AWS and the Power of Choice

The dust has settled since Amazon Web Services (AWS) wrapped up re:Invent, its annual technology conference, and the cloud market leader is showing no signs of slowing its pace for new product rollouts. More than 40,000 attendees witnessed a dizzying array of service launches, new feature announcements and customer experience initiatives. As the Seattle Times put it, Amazon unveiled new cloud-computing services at the pace of a startup, despite their existing market dominance. Even TechCrunch admitted that its 25 stories covering the event still didn’t highlight all of the announcements.

The AWS releases centered primarily around technology themes like machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). A list of the most compelling new offerings includes DeepLens, a smart video camera with built-in image recognition algorithms, a managed service called SageMaker, which developers can use to train and deploy production-ready learning models at petabyte-scale and IoT Device Management for deploying and administering large fleets of IoT devices. You can find a complete list of the new product announcements here.

During re:Invent there was a palpable sense that AWS is increasing its investment to meet the requirements of the enterprise segment. The company’s new offerings aim to provide turnkey entry into a formidable collection of new cloud-based capabilities while facilitating additional options for accessing those services. As the AWS solution set grows, customer access to the expanding suite of services is becoming more complex (and more important). That’s why I’d like to take a moment to explore the importance of AWS Direct Connect – the company’s flagship private networking service – and Digital Realty’s focus to bring this powerful service to our customers.

With Direct Connect, users can establish dedicated, private connectivity to access powerful AWS cloud services. . Connecting to AWS in this way enables businesses to deploy highly scalable public and private clouds in a secure environment which is optimized for high performance, with a solution that builds ‘instant scale’ into your hybrid cloud environment by taking advantage of analytics and data at the digital edge.

Business can benefit from reduce costs when compared to traditional Internet access because data is transmitted at rates that are substantially lower than those charged by a traditional ISP.

Last year, we announced that AWS Direct Connect is available at Digital Realty’s Atlanta data center facilities (56 Marietta Street and 250 Williams Street). We’re proud that AWS chose Digital Realty as the exclusive home for Direct Connect in Atlanta, a top 25 “American City of the Future.”

As we look back on 2017, we’re honored that AWS continued to partner with us and we look forward to expanding our relationship this year and beyond. Learn more about how you can access AWS Direct Connect in Atlanta.