement these various solutions, so you can better understand your customer base and target your customers accurately.
If the global pandemic taught us anything, it’s that digital transformation isa must-have for businesses to keep up with customer demands and remain competitive. To do this, organizations are moving their workloads to and modernizing their applications for the cloud faster than ever.
In fact, according to a recent survey, 91% of respondents agree or strongly agree that application modernization plays a critical role in their organization’s adaptability to rapidly changing business conditions. But there are so many cloud service providers to choose from! How do you know which one is best for your application modernization objectives? Keep reading to find out!
What is a Cloud Services Provider (CSP)?
A cloud services provider is a cloud computing company that provides public clouds, managed private clouds, or on-demand cloud infrastructures, platforms, and services. Many CSPs are available worldwide, including Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. However, three industry giants are noteworthy because of their services and global footprint: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure.
What is Application Modernization?
Application modernization is the process of revamping an application to take advantage of breakthrough technical innovations to improve the overall efficiency of the application remarkably. This efficiency typically involves high availability, increased fault tolerance, high scalability, improved security, eliminating a single point of failure, disaster recovery, contemporary and simplified tools, new coding language, and reduced resource requirements, among other benefits. Many companies running legacy applications are now looking at how they can best modernize their monolith applications.
Application Rationalization: The First Step to Modernization
The best way to start any application modernization journey is with application rationalization. In this process, you identify company-wide business applications and strategically determine which ones you should keep, replace, retire, or consolidate. Once you identify those applications, you can list each one’s ease or difficulty level, total cost of ownership (TCO), and business value, enabling you to decide and prioritize which action to take. (Hint: Start with high value and minimal effort apps!) Doing this will also help you eliminate redundancies, lower costs, and maximize efficiency.
The high-value apps that are difficult to move to the cloud will likely cause the most grief in your decision-making process. But, like Rome, your modernization strategy doesn’t need to be built in a day.
You can develop an approach to application modernization over time and still reduce costs and risks while moving your portfolio forward.
It is crucial to evaluate your current application stack and determine the most suitable application modernization strategy to migrate to the cloud when it comes to application modernization in the cloud. Many on-premises applications are legacy monoliths that may benefit more from refactoring than a rehosting (“lift and shift”) approach. (Check out Rehost, Refactor, Replatform – What, When, & Why? | AppMod Essentials)
Refactoring may require overhauling your application code, which takes some high-level effort but offers the most benefits. However, not all applications are ideal candidates for refactoring. Rearchitecting will become necessary for some obsolete applications that are not compatible with the cloud due to architectural designs made while building the app. In this scenario, the value proposition considers rearchitecting, dividing the application into several functional components that can be individually adapted and further developed. These small, independent pieces—or “microservices”—can then be migrated to the cloud quickly and efficiently.
Determining the Best Cloud Services Provider for Your Application Modernization
Each application modernization journey is unique, as is the process of choosing the best cloud service provider that meets your demands. What works for one business’ application may not be the best for yours, even if they are in the same industry. And just because a competitor has chosen one CSP over another does not mean you should.
When evaluating the CSP that is best for you, consider the following:
Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Determine if the CSP’s service level agreements suit your production workloads, whether the cloud service is generally available yet, and they retain satisfactory levels of support knowledge. Managing workloads in the cloud can sometimes be tedious. The managed services department may not have the required expertise to efficiently manage and monitor the cloud environment. It is critical to your business to do your due diligence to ensure your preferred CSP can administer their managed offerings with as close to zero downtime as possible.
Vendor Lock-in: It is important to have alternatives to any single CSP and that you retain the flexibility to substitute for a better value proposition.
Enterprise Adoption: Consider the likelihood of scalability of your use of the CSP across your organization.
Economic Impact: Consider the positive business or financial impacts that result from the service usage at the individual, department, and company-wide levels.
Automation and Deployment: Verify the CSP’s integration capabilities with your organization’s preferred automation tooling and availability of automated and local testing frameworks.
When modernizing existing applications to take the best advantage of the cloud, cloud technologies like serverless and containers are good options to consider. Serverless computing and containers are cloud-native tools that automate code deployment into isolated environments. Developers can build highly scalable applications with fewer resources within a short time. They both also reduce overhead for cloud-hosted web applications but differ in many ways. Private cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud approaches to application modernization are worth considering too.
Serverless Computing and Containers
Serverless computing is an exaction model where the CSP executes a piece of code by dynamically allocating the resources and can only charge for the services used to run the code. Code is typically run in stateless containers. Various events such as HTTP requests, monitoring alerts, database events, queuing services, file uploads, scheduled events (cron jobs), and more can trigger them.
The cloud service provider then receives the code in a function to execute, which is why serverless computing is sometimes referred to as a Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) platform. Add that to your list of as-a-Service acronyms: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, FaaS!
Containersprovidea discrete environment set up within an operating system. They can run one or more applications, typically assigned only those resources necessary for the application to function correctly. Because containers are smaller and faster than virtual machines, they allow applications to run quickly and reliably among various computing environments. Container images become containers at runtime and include everything needed to run an application: code, runtime, system tools, system libraries, and settings.
Private, Hybrid, and Multi-Cloud
The public cloud is a vital part of any modernization strategy. However, some organizations may not be ready to go directly to the public cloud from the datacenter. Cloud architects should consider private, hybrid, and multi-cloud strategies in those cases. These models can help resolve any architectural, security, or latency concerns. They will also reduce the complexity associated with the policies for specific workloads based on their unique characteristics.
Conclusion
Migration to the cloud is ideal for investing in application modernization as it can lower your overall operational costs and increase your application’s resiliency. But not all use cases—nor cloud service providers—are the same. You need to do your homework before choosing the best-suited one for your business.
2nd Watch offers a comprehensive consulting methodology and proven tools to accelerate your cloud-native and app modernization objectives. Our modernization process begins with a complete assessment of your existing application portfolio to identify which you should keep, replace, retire, or consolidate. We then develop and implement a modernization strategy that best meets your business needs.
From application rationalization to application modernization and beyond, 2nd Watch is your go-to trusted advisor throughout your entire modernization journey.
Contact us to schedule a brief meeting with our specialists to discuss your current modernization objectives.
When Amazon’s cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), suffered an outage on December 7, 2021, the magnitude of the event was felt globally. What happened, and how can your business learn from this significant outage?
Why was there an AWS outage?
Reported issues within the AWS infrastructure began around 12:00 ET/17:00 GMT on Dec. 7, according to data from real-time outage monitoring service DownDetector.
Amazon reported that the “US-East-1” region went down in North Virginia on Tuesday, which disrupted Amazon’s own applications and multiple third-party services that also rely on AWS. The issue was an “impairment of several network devices” that resulted in several API errors and ultimately, impacted many critical AWS services.
What were the effects of the AWS outage?
