It’s AWS re:Invent Season — Predictions and Tips for 2022
Any Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons fans out there? I sure hope so, otherwise this article might fall flat 🎵. I had their Greatest Hits on shuffle after seeing Jersey Boys (the Broadway musical). Then, I realized that they’re the perfect inspiration for this quick walk-up article I’ve meant to write as my colleagues, clients and I prepare for AWS re:Invent later this December. Cue the music, here’s a quick trip down memory lane with my highlights from re:Invent 2021, hopes and predictions for 2022, and four tips for a great experience if you’ll also be there in person.
🎤 December… Oh What a Night!
If you haven’t been, re:Invent is AWS’ marquee cloud and technology conference, hosted in Las Vegas during the first week in December after Thanksgiving. This show sells out with 50k+ attendees, and sessions are spread across Wynn / Encore, Venetian / Palazzo, Caesars Forum, Mandalay Bay, and MGM Grand. Booked as a true learning conference, this will be the 11th re:Invent. Is it too early for a greatest hits album?
🎤Just too good to be true… a recap of 2021
The list of AWS product announcements last year was longer than the Four Season’s list of chart toppers. Announcements like the release of Amazon Redshift Serverless (intended to go after Snowflake) and major improvements to AWS Lake Formation caught our attention. However, two announcements resonated the most; the AWS Energy Competency, and addition of the Sustainability Pillar to the Well-Architected Framework.
Pariveda is a 2021 Launch Partner for the AWS Energy Competency
Last year, we at Pariveda were honored to be a Launch Partner for the AWS Energy Competency, reflective of AWS’ continued focus on industry solutions through their Competency program. We were honored to also receive the Global Partner Award for Best Energy Solution for our strategic collaboration with AWS and ExxonMobil.
Pictured above — Pariveda Vice President and Energy industry lead, Alan Henson, discusses the importance behind this achievement, and what’s next in the industry. Or, is he doing is best Frankie Valli falsetto?
🎤“Sustainnn…sustainabil-ity baby!” (to the tune of Sherry)
AWS adds a sixth pillar to the Well-Architected Framework, Sustainability.
Werner Vogels (CTO) posed an interesting thought during his keynote on last year: what would the environmental impact be if organizations intentionally designed applications to throttle compute and latency of non-critical applications to reduce energy consumption? This opens up completely new architectural considerations and design considerations. I’m happy to see AWS as a lead voice here and I’m eager to see how this evolves in 2022.
Eyes on the AWS Partner Program in 2022
In 2021, the AWS Partner Network hit a major milestone with 100,000 partners registered globally with their ecosystem, which deserves some major recognition. By the way, Pariveda is proud to be one of the one-hundred chart-topping Premier Tier partners.
Since last year, both Doug Yeum and Sandy Carter (Public Sector) moved on from the senior leadership team. Ruba Borno (now of VP Worldwide Channels & Alliances) has been at the helm for the past year. She brings a diverse background from Cisco and Boston Consulting Group. Reading the tea leaves, my impression is that Ruba will reinforce the newly launched AWS Partner Paths that have clarified the ecosystem design. I suspect there will be focus on distribution, software, and hardware which represent the easiest scaling mechanisms.
🎤“I’m beggin’ you / Beggin’ you / Show some lovin’ to the Training Partners!”
However, I would like to see a focus on addressing the cloud skills gap through AWS Training Partners. AWS has an opportunity to clarify the urgency of this shortage and — according to Gartner — mitigate the risk of a “systematic back-off from cloud ambitions” and the reality that “late adopters may simply not be able to generate enough internal competence to even safely and successfully use outsourced assistance.” As a Services Partner, we have an untapped opportunity to partner up in this space to streamline training and enablement. But, that vision is not fully clear from AWS yet. They will need to turn the mics up in order to get this moving. I am also certainly an advocate for showing more love to services partners.
In terms of product launches, I’m keeping a close eye on Amazon HealthLake. While Originally announced in 2021, it is intended to reduce complexity around storage, transformation and querying of health data. Our teams have recently been working on a POC using this tool. You’ll find me at Brian and Sridhar’s hands-on Workshop on Wednesday.
Lastly, here are some tips for getting the most out of your investment in learning and networking at re:Invent.
My tips for a successful experience
- The Certification Lounge is the secret track
Make a point to be in person for the main Tuesday keynote (to be delivered by Adam Selipsky). However, I prefer to start my Wednesday and Thursday from the Certification Lounge. They hand out headsets “silent disco” style for the Keynotes, and broadcast video from the TVs. Plus, they keep the Lounge stocked with breakfast pastries, yogurt, coffee, and juice. It goes without saying that you need to have a backstage pass (aka AWS Certification) to come in.
2. B-Sides: Avoid sponsored sessions and anything below a 200-level.
I prefer to invest in a little prep / research ahead of time and go for the deep cuts in terms of sessions. Advanced session speakers (300–400 level) will often give you enough context in the first few minutes to orient yourself, even if you’re unfamiliar with the topic. As for sponsored sessions, hit the skip button. Instead, set up a personal appointment at that vendor’s booth over in the Sands Expo Hall (aka VIP treatment).
3. Don’t be a solo act; buddy up.
Huge conferences like AWS re:Invent are chaotic and overwhelming but can be missed opportunities to build valuable connections if you don’t plan ahead, and open yourself up to meeting new people. Whether it’s pairing up with coworkers, clients, or introducing yourself to someone at your sessions…you’ll have a much better week by sharing the experience with others.
4. Add Microsoft OneNote Document Capture to your mixtape
It’s an oldie but a goodie, the Microsoft OneNote app has a killer feature that automatically crops and adjusts pictures of slides. Document Capture is great for getting readable photos of slides during sessions, so you can capture all the great content even from the back of the room.
Want to meet up at re:Invent 2022?
Or want to karaoke battle? Shoot me a note on LinkedIn. This year I’m focused on AWS Spatial Computing / IoT / Digital Twins, nailing down our AWS Marketplace strategy, and navigating upcoming changes to APN Partner Programs. My company, Pariveda is also hosting meet-ups throughout the week, including our annual TopGolf event.
