ISG Provider Lens™ AWS Ecosystem Partners - AWS Data Analytics, AI and ML - Germany 2024

AI is becoming increasingly important for the realization of AWS-based solutions

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the leading hyperscaler worldwide, including in Germany, and is therefore benefiting from the growing cloud-native market in this country. Cloudnative solutions enable the creation and execution of scalable applications in cloud environments. The growth of the cloud-native market is an ideal prerequisite for the growth of AWS business partners in Germany. Large companies are still the most important and mature market segment in this country. Midsize companies lag behind large companies, making them an above-average, growing and highly attractive market segment. Service providers that address both target groups have an added advantage, as they benefit from large  budgets and a rapidly growing demand.

In recent years, the flexibility and cost benefits of cloud solutions have meant that this delivery model for IT  applications and infrastructures has become increasingly popular. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the market
penetration of cloud-based offerings has accelerated due to their advantages and the current requirements of  companies. For example, the very short-term relocation of many employees to the home office was often only possible with the help of cloudbased (collaboration) solutions. Furthermore, the additional inflationary cost pressure
caused by the pandemic is prompting many companies to transform their IT landscapes into need-based and cost-flexible architectures.

Cloud hyperscalers are the largest beneficiaries of the current and long-term increase in demand for cloud solutions due to their distinct ability to scale quickly and act flexibly. As one of the world’s leading hyperscalers, AWS benefits from the growing customer demand.

Due to its global significance, AWS is an attractive partner for service and technology providers. It cooperates with many of these providers as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN) — a global program for AWS partners. It helps them develop AWS-based businesses and solutions by providing business, technical, sales and marketing support. With the rapidly growing importance of AWS as an IT provider, the AWS partner ecosystem is also becoming increasingly relevant. This implies that AWS partners are also increasingly benefiting from the growing success of  AWS.

In a highly dynamic market such as AWSbased solutions, it is becoming increasingly important to implement projects in a timely manner. Automation, often supported by AI, is therefore becoming crucial in the implementation of AWS solutions.

AWS Professional Services

ISG places immense importance on accurately reflecting market trends in the Provider Lens studies. As a result, it has merged the topics of AWS-related consulting and migration, which were previously considered separately, into professional services. The integration of consulting and implementation enhances the seamless realization of AWS projects. For this reason, the combination of the two AWS service components is becoming increasingly popular in the market. Accordingly, providers that not only offer AWS consulting and migration but also dovetail these two elements in a targeted manner for the benefit of their customers are particularly successful in the market and in this analysis.

Interest in AWS cloud platforms is steadily increasing. As a result, the need for orientation regarding the optimal AWS entry is also growing. Unlike innovators, most of today’s interested parties and latecomers need external advice more frequently. Due to current crises, cost reduction opportunities through AWS solutions are a significant driver of  interest. Consulting is a key topic for entry into AWS solutions, often leading to further follow-up business; the market for professional services is correspondingly competitive.

The APN fulfills a dual purpose. This ecosystem is also a critical success factor for AWS itself. The more convincingly customers are advised by AWS partners, the better AWS’ business will develop. Simultaneously, these partners can
benefit from their customers’ successful entry into AWS through follow-up businesses such as managed services. Service providers that also offer support in AWS operation, i.e., endtoend services, are therefore well-positioned for success and have good ratings in this study; these providers offer a comprehensive development perspective with regard to AWS solutions.

The implementation of AWS projects, the second component of professional services, has two objectives. AWS migration plays a central role in introducing new applications in the company. Above all, existing applications should also be migrated to the AWS cloud (lift and shift). Partners in the AWS Professional Services quadrant help customers realize the transition to the AWS platform, considering all relevant aspects. Service providers that offer a broad  service portfolio and are proficient in various AWS technologies have an advantage in this report.

