Verizon has selected Amazon Web Services as its preferred public cloud provider and plans to migrate more than 1,000 business applications and database systems.
This is an interesting move given that Verizon at one time was a public cloud player acquiring US-based Terremark, a publicly traded company in 2011, to buy its managed services and cloud computing. It also launched cloud compute and storage way back in 2013. But in 2016, Verizon shut down its public cloud effort, selling off its data center and private cloud assets to Equinix and IBM last year.
Verizon first started working with AWS in 2015 and has several successful business and consumer applications already running in the cloud. This latest wave of migrations to AWS is part of a corporate-wide initiative at Verizon to increase agility and reduce costs through the use of cloud computing. Standardizing on AWS will enable Verizon to access the most comprehensive set of cloud capabilities available today so it can deliver innovative applications and services in hours versus weeks.
To ensure that Verizon’s developers are able to invent on behalf of its customers, the company has also invested in building AWS-specific training facilities, called “dojos,” where its employees can quickly ramp up on AWS technologies and learn how to innovate with speed and at scale.
“We are making the public cloud a core part of our digital transformation, upgrading our database management approach to replace our proprietary solutions with Amazon Aurora,” said Mahmoud El-Assir, Senior Vice President of Global Technology Services at Verizon. “The agility we’ve gained by moving to the world’s leading public cloud has helped us better serve our customers. Working with AWS complements our focus on efficiency, speed, and innovation within our engineering culture, and has enabled us to quickly deliver the best, most efficient customer experiences.”
“Millions of consumers and businesses rely on Verizon to communicate and connect them to every corner of the world at a time when the stakes have never been higher to keep customers satisfied and engaged,” said Mike Clayville, Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS.
“We look forward to continuing our work with Verizon as their preferred public cloud provider, helping them to continually transform their business and innovate on behalf of their customers. The combination of Verizon’s team of builders with AWS’s extensive portfolio of cloud services and expertise means that Verizon’s options for delighting their customers is virtually unlimited.”
