Title: AWS re:Inforce 2024 - Find an AWS Partner, faster: Credentials, resources, and success (PTN221)

Insights:

• Audience Composition: The session had a balanced mix of AWS customers and partners, highlighting the dual focus on aligning partners with customers and understanding the customer selection process.
• Growth in Cloud Security Spending: Cloud security spending is growing at a rate three times faster than overall IT spending, emphasizing the increasing importance of cloud security.
• Partner Success Stories: Examples like Trend Micro assisting Banagier Benelux with ransomware recovery and Wiz helping Blackstone with security posture management illustrate the critical role of AWS partners in addressing security challenges.
• AWS Specialization Programs: AWS offers various specialization programs such as Service Ready, Service Delivery, Competency, and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to help customers find the right partners. Each program focuses on different aspects like software integration, consulting services, and comprehensive solutions.
• Importance of Competency: Competency programs are crucial for partners to gain credibility and for customers to ensure they are working with validated and capable partners. The process to achieve competency is rigorous, involving technical and operational validations.
• Navigating AWS Partner Ecosystem: Tools like the Partner Solutions Finder and AWS Marketplace help customers identify partners with validated offerings, making it easier to find the right fit among the 160,000 registered partners.
• Compliance and Security Posture: Compliance with regulations like GDPR is a significant factor in the decision-making process for AWS customers. Partners validated in security competencies help customers meet these compliance requirements.
• Vendor Insights: This feature allows partners to self-attest their compliance achievements, providing customers with transparency and confidence in their partner's capabilities.
• Encouragement for Partners: The session encourages partners without security or level 1 MSSP competencies to pursue these validations to gain visibility and credibility in the AWS ecosystem.

Quotes:

• "AWS has over 160,000 registered partners. It's a needle in a needle stack. How do I find the right partner?"
• "Spending for security and data privacy is growing at a higher rate than security spending overall."
• "Trend Micro was able to get this customer back up and running essential systems in three to four days."
• "Compliance will always continue to push security in the bare minimum bar."
• "The partner solution finder will tell you which partners have validated offerings within the categories."
• "The level one MSSP competency, that bar is super high. I love that program because it is so hard to get into."
• "When you achieve competency, you have AWS's stamp of validation. And again, that's a really, really important thing."
• "We always find something that is like, hey, I want to dive deep on this piece. Or did you think about actually doing it this way?"