Technologies in the cloud sector are evolving rapidly, with accelerated developments in the AWS ecosystem. Moreover, time is money: due to the increasing competitive pressure that user companies are under, it is becoming more and
more important to implement the AWS migration in a timely manner. Consequently, automation, often supported by AI, is being used as part of professional services. Providers that can make use of such technologies benefit accordingly in this analysis.

AWS Managed Services

The advantages of AWS solutions are making them increasingly interesting for other user groups. As the ongoing handling can overwhelm or overtax many users, AWS-related managed services are increasingly becoming the focus of user companies and interested parties.

Managed AWS services are meeting the requirements of more and more (new) AWS prospects. As a result, interest in AWS managed service providers is growing; providers with operations in Germany, among others, have an advantage. With the success of AWS solutions, more and more companies without experience, knowledge or resources are also interested in AWS solutions. This development contributes to the fact that the external management of AWS solutions is becoming increasingly important. However, the desire for increasing professionalization is also an important driver,
as it is a demanding task.

User companies’ requirements and expectations reflect this need, which include mastering (hybrid) multicloud landscapes, data protection, operational experience and end-toend expertise. From this year onwards, special attention will be paid to cost optimization; FinOps will be considered a dedicated aspect. FinOps brings financial accountability to the cloud and helps make decisions with respect to trade-offs between speed, cost and performance.

According to the above factors, service providers offering a comprehensive range of services and technologies and providing references and case studies have a particular advantage. Additionally, providers that can offer operations in Germany can stand out positively. The security aspect, in particular, is also highly relevant in view of the increasing
number of cyberattacks in the wake of the conflict in U.K.raine.

AWS Data Analytics, AI and ML

Since the launch of the AWS Ecosystem Provider Lens™ study in 2019, ISG has included this topic in the analysis. This year, AI was explicitly included in the study for the first time, as ISG believes that this topic has reached
sufficient maturity and practical relevance. Particularly in the current situation, companies must increasingly consider the rapidly changing parameters when making decisions. AI is helping more and more companies to support their actions and decisions.

AWS partners help user companies overcome the complexity of collecting and analyzing data with the help of data analytics and ML. Data is still an untapped treasure in many companies, as it is often unstructured and exists in silos. In the meantime, German businesses are increasingly recognizing that data and its analysis are becoming an indispensable resource for their business success. A major challenge in this context is the rapidly growing data to be analyzed; one example is data from IoT systems. Due to this surge in data volume analysis, many companies seek to leverage the strong capacities of the public cloud, especially in the data processing environment. Owing to the increasing complexity of integration with the existing data storage infrastructure, companies rely on a robust APN for integration and service management. Service providers provide support ranging from readiness checks and strategy consulting to technical implementation, integration and operation.

A complete service portfolio is valuable in this area. Accordingly, service providers that offer a broad range of services and address extensive AWS technologies benefit from this analysis. Proof of performance through AWS competencies and certifications is beneficial. With regard to the new topic of AI, strong consulting skills are an advantage.

AWS SAP Workloads

Many user companies in Germany currently have reservations about obtaining SAP solutions from the cloud, as they often control elementary, existentially important processes in the company. The already above-average reservations about cloud solutions in Germany have a particularly strong impact here.

For those companies that have already undertaken the step of migrating SAP workloads to the cloud, AWS has  become a preferred platform for operations. SAP itself has been focusing its business expectations and resources heavily on software delivery models based on cloud computing since 2022. The RISE with SAP offering has sparked cloud strategy discussions among companies that previously did not consider AWS, serving as an additional market driver.

With the RISE with SAP offering, SAP promotes the transition to the cloud and provides operational support. SAP’s collaboration with partners offers a competitive environment, especially for AWS players offering SAP hosting. This approach creates opportunities for partners that provide extensions in the AWS cloud that SAP itself does not offer. Service providers that fully master the technological aspects and have strong business and industry expertise are also in a good position.

Access to the full report requires a subscription to ISG Research. Please contact us for subscription inquiries.