share
When you assess a new software vendor for your business, be sure to factor in the benefits of the company’s partnerships.
When you set out to build a new cloud application, you want to make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible. This means that any development hiccups are kept to a minimum—or better yet, they don’t happen at all. It’s essential to have the right tools for the job, especially when you are implementing complex architectures such as microservices or a multicloud strategy.
However, choosing a software provider to rely on for programming tools or an application hosting service can be stressful. There are so many options! Developers and IT teams sometimes find it difficult to settle on the right one for their specific use case or to feel 100% confident that the provider they’re gravitating toward really is the best choice after all.
There are a number of factors to consider when assessing software vendors: functionality, pricing, security, reputation, client reviews, and much more. But be sure to also consider the value of choosing a vendor that has an established partnership with a large cloud provider, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). A formal alliance between your vendor candidate and one of the big three cloud companies provides a number of benefits that you may not have considered, but which can be extremely valuable.
Here are three ways that working with a vendor that’s already partnered with a large cloud vendor can make your life a whole lot easier.
Who likes learning new things anyway? Well, a lot of us do, to be honest, but nobody wants to deal with a steep learning curve when they’re under pressure. You’re already busy, and likely on deadline; picking up new skills may not be the best use of your time.
If you’re a software developer, a DevOps engineer, a cloud architect, or anyone else who contributes to building applications that require high availability and scalability, you are likely already familiar with large cloud providers like AWS—and how they work. Being able to access a software vendor’s offerings in the AWS environment, where you know how to configure systems and fix problems, removes a huge roadblock to getting started with a new tool.
In addition, if you’re trying to build something new, or you have a complex project where you personally lack expertise, it’s invaluable to work with an experienced partner. You can rely on your software vendor, with whom you have a close relationship, as a trusted advisor; and you also benefit from the immense knowledge and expertise the large cloud vendor brings to the table.
Anytime you work with a new tool or database vendor, you wonder how well their solution works with your existing systems. You can relieve that worry by choosing a vendor that has an established relationship with a cloud vendor you know.
If you’re already an AWS shop, for example, you can get your tools directly on AWS. For instance, Redis and AWS have an alliance. You don’t need to integrate Redis into your legacy systems, and you don’t need to read another manual (that “learning new stuff” hassle we discussed earlier). You can simply sign up for Redis Enterprise Cloud on AWS: a fully managed, real-time database-as-a-service and cache that’s trusted by thousands of customers because of its unmatched performance, high availability, scalability, and support. As partners, AWS and Redis work closely together to ensure that customers have the best possible experience running Redis Enterprise Cloud on AWS.
This also means you don’t need to worry about buying anything “new.” No new purchase orders! There’s less need to convince your boss—or whoever it is that needs to approve your purchases.
Instead, you can have Redis Enterprise Cloud as a line item on your unified AWS bill, with the expenses counting toward your AWS commitment. You can provision according to your business needs, paying monthly without any budget commitment, and change your provisioning at any time as those needs evolve.
When vendors have an established relationship, the technical contacts know their partners’ tools better than you do, they know the magic words to type into the help desk software, and they have a Rolodex with the correct human contacts if all that fails.
In addition, you don’t need to worry about a lack of expertise among your colleagues. Using tools on an established cloud platform that everyone is familiar with means any shared work with others on projects should go more smoothly, with less friction and more collaboration.
The last thing you need is to choose a lesser-established software solution that you’re convinced will do the trick, then have your project go south and get blamed for placing your bets on an unknown company.
Ready to experience the power of partnership? Check out Redis on the AWS Marketplace today.
Stop testing, start deploying your AI apps. See how with MIT Technology Review’s latest research.