The effects of the AWS outage were massive because any problem affecting Amazon impacts hundreds of millions of end-users. AWS constitutes 41% of the global cloud-computing business, and many of the largest companies in the world are dependent on AWS’s cloud computing services. These businesses rent computing, storage, and network capabilities from AWS, which means the outage prevented end-users ‘ access to a variety of sites and apps across the Internet.
The major websites and apps that suffered from the outage are ones we turn to on a daily basis: Xfinity, Venmo, Google, and Disney+, just to name a few.
On Tuesday morning, users were reporting that they couldn’t log on to a variety of vital accounts. Most of us were going through our normal daily routine of checking the news, our financial accounts, or our Amazon orders, only to frustratingly realize that we couldn’t do so.
With so many large organizations relying on AWS, when the outage occurred, it felt like the entire Internet went down.
Benefits of a High Availability Multi-Region Cloud Application Architecture
Even though the outage was a major headache, it serves as an important lesson for those who are relying on a cloud-based infrastructure. As they say, you should learn from mistakes.
So how can your business mitigate, or even avoid, the effects of a major failure within your cloud provider?
At 2nd Watch, we are in favor of a high availability multi-region cloud approach. We advise our clients to build out multi-region application architecture not only because it will support your mission-critical services during an outage, but also because it will make your applications more resilient and improve your end-user experiences by keeping latencies low for a distributed
user base. Below is how we think about a multi-region cloud approach and why we believe it is a strong strategy
1. Increase your Fault Tolerance
Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to endure some kind of failure and continue to operate properly.
Unfortunately, things happen that are beyond our control (i.e. natural disasters) or things slip through the cracks (i.e. human error), which can impact a data center, an availability zone, or an entire region. However, just because a failure happens doesn’t mean an outage has to happen.
By architecting a multi-region application structure, if there is a regional failure similar to AWS’s east region failure, your company can avoid a complete outage. Having a multi-region architecture grants your business the redundancy required to increase availability and resiliency, ensure business continuity, and support disaster recovery plans.
2. Lower latency requirements for your worldwide customer base
The benefits of a multi-region approach go beyond disaster recovery and business continuity. By adopting a multi-region application architecture, your company can deliver low latency by keeping data closer to all of your users, even those who are across the globe.
In an increasingly impatient world, keeping latency low is vital for a good user experience, and the only way to maintain low latency is to keep your users close to the data.
3. Comply with Data Privacy Laws & Regulations
“Are you GDPR compliant?” is a question you probably hear frequently. Hopefully, your business is, and you want to remain that way. With a multi-region architecture, you can ensure that you are storing data within the legal boundaries. Also, with signs that there will be more regulations each year, you will stay a step ahead with data compliance if you utilize a multi-region approach.
How Can I Implement a Multi-Region Infrastructure Deployment Solution?
A multi-region cloud approach is a proactive way to alleviate potential headaches and grow your business, but without guidance, it can seem daunting in terms of adoption strategy, platform selection, and cost modeling.
2nd Watch helps you mitigate the risks of potential public cloud outages and deploy a multi-region cloud infrastructure. Through our Cloud Advisory Services, we serve as your trusted advisor for answering key questions, defining strategy, managing change, and providing impartial advice for a wide range of organizational, process, and technical issues critical to successful cloud modernization.
Contact us today to discuss a multi-region application architecture for your business needs!
Welcome back friends! AWS re:Invent turns 10 this year and once again 2nd Watch is here to help you navigate it like a pro. As we all know now, AWS re:Invent 2021 is back in person in Las Vegas. One addition this year, Amazon Web Services is also offering a virtual event option… well, kind of…. As it currently stands, only the keynotes and leadership sessions will be live streamed for the virtual attendees. Breakout sessions will only be live for in person attendees, but will be available on-demand after the event.
For the rest of this blog I will try to focus on my thoughts and limit my regurgitation of all the information that you can get from the AWS re:Invent website, such as the AWS Code of Conduct, but I think it’s worth noting what I think are some key highlights that you should know. Oh, and one more thing. I have added a small easter egg to this year’s blog. If you can find a Stan Lee reference, shoot me an email: dustin@2ndwatch.com and call it out. One winner will be picked at random and sent a $25 Amazon gift card. Now let’s get to it.
Some important things to note this year
Now that AWS re:Invent is (mostly) back in person, AWS is implementing proper health measures to prevent the spread of COVID. Make sure to review the health guidelines published by AWS. (https://reinvent.awsevents.com/health-measures/). Here is the summary for those that don’t enjoy more eye exercise than necessary. Refer to aforementioned link for more details and FAQ’s if you do.
All badge holders attending in person must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (2 weeks after final shot) which means you must provide a record of vaccination in order to receive your badge. AWS makes it clear that there are no ifs, ands or buts on this. No vax proof, no badge. ‘Nuff said!
Masks will be required for everyone at the event. Real ones. Unfortunately face lingerie and train robber disguises will not count.
Keynotes at Glance
This year’s keynotes give you the best of both worlds with both a live option for in person attendees and on-demand viewing option for virtual attendees. The 2021 keynotes include:
Adam Selipsky, AWS CEO
Peter DeSantis, Senior Vice President, Utility Computing and Apps
Global Partner Summit presented by Doug Yeum, Head of AWS Partner Organization, Sandy Carter, Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector Partners and Programs, and Stephan Orban, General Manager of AWS Marketplace and Control Services
2nd Watch Tips n’ Tricks
Over the last 9 years we have watched the AWS re:Invent conference morph into a goliath of an event. Through our tenure there we have picked up an abundance of tips n’ tricks to help us navigate the waters. Some of these you may have seen from my previous blogs, but they still hold strong value, so I have decided to include them. I have also added a couple new gems to the list.
App for the win – I cannot stress this one enough. Download and use the AWS Events app. This will help you manage your time as well as navigate around and between the venues.
Embrace your extravert – Consider signing up for the Builder Sessions, Workshops, and Chalk Talks instead of just Breakout sessions. These are often interactive and a great way to learn with your peers.
Watch for repeats– AWS is known for adding in repeat Breakout sessions for ones that are extremely popular. Keep your eye on the AWS Events app for updates throughout the week.
Get ahead of the pack– After Adam Selipsky’s Keynote there will likely be sessions released to cover off on new services that are announced. Get ahead of the pack by attending these.
No fomo – Most of the Breakout sessions are recorded and posted online after re:Invent is over. Fear not if you miss a session that you had your eyes on, you can always view it later while eating your lunch, on a break or doing your business.
Get engaged – Don’t be afraid to engage with presenters after the sessions. They are typically there to provide information and love answering questions. Some presenters will also offer up their contact information so that you can follow up again at a later time. Don’t be shy and snag some contact cards for topics relevant to your interests.
Bring the XL suitcase – Now that we are back in person, get ready to fill that swag bag! You will need room to bring all that stuff home so have extra room in your suitcase when you arrive.
