AWS Summits are free events that bring the cloud computing community together to connect, collaborate, and learn about Amazon Web Services. 

These events serve to educate cloud security practitioners about AWS products and services, helping them develop the skills needed to build, deploy, and operate their infrastructure and applications. 

The 2022 AWS Summit in Tel Aviv provided great environment to learn more about the latest AWS cloud services and cloud security—including how to: 

  • choose a suitable database in AWS cloud
  • modernize the data warehouse
  • drive digital transformation using AI

This summit attracted technologists from all industries and skill levels, everyone wanting to discover how AWS can help them innovate quickly and deliver flexible, reliable solutions at scale.

Presenters included subject matter experts and customers who have successfully built AWS solutions. I highly recommend attending a future event to learn, explore, and experience the AWS cloud community for yourself.

Experiencing the 2022 AWS Summit Tel Aviv Expo Floor

Immediately when walking into the expo area, you can feel the might of AWS and its ability to attract top-of-the-line vendors. 

From large to small, from highly achieved vendors to startups, the breadth of security solution providers is on full display.

Understanding how AWS invests its time and resources at such summits is illuminating; there lies a greater opportunity for AWS global presence beneath each of its initiatives.

It seemed that this year’s event leaned more toward startups, showcasing how they can leverage AWS solutions and offerings.

Startups represent market share that AWS is serious about enabling. This first lesson was a big one for me, considering the scope of existing AWS revenue, partnerships, and technology.

Lesson 1: AWS Enables Startups – For a Reason,

AWS truly loves startups and is known for helping them grow and scale. For over 13 years, it has supported the world’s most successful startups as they build applications and store data on AWS. 

Why the interest? Such goodwill helps ensure that startups choose to store data and develop intellectual property within the AWS ecosystem.

One session covered how, through support programs such as AWS Activate, AWS Founders Club, AWS Startup Loft Accelerator, and AION Labs, it helps startups achieve their goals.

AWS provided tips from its founders about past mistakes and what they learned along the way—beneficial information for those learning how to quickly scale a startup without making revenue-killing mistakes.

Most startups know the pressure and anxiety that comes with developing, then presenting the right pitch deck when seeking investors. 

This year AWS introduced a new way to pitch venture capitalists (VCs). A summit highlight came when attending VCs took the stage to introduce themselves to the startup audience. 

AWS’s innovation culture is being consumed by startups who want to replicate the approach to success. They’re adopting all or some of Amazon’s approaches to innovation that have remained relatively consistent since the company began. For example, the AWS philosophy of starting with the customer and working backward is a solid success model. 

Orca Security also believes in the power of startups and the positive impact that entrepreneurs can have in local communities, from job creation to economic growth. To support startups who need compliance and workload protection early on, Orca offers a free one-year subscription to qualified startups with AWS Activate. This program is ideal for new startups that can benefit from Orca’s CNAPP embedded into their AWS cloud environments. Cloud-native startups can use the Activate program to build security maturity early into AWS cloud-native environments and securely plan ahead to scale for a full year, at no cost.

Lesson 2: Free Education Increases User Engagement

AWS is investing a lot in its customers’ and partners’ education to realize mutual success. It introduced many new topics spanning its cloud offerings, one of the most exciting being Containers A–Z. Sr. Containers Specialist David Feldstein and Shimon Tolts, CEO & co-founder of Datree, discussed essential technical capabilities in the AWS containers and services portfolio. 

AWS Sr. Developer Advocate Maish Saidel-Keesing led “Increasing Developer Velocity with Serverless Containers.” Senior Manager Apps Asaf Benyamin and Nadav Shteyer, team lead apps at Zoominfo, previewed a fictional startup leveraging AWS App Runner to kick start its online presence. This demonstrated how a company can use AWS tools and solutions to quickly scale growth.

Lesson 3: AWS Partnerships Accelerate Goals

Working together for a common goal is the third lesson. AWS’s vast partner ecosystem contributes its expertise, provides solutions, and makes customers’ lives that much better. 

The AWS partner network (APN) includes over 100,000 entities from 150 countries. It offers the ability to:

  • expand partners’ customer base
  • identify new opportunities
  • leverage the latest AWS technologies
  • build and deliver differentiated customer offerings

For example, Orca Security achieved unicorn status, a $1.8 billion valuation, and amassed over $600M in funding two years after joining. 

Orca claims its success wouldn’t have been possible without the APN, including its involvement in programs like ISV Accelerate and the AWS Service Delivery Program.

Linux 2 Ready is a validation held by AWS Partners whose products are ready to run on Amazon Linux 2 (a Linux server operating system on AWS). 

Orca now has such a product, offering its customers the benefit of running their preferred applications on Amazon Linux 2 coupled with long-term support and optimized performance.

In addition, Orca Security is one of only nine vulnerability management providers that have achieved an AWS Security ISV Competency. AWS Security Competency Partners have deep technical expertise and proven customer success in securing every stage of cloud adoption, from initial migration through day-to-day management. 

This important designation recognizes that Orca has proven technology and deep expertise in helping customers adopt, develop, and deploy complex security projects on AWS.

Next Up: AWS reInvent

Attending AWS events like this Summit (or global events such as November’s reInvent in Las Vegas) are worth attending for the free educational aspect alone. 

Learning from experts, then trying out technologies in active demonstrations, can help you stay on top of the latest available AWS cloud technologies—all the while networking with peers and building AWS cloud community relationships. 

AWS makes these events highly informative, with plenty of action items to take back to your organization for application.