Think Like AWS
How did AWS (Amazon Web Services) grow from a few services in 2006 to a $50 billion cloud powerhouse today? AWS consumerized IT. While you do not have Amazon’s billions of dollars or millions of customers, you can quickly embrace these five behaviours to think more like AWS.
1. Relentless retail thinking
AWS paced classic IT giants by offering a consumer experience. AWS published simple pricing and configuration in an Amazon.com style site. Customers could buy by the year, month, day and even by the minute. This opened cloud computing to millions. Bill Gates predicted this in his 1995 book, The Road Ahead. AWS executed.
2. Customer led transformations
In the early days of AWS, critics did not believe that enterprises would trust a “book merchant.” AWS confounded theses critics by winning the large transformational contracts with Netflix, ADOBE, Twitch, Shell, GE and CIA. Each one of these new agreements helped AWS to learn how to transform into an enterprise partner.
3. Constant releases.
AWS transformed the big cloud into consumable bitesize chunks. Customers no longer need to depend on hard-to-consume, once-a-year product drops. AWS is continuously releasing updates, upgrades, new solutions and new geos. Customers are now checking daily for the latest features and tools. This is the same as you do with your Amazon account.
4. Integration. Collaboration.
Ecosystem. Being part of Amazon.com, AWS understood the importance of an integrated single platform. By 2006, the year AWS has launched, Amazon.com had an indepth knowledge of how to leverage the supply chain for scale. AWS brings its Amazon.com experience of integrated retail supply chains and offers an ecosystem, where partners thrive.
5. The Cloud brand.
Brand it. In 2006, the Cloud was a term, but “The Cloud” did not exist. AWS embraced the simple term, The Cloud. They did not get twisted up in what type of cloud they were building. AWS got behind a single concept, The Cloud.
Final Thoughts
AWS, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, Google Cloud Services are outstanding, robust, secure and scalable services. Each brings their corporate heritage, the stars aligned for AWS because of the Amazon DNA at nexus of IT and retail.
Today, there is a new resilient and sustainable future emerging. The Cloud is binding us together, you can think like AWS by following these five behaviours.
