{"id":25051,"date":"2018-12-26T12:04:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T18:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/?p=25051"},"modified":"2023-10-23T09:10:38","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T13:10:38","slug":"5-things-i-learned-at-the-aws-reinvent-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/blog\/5-things-i-learned-at-the-aws-reinvent-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Things I Learned at the AWS re:Invent Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

We learned a ton at the<\/span><\/span>\u00a02018 Amazon Web Services\u00a0<\/span><\/span>re:Invent<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Conference<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Read our key highlights.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

I went\u00a0to\u00a0re:Invent\u00a0with a major goal:\u00a0to learn as much as I could\u00a0about new\u00a0AWS services and solutions<\/a>.\u00a0And the conference delivered\u00a0with\u00a0a big selection of\u00a0cloud and trending topic\u00a0sessions across\u00a0introductory, advanced, and expert\u00a0levels.<\/p>\n

This was my first\u00a0re:Invent\u00a0conference, and I was impressed by the scale and selection of offerings.<\/p>\n

Here are some of my\u00a0major\u00a0takeaways\u00a0from the conference, which\u00a0wouldn\u2019t be possible without the great note-taking skills of\u00a0my colleague Richert Caldwell.<\/p>\n

Top Five Takeaways<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. \n

    The Scale of the Event<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Although I already made note of the scale, it\u2019s worth mentioning again because it really was out-of-this-world.\u00a0There were close to 50,000 people\u00a0at the conference. It was hard to imagine a crowd like this.<\/p>\n

    Just standing in registration line on Monday\u00a0put\u00a0everything in perspective for me. So many people gathered together in one place.<\/p>\n

    It felt like all AWS\u00a0gurus came to Las Vegas at once!<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Current, Latest and Future Services<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Application Integration for ML<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      AWS Step Functions:<\/b>\u00a0Help for machine learning (ML)\u00a0is\u00a0now available. There was a lot of discussion about machine learning (ML). AWS offers a few services that can be implemented but did not have a service which could provide centralized workflow.\u00a0By introducing\u00a0AWS Step Functions<\/i>, a fully managed\u00a0workflow service integrated with Amazon\u00a0SageMaker\u00a0and AWS Glue, there is now the\u00a0integration some were looking for\u00a0without the need to code.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      AWS Step Functions<\/i>\u00a0automates ML workflows by connecting and coordinating multiple Amazon\u00a0SageMaker\u00a0jobs and AWS services, allowing for faster and simpler deployments and monitoring. Step Functions can be started in minutes, and it is something I\u00a0hope\u00a0to explore more in the coming months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Analytics<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      AWS Lake Formation:\u202f<\/b>We all need help with Data Lake design, don\u2019t we? AWS Lake Formation is coming soon and will make it easy to set up a secure data lake. Having worked with many different data sources, we all understand challenges and how hard this can be. AWS Lake Formation will make it easier to combine analytics\u00a0tools\u00a0\u2013\u00a0like Amazon EMR, Redshift, Athena,\u00a0Sagemaker, and\u00a0QuickSight\u00a0\u2013\u00a0to\u00a0drive the analytics and configuration in one dashboard. I am looking forward to recommending AWS Lake Formation to our clients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Amazon\u00a0<\/b>Quicksight<\/b>:\u202f<\/b>New futures\u00a0have been\u00a0added to Amazon\u00a0Quicksight. Amazon\u00a0QuickSight\u00a0now\u00a0becomes\u00a0the first\u00a0business intelligence\u00a0service to offer\u00a0machine learning\u00a0and insights for all users in an organization.\u00a0This is another service\u00a0that will be\u00a0easy\u00a0for\u00a0users\u00a0without\u00a0expertise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Compute<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      AWS Outpost:\u202f<\/b>Another service\u00a0that\u00a0got my attention was something new and not offered before.\u00a0Many of our clients\u00a0are\u00a0looking into this\u00a0to satisfy onsite system\u00a0regulations.\u00a0AWS Outpost provides\u00a0the possibility of running AWS workflows on-premises. VMware on AWS and on-premises is possible with the same hardware. The client can\u00a0choose where to run their workflow based\u00a0on their requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Lambda:\u202f<\/b>Support for Ruby2.5, Custom Runtimes: PHP, Cobol, C++. Custom Runtime allows developers to add their favorite language.\u00a0AWS Lambda layers, which supports\u00a0of libraries, and ability to configure\u00a0Application Load Balancers for\u00a0<\/i>Lambda apps\u00a0are\u00a0<\/i>other futures presented and had a lot of interests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Management & Governance<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      AWS Control Tower:<\/b>\u00a0This new service helps step-up activities for AWS Landing Zone. AWS Control Tower automates the set-up of a baseline environment and offers to centralize views\u00a0to configuration and administration of security for the cloud environment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights:\u202f<\/b>Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights is a fully integrated, interactive, and pay-as-you-go log analytics service for CloudWatch. This service enables\u00a0you to discover, analyze, and visualize logs, simplifying\u00a0operational\u00a0and troubleshooting issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Security, Identity, & Compliance<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      AWS Security Hub:\u202f<\/b>There\u2019s now a\u00a0s<\/b>ingle dashboard\u00a0where you can integrate\u00a0AWS services and Partner tools.\u00a0A lot of security professionals were excited to see that the security view\u00a0now appears on\u00a0one dashboard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Networking & Content Delivery<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      Transit Gateway:\u202f<\/b>Now we\u00a0can choose between\u00a0Transit Gateway\u00a0and EC2\u00a0or\u00a0a simpler\u00a0solution like Transit Gateway.\u00a0Transit Gateway is\u00a0an\u00a0all-in-one device that will integrate DC, VPN and VPC Peering for VPCs. It\u2019s\u00a0also fully\u00a0supported\u00a0by AWS. Transit Gateway will have a major impact on enterprise solution design and make networking configuration and operations much\u00a0easier for enterprises\u00a0with a big number of VPCs in a region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Storage<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      Amazon\u00a0<\/b>FSx<\/b>\u00a0for Windows File Server:\u202f<\/b>Amazon\u00a0FSx\u00a0for Windows File Server provides a fully managed native Microsoft Windows file system. This shared file system storage can be accessed from\u00a0thousands of compute instances. Amazon\u00a0FSx\u00a0for Windows File Server is built on Windows Server and SSD storage. Windows users were very enthusiastic about this announcement. Now they have shared file storage with the compatibility, features, and performance\u00a0of the\u00a0Windows-based applications\u00a0they\u00a0rely on. With this service, the AD files system can be shared across\u00a0multiple Availability Zones\u00a0and provide\u00a0High Availability\u00a0access to clients shared services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Databases<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      Amazon Aurora Global Database:\u00a0<\/b>Now we can have a master instance at more than one region. This was an important announcement for global applications\u00a0that required\u00a0database hosting\u00a0across\u00a0multiple regions.\u00a0At launch, we will be able to\u00a0create a few masters instances\u00a0in multiple regions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      DynamoDB Transactions:\u202f<\/b>Amazon DynamoDB adds support for transactions. Developers can support business logic in mission-critical applications that require multiple, all-or-nothing operations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Developer Tools<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      New Support for Blue\/Green Deployments<\/b>: This\u00a0will make\u00a0life much easier for\u00a0developers. Amazon\u202fElastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) and AWS\u00a0Fargate\u00a0now support blue\/green deployments via AWS\u00a0CodeDeploy. The developers can automate deployments to validate a new application version before routing production traffic to the new release.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Migration & Transfer<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

      AWS Transfer for SFTP:\u202f<\/b>No\u00a0infrastructure needed anymore! AWS Transfer for SFTP provides a fully managed secure file transfer service that works with Amazon S3. This service migrates file transfer workflows to AWS without impact to ap<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        Ladies, Where Are You?<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        There were plenty of speakers who were women,\u00a0but not enough in the audience. Women need to make more of a presence at\u00a0re:Invent\u00a0next year.<\/p>\n

        At one workshop,\u00a0I counted 100 people in the audience but only four women (including me). It is a funny\u00a0feeling, but\u00a0looking back at my 20 years\u00a0in this field, it’s nothing new.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \n

          Visit The Expo<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          The Expo is a great place to network and connect with other\u202fAWS professionals. In one hour, I\u00a0met\u00a0so many vendors and\u00a0received so much\u00a0rich\u00a0information about their products and services.<\/p>\n

          I saw a few I like and have worked with before \u2013\u00a0like\u00a0Splunk, VMWare Clouds, and more. I wish I could have had more time to spend at the Expo.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. \n

            Social Media Influence in Huge<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            I posted\u00a0my picture\u00a0on\u00a0LinkedIn, with a simple: \u201cHi,\u00a0I am here\u201d, on Monday, the first\u00a0day\u00a0of the conference.<\/p>\n

            I\u2019m happy to report that my\u00a0post got 200 views in a few\u00a0minutes! That reveals the power of the\u00a0#AWS and #re:Invent\u00a0conference hashtags.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

            Now I know the\u00a0potential of connecting\u00a0with peers in real-time on platforms\u00a0like LinkedIn.\u00a0My excitement\u00a0grew\u00a0as the number of views\u00a0grew. I\u00a0even had the opportunity to connect\u00a0with some colleagues I haven\u2019t\u00a0seen for years!<\/p>\n

            \n

            Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

            Overall though, the AWS\u00a0conference\u00a0was exactly what I envisioned \u2013 a great place where I could meet AWS IT professionals, partners, entrepreneurs and learn a ton about new cloud offerings and trends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

            One of my biggest lessons, which I\u2019ll make sure to remember\u00a0next year: Register early because popular sessions fill up quickly.<\/p>\n

            Written and contributions by: Richert Caldwell & Agnieszka Mleczek<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent conference Las Vegas recap. Read about the top five takeways and the latest technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":48023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19120,18527],"coauthors":[15012],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-07-22 10:20:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25051"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25051"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=25051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}