3 Simple AWS Services for Cloud Reluctant CIOs

Many CIOs aren’t ready to move prime time compute and applications to AWS, because they don’t have low-risk services to migrate. Here are three services, I believe are ready made for CIOs to dip their toe into AWS without transitioning high risk compute and applications:

• Archival storage
• Application testing and virtualization
• Messaging

Archival storage

Backup and archival storage is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to start using AWS. Virtually every organization needs a way to backup files and data offsite. Many larger organizations replicate this data into other company owned data centers to satisfy disaster recovery needs. The truth is that AWS Storage Gateway or Glacier accomplish disaster recovery needs more effectively and cheaper than using any traditional on premise SAN or NAS vendors.

The days of saying there’s no compelling use case for public cloud are coming to a close. The only thing left for CIOs is to decide what infrastructure and services they hold a competitive advantage over AWS and which ones they are ready to let go.

For example, the Storage Gateway service enables CIOs to stand up a virtual on premise file server where the files are stored in S3 and can be replicated across multiple AWS data centers for redundancy. S3 storage costs for files hovers around $.023 per GB per month. Alternatively, the Storage Gateway service can act as virtual tape where data is stored in Glacier for fractions of pennies on the dollar. Glacier storage costs are now at $.004 per GB per month. 100TB of storage now costs $40 per month. There’s simply no way an on-premise storage system can be this inexpensive. Granted, organizations that need high performance, low latency storage will be better served by on-premise storage. However, archival and backup storage business requirements are by definition not high performance and low latency which makes it a perfect candidate for AWS.

Application testing and virtualization

Application testing is a pain in most larger organizations. It’s slow and decentralized which means it takes forever to roll out new versions of an application and make sure they don’t break anything. Even worse are applications that can’t be updated (such as ones with Java dependencies) and sit on thousands of endpoints waiting to be exploited. AWS AppStream 2.0 and AWS Workspaces make it easier to test and deploy application updates as well as create a virtual sandbox for problem apps.

AppStream 2.0 was recently relaunched after the initial AppStream service was deemed too cumbersome to use. Now, the service makes it so that users have a native app experience virtualized in a browser and the app runs in AWS. Granted, the application needs to be compatible with Windows Server 2012, but it’s still a tool that lightens IT’s load to maintain local applications on every endpoint.

Additionally, applications that need testing for regular security and functionality patches can be installed and maintained in AWS Workspaces. Users access a virtual desktop where the IT department can maintain a core Windows image with various software installed (Office, IE, etc.). Additional applications can be installed allowing users to test and operate a separate virtual environment. The tedious process of setting up individual virtual machines for application testers is quickly becoming obsolete with these style of services. My company used Workspaces to smoke test our Windows based app and ran a full array of tests in less than a day on multiple permutations of IE and Office applications that were impacted by our app. This process was faster and easier to standardize and monitor than the creation of individual virtual machines in a singular developer environment where the exact settings and test results weren’t centrally controlled and monitored.

Messaging

AWS’ Simple Email Service (SES) is a cheap and easy way to send bulk emails needed by marketing and sales departments. This is a service that companies like MailChimp provide. For CIOs who want a simple way to send bulk email, the service is hard to match on price. For example, 1,000 messages cost $.10 which means that 100,000 emails cost $10. This is far cheaper than MailChimp. For those CIOs who need a basic messaging service without all the massive customizations that other messaging providers offer, this is an easy, severable service to try.

In comparison, services like MailChimp are several orders of magnitude more expensive. There’s frankly little ability to cost justify these types of service if your organization is just doing bulk messaging.

Given the increasing utility and decreasing costs of AWS services with each passing year, CIOs will need to ask themselves “Why are we not using the public cloud?” The days of saying there’s no compelling use case for public cloud are coming to a close. The only thing left to do is for CIOs to decide what infrastructure and service they hold a competitive advantage over AWS and which ones they don’t and are ready to let go.