Don’t just swag and run – Look, we all love stuffing the XL suitcase with swag, but don’t forget to engage your peers at the booths while hunting the hottest swag give-a-ways. Remember that part of the re:Invent experience is to make connections and meet people in your industry. Enjoy it. Even if it makes you a little uncomfortable.
Pro tip! Another option if you missed out on a reserving a session you wanted is to try and schedule something else that is near it at the same time. This will allow you to do a drive by on the session you really wanted and see if there is an open spot. Worst case, head to your back up session that you were able to schedule.
Our re:Invent Predictions
Now that we have you well prepared for the conference, here are a couple of our predictions for what we will see this year. We are not always right on these, but it’s always fun to guess.
RDS savings plans will become a reality.
Specialty instance types targeted at specific workloads (similar to the new VT1 instance they just announced focused on video).
Security hub add-ons for more diverse compliance scanning.
Expanded playbooks for compliance remediation.
More compliance frameworks to choose from.
Potential enhancements to Control Tower.
Virtual only attendees will not get the opportunity for the coveted re:Invent hoodie this year.
In Closing…
We are sure that after December 3rd there will be an overwhelming number of new services to sift through but once the re:Invent 2021 hangover subsides, 2nd Watch will be at the ready and by your side to help you consume and adopt the BEST solutions for your cloud journey. Swing by our booth #702 for some swag and a chat. We are giving away Gretsch Guitars we are super excited to see you!
Finally, don’t forget to schedule a meeting with one of our AWS Cloud Solution Experts while you’re at re:Invent. We would love to hear all about your cloud journey! We hope you are as excited as we are this year and we look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas.
-Dustin Snyder, Director of Cloud Infrastructure & Architecture
In recent years, the adoption of cloud computing services has increased tremendously, especially given the onset of the pandemic. According to a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), the public cloud services market grew 24.1% year over year in 2020. This increase in popularity is credited to the benefits provided by cloud including flexibility, on-demand capacity planning, cost reductions, and ability for users to access shared resources from anywhere.
No matter where you are in your cloud journey, understanding foundational concepts like the different types of cloud service models is important to your success in the cloud. These cloud computing service models provide different levels of control, flexibility, and management capabilities. With a greater understanding of the models, their benefits, and the different ways to deploy these infrastructures, you can determine the method that matches your business needs best.
What are the 3 Cloud Computing Service Delivery Models?
Different cloud computing service delivery models help meet different needs, and determining which model is best for you is an important first step when you transition to the cloud. The three major models are IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS is one of the most flexible cloud computing models. The infrastructure and its features are presented in a completely remote environment, allowing clients direct access to servers, networking, storage, and availability zones. Additionally, IaaS environments have automated deployments, significantly speeding up your operations in comparison to manual deployments. Some examples of IaaS vendors include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. In these types of environments, the vendor is responsible for the infrastructure, but the users still have complete control over the Identity Access Management, data, applications, runtime, middleware, operating system, and virtual network.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Another cloud computing service delivery model is Platform as a Service (PaaS). PaaS is a subset of IaaS, except customers are only responsible for Identity Access Management, data, and applications and it removes the need for organizations to manage the underlying infrastructure. Rather than having the responsibility over hardware and operating systems as with IaaS, PaaS helps you focus on the deployment and management of your applications. There is less need for resource procurement, capacity planning, software maintenance, and patching. Some examples of PaaS include Windows Azure, Google AppEngine and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Perhaps the most well-known of all three models is SaaS, where the deployment is redistributed to third party services. The customer’s only responsibilities are Identity Access Management, data, and the task of managing software. SaaS offers the entire package offered between IaaS and PaaS, as infrastructure, middleware, and applications deployed over the web can be seamlessly accessed from any place at any time, no matter the platform. Vendors of SaaS include CRM services like Salesforce and productivity software services like Google Apps. One major benefit of SaaS is that it reduces the costs of software ownership and eliminates the need for IT staff to manage the software so your company can focus on what it does best. Another benefit of SaaS that its relevance to businesses today, as SaaS is considered the best option for remote collaboration. With SaaS, your applications can be accessed from any geographical location and your company is not responsible for managing the hardware.
Choosing the Cloud Computing Model that is Right for You
Each cloud computing service model has different benefits to consider when determining the model that will work best for your business needs, projects, and goals.
While IaaS gives you complete control over your infrastructure, some businesses may decide they do not need to fully manage their applications and infrastructure on their own. IaaS is considered a good fit for SMEs and startups who do not have the resources or time to buy and build the infra for their own network. Additionally, larger companies may prefer to have complete control and scalability over their infrastructure, so they too may opt for IaaS for a pay-as-you go, remote option with powerful tools. One downside to IaaS is that it is more costly in comparison to PaaS and SaaS cloud computing models, yet it does minimize costs in the sense it eliminates the need to deploy on-premises hardware.
IaaS Benefits
Reduced vendor lock-in
Platform virtualizations
On-demand scaling
GUI and API-based access
Increased security
Multi-tenant architecture
IaaS Disadvantages
Potential for vendor outages
The cost of training how to manage new infrastructure
PaaS is a good choice if you are looking to decrease your application’s time-to-market, because of its remote flexibility and accessibility. Thus, if your project involves multiple developers and vendors, each have quick accessibility to computing and networking resources through a PaaS. PaaS might also be used by a team of developers to test software and applications.
PaaS Benefits
Rapid product development through simplified process
Custom solutions
Highly scalable
Eliminates need to manage basic infrastructure
Future-proof
Multi-tenant architecture
PaaS Disadvantages
Security issues
Increased dependency on vendor for speed and support
SaaS is a feasible option for smaller companies that need to launch their ecommerce quickly or for short term projects that require quick, easy, and affordable collaboration from either a web or mobile standpoint. Any company that requires frequent collaboration such as transferring content and scheduling meetings will find SaaS convenient and accessible.
SaaS Benefits
On-demand service
Automated provisioning/management of your cloud infrastructure
Subscription-based billing
Allows for full remote collaboration
Reduced software costs
Pay-as-you-go
SaaS Disadvantages
Less control
Limited solutions
The 3 Cloud Computing Deployment Models
Another foundational concept of cloud are the deployment models. A deployment model is where your infrastructure resides and also determines who has control over its management. Like the cloud computing service delivery models, it is also important to choose the deployment model that will best meet the needs of your business.
There are three types of cloud computing deployment models:
Public Cloud
A cloud deployment means your applications are fully run in the cloud and accessible by the public. Often, organizations will choose a public cloud deployment for scalability reasons or when security is not a main concern. For example, when testing an application. Businesses may choose to create or migrate applications to the cloud to take advantage of its benefits, such as its easy set-up and low costs. Additionally, a public cloud deployment allows for a cloud service provider to manage your cloud infrastructure for you.
