https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/news/252513894/Cloud-partners-bolster-relations-with-AWS-GCP-and-Microsoft
Cloud consultancies and service providers sought to bolster their relations with the top cloud vendors in a wave of partnerships this week.
The moves come amid a decisive shift among enterprises to cloud-delivered IT. Gartner earlier this month predicted spending on public cloud computing will represent 51% of the IT market in 2025. Cloud's current share of enterprise IT spending is 41%, according to the market research firm. In addition, channel partners polled by Accenture listed Microsoft, Google and AWS as their top three partners with respect to wallet share, underscoring the need to strengthen their cloud provider ties.
AWS is one center of cloud partners' attention as Kyndryl and Rackspace Technology revealed expanded relationships with the cloud provider. Kyndryl, an infrastructure services provider based in New York, spun out of IBM in November 2021 and has since cultivated several alliances as an independent business. The company previously worked with AWS as an ecosystem partner, but has now entered a global strategic alliance with the hyperscaler.
As part of the alliance, Kyndryl plans to launch an AWS cloud center of excellence. The company said the center will provide services to support mission-critical infrastructure and application modernization projects. Intellectual property also falls within the scope of the partnership: Kyndryl and AWS will co-develop an accelerator for VMware Cloud on AWS, a technology that lets businesses run VMware workloads in Amazon's cloud. The accelerator aims to provide an expedited path for customers migrating at scale to the hybrid cloud offering, a Kyndryl spokesperson said. Other channel partners have tapped VMware Cloud on AWS as an ongoing opportunity.
Rackspace Technology, meanwhile, has expanded its strategic collaboration agreement with AWS, citing a multiyear joint investment. The multi-cloud solutions provider said its AWS business has grown 250% over the last three years. Some of that growth came through Rackspace Technology's December 2019 purchase of Onica, an AWS partner that increased Rackspace's AWS certification pool by 45%.
Lemongrass, an Atlanta-based consulting firm, extended its partnership with Microsoft, targeting midmarket and large enterprises' legacy SAP systems under a multiyear agreement. Lemongrass specializes in migrating customers' SAP environments to public clouds, including Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud.
The alliance aims to co-develop SAP-centric offerings and services for the Microsoft Cloud. Lemongrass will work with Microsoft's SAP specialists to influence current and future Microsoft SAP on Azure product roadmaps, according to Mike Rosenbloom, CEO of Lemongrass. Insight into Microsoft's plans will help Lemongrass focus on key differentiators within its Lemongrass Cloud platform, he added. The platform migrates customers' SAP workloads to the cloud and optimizes cloud operations.
Pythian Services renewed its Infrastructure Partner Specialization in the Google Cloud Partner Advantage program. Earlier this month, the company renewed its Machine Learning Partner Specialization in the program. Pythian, based in Ottawa, provides cloud, data and analytics services.
Pythian has invested in Google Cloud specializations including Infrastructure, Data Management, Machine Learning and the company's MSP Initiative, said Vanessa Simmons, senior vice president of business development at Pythian. She said the company will continue to invest heavily in Google's programs. Pythian acquired Google Cloud partner Agosto in 2020.
"Partners like Pythian have to commit to continuously upping their game so they can meet the evolving needs of customers," she said.
An increasingly multi-cloud world drives cloud partners' investments in AWS, Google and Microsoft. Customers need help navigating the thousands of cloud services those platforms offer, said Yoav Toussia-Cohen, CEO at DoiT International, an MSP and multi-cloud software company headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. Businesses want to put workloads on clouds best suited to their requirements, rather than restrict themselves to a single vendor, he noted.
"With this comes the need to rethink cloud usage, cost management and governance, which is also causing the uptick in cloud partners boosting investment across the big three cloud providers," Toussia-Cohen said.
DoiT's cloud investment spans AWS, Google and Microsoft. DoiT is working toward achieving AWS Premier Partner status during the first half of 2022. With Google, the company is in the second year of a five-year commitment to deliver $1.5 billion in Google Cloud infrastructure. And earlier this month, DoiT launched a partnership with chipmaker AMD to help Google Cloud customers optimize workloads for security, performance and cost, Toussia-Cohen said.
Additional reporting by Kristen Gloss.
25 Feb 2022