In this episode of Ahead in the Cloud, columnist and host Gene Marks talks to Claire Gribbin (Head of Worldwide SMB Strategy, AWS) and Ben Schreiner (Head of Business Innovation, AWS) about the importance of resilience and reliability in the cloud. Gene, Ben and Claire discuss the resources available for small & medium businesses and why resiliency should be top of mind for businesses of all sizes.

In Claire’s words: “We have so many resources, and those resources aren’t just coming directly from Amazon Web Services, I think it’s really important that they’re coming from the largest network of IT providers in the world.”

In this episode of Ahead in the Cloud, columnist and host Gene Marks talks to Ben Schreiner (Head of Business Innovation, AWS) about how small businesses can foster a culture of innovation. Together, they discuss:

·      How innovation can lead to greater value and efficiency for your business

·      The AWS Modernization, Optimization and Monetization (MOM) framework

·      Technology as the ‘how’, not the ‘why’ of innovation

·      Developing an action plan based on your long-term goals

In Ben’s words: “Think about your customers, and changing their experience with you and your products, and then figure out how you can continue to evolve your business, that’s how you’re going to stay competitive.”

Businesses are generating more data than ever before, so it’s critical they have practices and a culture in place that allows them to get the most value from that data. But disparate sources and governance rules can hamper their ability to ensure quality and consistency.

 “Most of the customers I talk to in the small and medium business space know that their data is valuable, but they really struggle with extracting that value.” Ben Schreiner – Co-host and Head of Business Innovation, AWS

In this Ahead in the Cloud episode, host Gene Marks and Ben Schreiner (Head of Business Innovation, AWS) discuss how small and medium-sized businesses can get the most out of their data, while talking about:

·      Why a culture of data integrity starts with leadership

·      The importance of governance and data quality

·      Spotting data issues with internal measures and controls

·      How smooth customer experiences are built on reliability and resiliency