On-Premises/Private
An on-premises cloud deployment, or private cloud deployment, is for companies who need to protect and secure their data and are willing to pay more to do so. Since its on-premises, the data and infrastructure are accessed and managed by your own IT team. Due to in-house maintenance and fixed scalability, this deployment model is the costliest.
Hybrid
A hybrid cloud deployment connects cloud-based resources and existing non-cloud resources that do not exist in the cloud. The most common way to do this is between a public cloud and on-premises infrastructure. Through a hybrid cloud integration, you can segment data according to the needs of your business. For example, putting your highly sensitive data on-premises while putting less-sensitive data on the public cloud for accessibility and cost-effectiveness. This allows you to enjoy the benefits of the cloud while maintaining a secure environment for your data.
Next Steps
Determining the cloud computing service delivery model and deployment model best for your organization are both critical steps to the success of your company’s cloud computing journey. Get it right the first time by consulting with 2nd Watch. With a decade of experience as a managed service provider, we provide cloud services for your public cloud workloads. As an AWS Consulting Partner, Gold Microsoft Partner, and Google Cloud Partner, our team has the knowledge and expertise to efficiently guide you through your cloud journey. Contact us to learn more or talk to one of our experts.
“Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who argue with you.” – John Wooden
Many AWS customers and practitioners have leveraged the Well-Architected Framework methodology in building new applications or migrating existing applications. Once a build or migration is complete, how many companies implement Well-Architected Framework reviews and perform those reviews regularly? We have found that many companies today do not conduct regular Well Architected Framework reviews and as a result, potentially face a multitude of risks.
What is a Well-Architected Framework?
The Well-Architected Framework is a methodology designed to provide high-level guidance on best practices when using AWS products and services. Whether building new or migrating existing workloads, security, reliability, performance, cost optimization, and operational excellence are vital to the integrity of the workload and can even be critical to the success of the company. A review of your architecture is especially critical when the rate of innovation of new products and services are being created and implemented by Cloud Service Providers (CSP).
2nd Watch Well-Architected Framework Reviews
At 2nd Watch, we provide Well-Architected Framework reviews for our existing and prospective clients. The review process allows customers to make informed decisions about architecture decisions, the potential impact those decisions have on their business, and tradeoffs they are making. 2nd Watch offers its clients free Well-Architected Framework reviews—conducted on a regular basis—for mission-critical workloads that could have a negative business impact upon failure.
Examples of issues we have uncovered and remediated through Well-Architected Reviews:
Security: Not protecting data in transit and at rest through encryption
Cost: Low utilization and inability to map cost to business units
Reliability: Single points of failure where recovery processes have not been tested
Performance: A lack of benchmarking or proactive selection of services and sizing
Operations: Not tracking changes to configuration management on your workload
Using a standard based methodology, 2nd Watch will work closely with your team to thoroughly review the workload and will produce a detailed report outlining actionable items, timeframes, as well as provide prescriptive guidance in each of the key architectural pillars.
In reviewing your workload and architecture, 2nd Watch will identify areas of improvement, along with a detailed report of our findings. A separate paid engagement will be available to clients and prospects who want our AWS Certified Solutions Architects and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professionals to remediate our findings. To schedule your free Well-Architected Framework review, contact 2nd Watch today.
The sixth annual AWS re:Invent is less than a week away, taking place November 27-December 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Designed for AWS customers, enthusiasts, and even cloud computing newcomers. The nearly week-long conference is a great source of information and education for attendees of all skill levels. AWS re:Invent is THE place to connect, engage, and discuss current AWS products and services via breakout sessions ranging from introductory and advanced to expert as well as to hear the news and announcements from key AWS executives, partners, and customers. This year’s agenda offers a full additional day of content, boot camps, hands-on labs, workshops, new Alexa Hack Your Office and Smart Cities hackathons, a Robocar Rally, and the first ever Deep Learning Summit. Designed for developers to learn about the latest in deep learning research and emerging trends, attendees of the Deep Learning Summit will hear from members of the academic and venture capital communities who will share their perspectives in a series of thirty-minute lightening talks. To offer all of its great educational content, networking opportunities and recreational activities, AWS is practically taking over the Las Vegas strip, offering an expanded campus with a larger re:Invent footprint and more venues (not to mention a shuttle service!).
2nd Watch is proud to be a 2017 Platinum Sponsor and attending AWS re:Invent for the sixth consecutive year. With every re:Invent conference we attend, we continue to gain unique insight into what attendees can expect. Similar to last year, our seasoned re:Invent alumni have compiled a list of TheTop 7 Things to Avoid at re:Invent 2017 and we hope you find the following information useful as you prepare to attend AWS re:Invent next week.
1. Avoid the long lines at Registration (and at the Swag Counter!)
The re:Invent Registration Desk will open early again this year starting Sunday afternoon from 1pm-10pm, giving attendees a few extra hours to check in and secure their conference badges. Registration Desks are located in four locations this year—Aria, MGM Grand, Mirage, and The Venetian—so no matter where your hotel room is along the strip, you’re sure to find a Registration Desk close by. This is particularly helpful so that you don’t have to schlepp around all that conference swag you will receive upon check in. As always, you can’t attend any part of re:Invent until you have your conference badge so be sure you check into Registration as early as possible. This will also ensure that you get the size shirt you want from the Swag Counter!
Expert Tip: Like last year, AWS has added an additional level of security and will be printing each attendee’s photograph onto their badge. Avoid creating a backlog at the registration line because you have to have your photo taken on site. Take a few minutes to upload your photo prior to re:Invent here. BONUS: By uploading your own photo, you make sure to put your best face forward for the week.
2. Avoid Arriving Without a Plan:
The worst thing you can do at re:Invent is show up without a plan for how you will spend your week in Vegas—that includes the breakout sessions you want to attend. With expanded venues and a total of over 1,000 sessions (twice as many as 2016), more hands-on labs, boot camps and one-on-one engagement opportunities, AWS re:Invent 2017 offers more breadth and depth and more chances to learn from the experts than ever before.
If you haven’t already done so, be sure to check out the AWS Event Catalogue and start selecting the sessions that matter most to you. While you’re building your session schedule, might I recommend adding 2nd Watch’s breakout session—Continuous Compliance on AWS at Scale—to your list of must attend sessions? This session will be led by cloud security experts Peter Meister and Lars Cromley and will focus on the need for continuous security and compliance in cloud migrations. Attendees will learn how a managed cloud provider can use automation and cloud expertise to successfully control these issues at scale in a constantly changing cloud environment. Find it in the Event Catalog by searching for SID313 and then add it to your session agenda. Or, click here to skip the search and go directly to the session page.
Expert Tip: Be sure to download the AWS re:Invent Mobile App. Leveraging the mobile app is like having your own, personal re:Invent assistant for the week and will hold your re:Invent schedule, maps from venue to venue, all other activities and reminders, providing a super helpful resource as you navigate the conference. Android users click here to download. Apple users click here to download.
