With a significant customer base and extensive infrastructure, Amazon Web Services Inc. has the capability to meet a wide range of needs for enterprise customers. But what opportunities will there be for system integrators and independent software vendors in a world dominated by very powerful public cloud providers such as AWS?

The answer can be found in the belief that technology will continue to evolve and complexity is a given. Change and transformation are inevitable, and one industry expert sees significant opportunity ahead.

“Complexity is paramount. It’s a concern for enterprises just moving to cloud,” said Tim Crawford (pictured, second from right), CIO strategic advisor at AVOA LLC. “You start layering in the edge-to-cloud continuum, and it just gets exponentially more complicated. Amazon is not going to be the one to help you go through that, and this is where the opportunity lies for the SIs, ISVs and partners.”

Crawford spoke with John Furrier and Dave Vellante, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. He was joined by Sarbjeet Johal (right), cloud consultant, and they discussed opportunities to work with AWS and leverage its extensive cloud portfolio and how that could benefit the overall partner ecosystem. (* Disclosure below.)

Managing a diverse environment

Part of what drives opportunity for the AWS partner ecosystem is the platform diversity that will likely continue to exist for many enterprises. While 85% of organizations expect to move a majority of workloads to the cloud, a mere 24% plan to be cloud-only, according to the “Cloud Infrastructure Report.”

“We have this really complicated, diverse environment that we have to manage,” Crawford said. “I don’t believe that enterprises will be all in cloud. I think that’s more of a fantasy than reality. There is a hybrid state that is going to be transitory for some period of time, and that’s where the big opportunity is.”

This hybrid state may drive the best opportunities for SIs and ISVs, but AWS will still play a major role, according to Johal.

“Hybrid is hard,” he said. “My theory of cloud consumption tells me that sooner or later systems of record will move into SaaS, and systems of engagement will leverage a lot of platforms as a service. To be a best-of-breed platform as a service, you have to be a best of breed infrastructure-as-a-service provider, and that’s Amazon.”

AWS also has another advantage that creates opportunity for the partner world. The company’s identity as a cloud service provider is beginning to morph into providing technology as well, which could be highly attractive to its partner network.

“They are becoming technology providers. They are not just being a ‘pipe and power’ kind of cloud,” Johal said. “They are highly constructed machinery behind the scenes with software. That’s what Amazon is — a big machine, and you can leverage that. You can help your customers achieve their business goals as a partner. It’s a win-win.”

Here’s the complete analysis, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: The AWS Partner Network sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither AWS nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE