Reliable cloud depends on reliable infrastructure

How Amazon Web Services is building Australia’s future in the cloud with support from network infrastructure partners Alliance SI

Data centre providers and hyperscalers are responding to the increasing demand for cloud services with aggressive growth targets, renewed speed commitments and improved performance guarantees. None of this is possible without the underlying network infrastructure. Delivering innovative network solutions requires a highly skilled team who are focused on building the most dependable networks. That’s why Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s leading cloud platform, partners with Alliance SI to build Australia’s future in the cloud.

The pandemic has been a watershed event for the world, and a defining moment for the cloud and hyperscale data centres. For many organisations, a digital transformation that was expected to take years has been compressed into a matter of days and weeks. Entire industries are being reset, and digital infrastructure is front and centre in the transition.

The ABS recently released data that shows 55% of Australian businesses are leveraging paid cloud computing (up from 42% in 2017-18 and 31% in 2015-16). The rapid uptake of cloud services in Australia has fuelled the growth of hyperscale cloud providers. With billions spent each year on building and expanding their data centre footprint to accommodate the high demand for cloud services, hyperscalers face the challenge of managing extensive physical infrastructure networks that are integral to their service offering.

As organisations continue to make the shift from private server solutions to cloud-based applications, hyperscale data centres are on the rise. To accommodate increasing and fluctuating demand, hyperscaler infrastructure is built on thousands of physical servers and millions of virtual machines. Building and maintaining that network is critical to reputational reliability. 

According to Business Insider, a single minute of downtime for an enterprise data centre costs the business almost $9,000². Minimising this risk requires best practice data centre network infrastructure that is implemented to exacting standards and maintained with responsive knowledge.  Ultimately, it is the underlying infrastructure that delivers speed to market and dependable reliability.

Furthermore, long-term growth often requires physical network expansion, meaning hyperscalers need suppliers with a national presence as they need to be serviced everywhere, consistently. Decisions may be made globally or regionally, but installation must take place on the ground so expert, local support is needed in these areas.  

As a leading cloud provider, AWS relies on a network of trusted partners to deliver innovative solutions and solve technical challenges. When launching the Asia Pacific region in 2012, the company sought local supply partners who would meet their exacting standards and be able to scale in line with their regional growth strategies. After a thorough review, AWS selected Alliance SI as their infrastructure partner in the region, responsible for Data Centre Network Infrastructure, a collaboration that has continued to grow and deliver customer value over the last ten years. 

Alliance SI’s highly skilled and qualified technicians, capable of supporting AWS’s aggressive growth targets and demanding low latency expectations. By 2016, Alliance SI had supported the delivery of the first dedicated AWS facility with large network builds for server rack scalability; a year later delivering edge projects for Western Australia and Australian Capital territory sites; and by 2014 supporting 14 sites across New South Wales. Fast forward to 2022, and Alliance SI have played an instrumental role in the preparation and successful development of AWS’s three new sites across Victoria – equating to over 100,000 metres of cable and 10,000 ports enabled over a six-month period. 

Perhaps most importantly, Alliance SI are the reliable team on the ground – the fast responders, the problem solvers, the trusted network partners who understand the constraints and the demands of the data centre environment. An understanding that was put to the test during the strict restraints of the pandemic. At a time when lockdown restricted movement, and cloud demand was at an all-time high, Alliance SI continued to deliver and continued to build resiliency despite the tougher working conditions. 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centres globally. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing start-ups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster.

As the leading cloud platform, the company prides itself on delivering the most functionality, the largest community of customers and partners, the greatest security, and the most proven operational expertise. In the Asia Pacific, this expertise is supported by their partnership with Alliance SI, the team responsible for building AWS’s extensive physical network infrastructure.

First publicly recognised contractor AWS’s continued expansion into the Australian landscape is possible as a result of these trusted local partnerships. Alliance SI were proud to be the first publicly recognised contractor in the Asia Pacific region.