3. Avoid Avoiding the Waitlist
AWS re:Invent 2017 is SOLD OUT and we anticipate nearly 50,000 people to be in attendance this year. That means, if you haven’t already built your session agenda for the week, you’re likely to find that the *ONE SESSION* you needed to attend is already at capacity. Avoid missing out on sessions by adding yourself to the waitlist for any sessions that you really want to attend. You will be surprised by the number of people that “no-show” to sessions that they have registered for so don’t be afraid to stand in line for that all-too-important session.
4. Avoid Not Knowing Where to Go
As mentioned previously, the re:Invent campus has expanded, yet again, this year and there are a few more venues to note when preparing your event schedule. Spanning the length of the Las Vegas strip, events will occur at the MGM Grand, Aria, Mirage, Venetian, Palazzo, Sands Expo Hall, the Linq Parking Lot, and the Encore. Each venue will host tracts devoted to specific topics so to help you get organized—and map out your week, literally—here’s what you can expect to find at each venue:
MGM Grand: Business Apps, Enterprise, Security, Compliance, Identity, and Windows. Aria: Analytics & Big Data, Alexa, Container, IoT, AI & Machine Learning, and Serverless. Mirage: Bootcamps, Certifications, and Certification Exams. Venetian / Palazzo / Sands Expo Hall: Architecture, AWS Marketplace & Service Catalog, Compute, Content Delivery, Database, DevOps, Mobile, Networking, and Storage. Linq Lot: Alexa Hackathons, Gameday, Jam Sessions, re:Play Party, and Speaker Meet & Greets. Encore:Bookable meeting space.
Once you’ve nailed down where you need to be, be sure to allow enough time to get from session to session. While there are breaks between sessions, some venues can be a bit of a hike from others so be sure to plan accordingly. You’ll want to factor in the time it takes to walk between venues as well as the number of people that will be doing the same. As re:Invent continues to grow in size, you can certainly expect that escalators, elevators, hallways, sidewalks and lengthy shuttle lines are going to be difficult to navigate. To help you get a sense of standard walking times between venues, AWS has put together a nifty chart that details all the travel information you might need (minus any stops on casino floors or crowds of folks clogging your path).
This year, AWS is offering a shuttle service between venues if you don’t want to walk or need to get to your next destination quickly.
AWS recommends allowing yourself 30 minutes to travel between venues and is providing the following shuttle schedule to help you get from Point A to Point B:
Sunday, November 26: 12PM-1:30AM Monday, November 27: 6AM-12:30AM Tuesday, November 28: 6AM-10PM Wednesday, November 29: 6AM-12:30AM Thursday, November 30: 6AM-12:30AM Friday, December 1: 6AM-3PM
NOTE: BELLAGIO SHUTTLES RUN ONLY DURING AM AND PM PEAK HOURS (SUNDAY 10PM — 1:30AM, MONDAY — THURSDAY 6AM — 10AM & 4PM — 7:30PM, FRIDAY 6AM — 10AM)
Expert Tip: If you need to get from The Palazzo to The Venetian and want to avoid navigating the casino floors, restaurant row and the crowds around the entrance to The Sands Convention Center, head to the Canyon Ranch Spa from either hotel. From the Palazzo, the spa is located on the 4th floor and from the Venetian it is located on the 3rd floor. The spa connects both venues through a series of long, colorful and rarely traveled corridors making the trip quick and easy for those who don’t mind taking the road less traveled. Not to mention, this route can also offer a moment of peaceful sanity!
5. Avoid Sleeping In, Being Late, or Skipping Out Entirely
With so many learning and networking opportunities, it’s easy to get caught up in exciting—yet exhaustive—days full of breakout sessions, hands-on labs, training sessions, and of course, after-hours activities and parties. Only you know how to make the most of your time at re:Invent, but if we can offer some advice…be sure to get plenty of sleep and avoid sleeping in, getting to sessions late or worse…skipping out on morning sessions entirely. Especially when it comes to the keynote sessions on Wednesday and Thursday morning!
AWS CEO, Andy Jassy, will present the Wednesday morning keynote, while Amazon CTO, Werner Vogels, will present on Thursday morning. Both Keynotes will be full of exciting product announcements, enhancements, and feature additions as well as cool technical content and enterprise customer success stories. Don’t be the last to know because you inadvertently over slept and/or partied a little too hard the night before!
Customers don’t need to reserve a seat in either of the keynotes, however, there is a cap on the number of attendees who can watch the keynote in the keynote hall. Keynotes are offered on a first come, first served basis, so be sure to get there early.
Expert Tip: If you don’t want to wait in line to sit in the keynote hall, AWS will have many options for watching the keynote in overflow rooms. If you’re still groggy from the previous night’s events, the overflow rooms are an ideal place where you can watch the keynote with a bloody mary, mimosa, or coffee.
6. Avoid Being Anti-Social
AWS re:Invent is one of the best locations to network and connect with like-minded peers and cloud experts, discover new partner offerings and, of course, let loose at the quirky after-hours experiences, attendee parties, and partner-sponsored events.
Avoid being anti-social by taking advantage of the many opportunities to network with others and meet new people. AWS has some great activities planned for conference goers. To help you play hard while working harder, here is a list of all the fun activities that are planned for re:Invent 2017:
Harley Ride
When: Sunday, November 26, 12PM-6PM
Where: The Venetian
Robocar Rally Mixer
When: Sunday, November 26, 6PM-10PM
Where: Aria
Non-Profit Hackathon Mixer
When: Sunday, November 26, 7PM-9PM
Where: The Venetian
Midnight Madness
When: Sunday, November 26, 10:30PM-1AM
Where: The Venetian
AWS re:Invent 4K
When: Tuesday, November 28, 6AM-8AM
Where: The Mirage
Welcome Reception
When: Tuesday, November 28, 5PM-7PM
Where: The Venetian & The Linq Lot
Boomball
When: Tuesday, November 28, 5PM-7PM
Where: The Linq Lot
Cyclenation Spin Challenge
When: Wednesday, November 29, (three timeslots) 7AM, 8AM, 5PM
Where: The Mirage
Pub Crawl
When: Wednesday, November 29, 5:30PM-7:30PM
Where: MGM Grand & The Venetian
Tatonka Challenge
When: Wednesday, November 29, 5:30PM-7:30PM
Where: MGM Grand & The Venetian
2nd Watch After Party
When: Wednesday, November 29, 9PM-12AM
Where: Rockhouse at the Palazzo Click here to be added to the 2nd Watch After Party Waitlist (see “What to Avoid #3 above if you’re hesitant to be waitlisted)!
Fitness Bootcamp
When: Thursday, November 30, (three timeslots) 7AM, 8AM, 5PM
Where: The Mirage
re:Play Party
When: Thursday, November 30, 8PM-12AM
Where: The Park at the Linq Lot
Expert Tip: Don’t forget to bring plenty of business cards. With so many people to meet, opportunities to connect with peers and experts, and after-hours parties to attend, you’ll want to make sure to pack extra cards to avoid running out early in the week. When you receive a business card from someone else, try to immediately take a photo of it with your smartphone and save it to a photo album dedicated solely to networking. This will ensure that you have the details stored somewhere should you happen to misplace an important contact’s business card.
7. Avoid Forgetting to Pack That All-Too-Important Item
Whether you’re staying at The Venetian, Mirage, Encore, or other property, your hotel room will be your home away from home for nearly an entire week. Of course, every hotel will have in-room amenities and travel essentials, but inevitably, we all will forget that one important item that we won’t be able to live without, especially for an entire week. Our experts have pulled together a check list to help you pack for your trip and ensure you have all the comforts of home and office during your week in Vegas.
Your Favorite Toiletries:
Not everyone is in love with the in-room toiletries that hotels have to offer in each of their suites. If you have a favorite, be sure to bring it. Here is a quick list to ensure you don’t forget something:
Shampoo
Conditioner
Soap
Shave Cream
After Shave
Razor
Deodorant
Lotion
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Floss
Hair Styling Products (if that’s your thing)
Contact Case & Solution
Spare Pair of Contacts
Cologne/Perfume/Body Spray
First Aid:
Whether your headache or hangover cure calls for Aspirin, Ibuprophen, or something stronger, it’s a good idea to pack your preferred treatment along with any other first aid remedies and prescription medications you might need. Band Aids, blister protectors, and anti-histamines are also recommended.
Chapstick & Lotion:
It is the desert, after all, and with dry air circulating throughout the venues, your skin (including your lips) is bound to dry out. We recommend bringing medicated Chapstick and fragrance-free lotion (fragrances in most lotions can often dry out your skin even more!) and keeping a spare with you at all times.
Breath Mints and/or Mint-flavored Gum:
No explanation necessary.
Business cards:
This is a repeat from one of our other tips but an important one to remember, so we don’t mind mentioning it again.
Chargers & Battery Packs:
Nothing is worse than being in between sessions with a 10% cell phone or laptop battery and realizing you left your chargers back in your room. We recommend bringing at least two phone chargers and two laptop chargers: One for your room and one for the backpack or briefcase you’ll be carrying throughout the conference. Additionally, while there will be several charging stations throughout re:Invent (and outlets on most every wall), it’s a good idea to bring a battery pack with several hours of charging time just in case you can’t find an open spot to plug in.
Water Bottle:
You will definitely want to stay hydrated throughout the week, and the tiny cups offered at the water stations just won’t quench your thirst quite the way you will need them to. It’s a good idea to pack a water bottle (we recommend one that can hold 17 oz) so that you avoid having to refill often and have plenty of thirst-quenching liquid to keep you hydrated throughout the day.
Comfortable shoes:
Your shoes will be your saving grace by the end of each day, so be sure to bring a pair or two that you feel comfortable walking several thousands of steps in.
Appropriate Attire:
While business casual attire is often recommended at re:Invent, there can be many interpretations of what is appropriate. Our advice is to pack clothing that you would feel confident wearing should you run into your boss or someone you wish to impress. Jeans are perfectly acceptable in either case, but make sure to use good judgement overall when selecting your attire for sessions, dinners and parties you plan to attend.
Cash:
In addition to needing cash for meals on the go, bar tabs or that faux diamond-encrusted figurine you’ve been eyeing in the gift shop, you’ll want to bring a little extra cash if you plan to try your luck at the casinos. There are ATMs on the casino floors, but they typically charge a service fee in the amount of $3-$5 in addition to your bank’s own service fees.
Notebook & Pen/Pencil:
It’s always a good idea to bring a good ole’ fashioned notebook with you to your sessions. Not only is it a fail-proof way to capture the handy tips and tricks you’ll be learning, it’s also the quietest way to track those notable items that you don’t want to forget. Think about it – if 100 people in your breakout session were all taking notes on a laptop, it would be pretty distracting. Be bold. Be respectful. Be the guy/gal that uses paper and a pen.
A Few Final Thoughts
Whether this is your first trip to AWS re:Invent or you’re a seasoned re:Invent pro, you’re sure to walk away with an increased knowledge of how cloud computing can better help your business, tips and tricks for navigating new AWS products and features, and a week’s worth of memories that will last a lifetime. We hope you make the most of your re:Invent 2017 experience and take advantage of the incredible education and networking opportunities that AWS has in store this year.
Last but certainly not least, we hope you take a moment during your busy week to visit 2nd Watch in booth #1104 of the Expo Hall where we will be showcasing our customers’ successes. You can explore 2nd Watch’s Managed Cloud Solutions, pick up a coveted 2nd Watch t-shirt and find out how you can win one of our daily contest giveaways—a totally custom, totally rad 2nd Watch skateboard!
Expert Tip: Make sure you get time with one of 2nd Watch’s Cloud Journey Masters while at re:Invent. Plan ahead and schedule a meeting with one of 2nd Watch’s AWS Professional Certified Architects, DevOps, or Engineers. Last but not least, 2nd Watch will be hosting its annual re:Invent after party on Wednesday, November 29. If you haven’t RSVP’d for THE AWS re:Invent Partner Party, click here to request to be added to our waitlist. We look forward to seeing you at AWS re:Invent 2017!
AWS re:Invent is less than twenty days away and 2nd Watch is proud to be a 2017 Platinum Sponsor for the sixth consecutive year. As an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network Premier Consulting Partner, we look forward to attending and demonstrating the strength of our cloud design, migration, and managed services offerings for enterprise organizations at AWS re:Invent 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
About AWS re:Invent
Designed for AWS customers, enthusiasts and even cloud computing newcomers, the nearly week-long conference is a great source of information and education for attendees of all skill levels. AWS re:Invent is THE place to connect, engage, and discuss current AWS products and services via breakout sessions ranging from introductory and advanced to expert as well as to hear the latest news and announcements from key AWS executives, partners, and customers. This year’s agenda offers a full additional day of content for even more learning opportunities, more than 1,000 breakout sessions, an expanded campus, hackathons, boot camps, hands-on labs, workshops, expanded Expo hours, and the always popular Amazonian events featuring broomball, Tatonka Challenge, fitness activities, and the attendee welcome party known as re:Play.
2nd Watch at re:Invent 2017
2nd Watch has been a Premier Consulting Partner in the AWS Partner Network (APN) since 2012 and was recently named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Managed Service Providers, Worldwide (March 2017). We hold AWS Competencies in Financial Services, Migration, DevOps, Marketing, and Commerce, Life Sciences and Microsoft Workloads, and have recently completed the AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner Program Audit for the third year in a row. Over the past decade, 2nd Watch has migrated and managed AWS deployments for companies such as Crate & Barrel, Condé Nast, Lenovo, Motorola, and Yamaha.
The 2nd Watch breakout session—Continuous Compliance on AWS at Scale—will be led by cloud security experts Peter Meister and Lars Cromley. The session will focus on the need for continuous security and compliance in cloud migrations, and attendees will learn how a managed cloud provider can use automation and cloud expertise to successfully control these issues at scale in a constantly changing cloud environment. Registered re:Invent Full Conference Pass holders can add the session to their agendas here.
In addition to our breakout session, 2nd Watch will be showcasing our customers’ successes in the Expo Hall located in the Sands Convention Center (between The Venetian and The Palazzo hotels). We invite you to stop by booth #1104 where you can explore 2nd Watch’s Managed Cloud Solutions, pick up a coveted 2nd Watch t-shirt and find out how you can win one of our daily contest giveaways—a totally custom 2nd Watch skateboard!
Want to make sure you get time with one of 2nd Watch’s Cloud Journey Masters while at re:Invent? Plan ahead and schedule a meeting with one of 2nd Watch’s AWS Professional Certified Architects, DevOps, or Engineers. Last but not least, 2nd Watch will be hosting its annual re:Invent after party on Wednesday, November 29. If you haven’t RSVP’d for THE AWS re:Invent Partner Party, click here to request your invitation (Event has passed)
AWS re:Invent is sure to be a week full of great technical learning, networking, and social opportunities. We know you will have a packed schedule but look forward to seeing you there! Be on the lookout for my list of “What to Avoid at re:Invent 2017” in the coming days…it’s sure to help you plan for your trip and get the most out of your AWS re:Invent experience.
–Katie Laas-Ellis, Marketing Manager, 2nd Watch
Gartner Disclaimer
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
About 2nd Watch
2nd Watch is an AWS Premier tier Partner in the AWS Partner Network (APN) providing managed cloud to enterprises. The company’s subject matter experts, software-enabled services and cutting-edge solutions provide companies with tested, proven, and trusted solutions, allowing them to fully leverage the power of the cloud. 2nd Watch solutions are high performing, robust, increase operational excellence, decrease time to market, accelerate growth and lower risk. Its patent-pending, proprietary tools automate everyday workload management processes for big data analytics, digital marketing, line-of-business and cloud native workloads. 2nd Watch is a new breed of business which helps enterprises design, deploy and manage cloud solutions and monitors business critical workloads 24×7. 2nd Watch has more than 400 enterprise workloads under its management and more than 200,000 instances in its managed public cloud. The venture-backed company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. To learn more about 2nd Watch, visit www.2ndwatch.com or call 888-317-7920.
The annual Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent conference is just around the corner (the show kicks off November 27 in Las Vegas). Rest assured, there will be lots of AWS-related products, partners, and customer news. Not to mention, more than a few parties. Here’s what to expect at AWS re:Invent 2017—and a few more topics we hope to hear about.
1.) Focus on IOT, Machine Learning, and Big Data
IOT, Machine Learning, and Big Data are top of mind with much of the industry—insert your own Mugatu “so hot right now” meme here – and we expect all three to be front and center at this year’s re:Invent conference. These Amazon Web Services are ripe for adoption, as most IT shops lack the capabilities to deploy these types of services on their own. We expect to see advancements in AWS IOT usability and features. We’ve already seen some early enhancements to AWS Greengrass, most notably support for additional programming languages, and would expect additional progress to be displayed at re:Invent. Other products that we expect to see advancement made are with AWS Athena and AWS Glue.
In the Machine Learning space, we were certainly excited about the recent partnership between Amazon Web Services and Microsoft around Gluon, and expect a number of follow-up announcements geared toward making it easier to adopt ML into one’s applications. As for Big Data, we imagine Amazon Web Service to continue sniping at open source tools that can be used to develop compelling services. We also would be eager to see more use of AWS Lambda for in-flight ETL work, and perhaps a long-running Lambda option for batch jobs.
2.) Enterprise Security
To say that data security has been a hot topic these past several months, would be a gross understatement. From ransomware to the Experian breach to the unsecured storage of private keys, data security has certainly been in the news. In our September Enterprise Security Survey, 73% of respondents who are IT professionals don’t fully understand the public cloud shared responsibility model.
Last month, we announced our collaboration with Palo Alto Networks to help enterprises realize the business and technical benefits of securely moving to the public cloud. The 2nd Watch Enterprise Cloud Security Service blends 2nd Watch’s Amazon Web Services expertise and architectural guidance with Palo Alto Networks’ industry-leading VM series of security products. To learn more about security and compliance, join our re:Invent breakout session—Continuous Compliance on AWS at Scale— by registering for ID number SID313 from the AWS re:Invent Session Catalogue. The combination delivers a proven enterprise cloud security offering that is designed to protect customer organizations from cyberattacks, in hybrid or cloud architectures. 2nd Watch is recognized as the first public cloud-native managed security provider to join the Palo Alto Networks, NextWave Channel Partner Program. We are truly excited about this new service and collaboration, and hope you will visit our booth (#1104) or Palo Alto Networks (#2409) to learn more.
As for Amazon Web Services, we fully expect to see a raft of announcements. Consistent with our expectations around ML and Big Data, we expect to hear about enhanced ML-based anomaly detection, logging and log analytics, and the like. We also expect to see advancements to AWS Shield and AWS Organizations, which were both announced at last year’s show. Similarly, we wouldn’t be surprised by announced functionality to their web app firewall, AWS WAF. A few things we know customers would like are easier, less labor-intensive management and even greater integration into SecDevOps workflows. Additionally, customers are looking for better integration with third-party and in-house security technologies – especially application scanning and SIEM solutions – for a more cohesive security monitoring, analysis, and compliance workflow.
The dynamic nature of the cloud creates specific challenges for security. Better security and visibility for ephemeral resources such as containers, and especially for AWS Lambda, are a particular challenge, and we would be extremely surprised not to see some announcements in this area.
Lastly, General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will be kicking in soon, and it is critical that companies get on top of this. We expect Amazon Web Service to make several announcements about improved, secure storage and access, especially with respect to data sovereignty. More broadly, we expect that Amazon Web Service will announce improved tools and services around compliance and governance, particularly with respect to mapping deployed or planned infrastructure against the control matrices of various regulatory schemes.
3.) Parties!
We don’t need to tell you that AWS’ re:Play Party is always an amazing, veritable visual, and auditory playground. Last year, we played classic Street Fighter II while listening to Martin Garrix bring the house down (Coin might have gotten ROFLSTOMPED playing Ken, but it was worth it!). Amazon Web Services always pulls out all the stops, and we expect this year to be the best yet.
2nd Watch will be hosting its annual party for customers at the Rockhouse at the Palazzo. There will be great food, an open bar, an awesome DJ, and of course, a mechanical bull. If you’re not yet on the guest list, request your invitation TODAY! We’d love to connect with you, and it’s a party you will not want to miss.
Bonus: A wish list of things 2nd Watch would like to see released at AWS re:Invent 2017
Blockchain – Considering the growing popularity of blockchain technologies, we wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon Web Service launched a Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) offering, or at least signaled their intent to do so, especially since Azure already has a BaaS offering.
Multi-region Database Option – This is something that would be wildly popular but is incredibly hard to accomplish. Having an active-active database strategy across regions is critical for production workloads that operate nationwide and require high uptime. Azure already offers it with their Cosmos DB (think of it as a synchronized, multi-region DynamoDB), and we doubt Amazon Web Service will let that challenge stand much longer. It is highly likely that Amazon Web Service has this pattern operating internally, and customer demand is how Amazon Web Service services are born.
Nifi – The industry interest in Nifi data-flow orchestration, often analogized to the way parcel services move and track packages, has been accelerating for many reasons, including its applicability to IoT and for its powerful capabilities around provenance. We would love to see AWS DataPipeline re-released as Nifi, but with all the usual Amazon Web Services provider integrations built in.
If even half our expectations for this year’s re:Invent are met, you can easily see why the 2nd Watch team is truly excited about what Amazon Web Services has in store for everyone. We are just as excited about what we have to offer to our customers, and so we hope to see you there!
Schedule a meeting with one of our AWS Professional Certified Architects, DevOps or Engineers and don’t forget to come visit us in booth #1104 in the Expo Hall! See you at re:Invent 2017!
— Coin Graham, Senior Cloud Consultant and John Lawler, Senior Product Manager, 2nd Watch
When it comes to managing cloud-based resources, it’s hard to find a better tool than Hashicorp’s Terraform. Terraform is an ‘infrastructure as code’ application, marrying configuration files with backing APIs to provide a nearly seamless layer over your various cloud environments. It allows you to declaratively define your environments and their resources through a process that is structured, controlled, and collaborative.
One key advantage Terraform provides over other tools (like AWS CloudFormation) is having a rapid development and release cycle fueled by the open source community. This has some major benefits: features and bug fixes are readily available, new products from resource providers are quickly incorporated, and you’re able to submit your own changes to fulfill your own requirements.
Hashicorp recently released v0.10.0 of Terraform, introducing some fundamental changes in the application’s architecture and functionality. We’ll review the three most notable of these changes and how to incorporate them into your existing Terraform projects when migrating to Terraform v.0.10.x.
Terraform Providers are no longer distributed as part of the main Terraform distribution
New auto-approve flag for terraform apply
Existing terraform env commands replaced by terraform workspace
A brief note on Terraform versions:
Even though Terraform uses a style of semantic versioning, their ‘minor’ versions should be treated as ‘major’ versions.
1. Terraform Providers are no longer distributed as part of the main Terraform distribution
The biggest change in this version is the removal of provider code from the core Terraform application.
Terraform Providers are responsible for understanding API interactions and exposing resources for a particular platform (AWS, Azure, etc). They know how to initialize and call their applications or CLIs, handle authentication and errors, and convert HCL into the appropriate underlying API calls.
It was a logical move to split the providers out into their own distributions. The core Terraform application can now add features and release bug fixes at a faster pace, new providers can be added without affecting the existing core application, and new features can be incorporated and released to existing providers without as much effort. Having split providers also allows you to update your provider distribution and access new resources without necessarily needing to update Terraform itself. One downside of this change is that you have to keep up to date with features, issues, and releases of more projects.
An extremely valuable side-effect of having separate Terraform Providers is the ability to create your own, custom providers. A custom provider allows you to specify new or modified attributes for existing resources in existing providers, add new or unsupported resources in existing providers, or generate your own resources for your own platform or application.
The nicest part of this change is that it doesn’t really require any additional modifications to your existing Terraform code if you were already using a Provider block.
You simply need to call the terraform init command before you can perform any other action. If you fail to do so, you’ll receive an error informing you of the required actions (img 1a).
After successfully reinitializing your project, you will be provided with the list of providers that were installed as well as the versions requested (img 1b).
You’ll notice that Terraform suggests versions for the providers we are using – this is because we did not specify any specific versions of our providers in code. Since providers are now independently released entities, we have to tell Terraform what code it should download and use to run our project.
(Image 1a: Notice of required reinitialization)
(Image 1b: Response from successful reinitialization)
Providers are released separately from Terraform itself, and maintain their own version numbers.
You can specify the version(s) you want to target in your existing provider blocks by adding the version property (code block 1). These versions should follow the semantic versioning specification (similar to node’s package.json or python’s requirements.txt).
For production use, it is recommended to limit the acceptable provider versions to ensure that new versions with breaking changes are not automatically installed.
(Code Block 1: Provider Config)
provider "aws" {
version = "0.1.4"
allowed_account_ids = ["1234567890"]
region = "us-west-2"
}
(Image1c: Currently defined provider configuration)
2. New auto-approve flag for terraform apply
In previous versions, running terraform apply would immediately apply any changes between your project and saved state.
Your normal workflow would likely be:
run terraform plan followed by terraform apply and hope nothing changed in between.
This version introduced a new auto-approve flag which will control the behavior of terraform apply.
Deprecation Notice
This flag is set to true to maintain backwards compatibility, but will quickly change to false in the near future.
2.1 auto-approve=true (current default)
When set to true, terraform apply will work like it has in previous versions.
If you want to maintain this functionality, you should upgrade your scripts, build systems, etc now as this default value will change in a future Terraform release.
(Code Block 2: Apply with default behavior)
# Apply changes immediately without plan file
terraform apply --auto-approve=true
2.2 auto-approve=false
When set to false, Terraform will present the user with the execution plan and pause for interactive confirmation (img 2a).
If the user provides any response other than yes, terraform will exit without applying any changes.
If the user confirms the execution plan with a yes response, Terraform will then apply the planned changes (and only those changes).
If you are trying to automate your Terraform scripts, you might want to consider producing a plan file for review, then providing explicit approval to apply the changes from the plan file.
(Code Block 3: Apply plan with explicit approval)
# Create Plan
terraform plan -out=tfplan
# Apply approved plan
terraform apply tfplan --auto-approve=true
(Image 2a: Terraform apply with execution plan)
3. Existing terraform env commands replaced by terraform workspace
The terraform env family of commands were replaced with terraform workspace to help alleviate some confusion in functionality. Workspaces are very useful, and can do much more than just split up environment state (which they aren’t necessarily used for). I recommend checking them out and seeing if they can improve your projects.
There is not much to do here other than switch the command invocation, but the previous commands still currently work for now (but are deprecated).
License Warning
You are using an UNLICENSED copy of Scroll Office.
