It’s act one, scene one as cloud native startups step up to present the latest developments in cloud-scale data. 

Offering a stage to some of the most innovative born-in-the-cloud newcomers is the upcoming Amazon Web Services Inc. Startup Showcase: Innovations With Cloud Data, set to kick off on March 24 at 9 a.m. PT. A new event co-produced by AWS and theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, the Startup Showcase provides a chance to check out the latest and greatest contenders in cloud-scale data management solutions.

“AWS has become a platform for innovations. Investors are flocking to companies building value on top of the cloud because it’s capital efficient, fast and can lead to much faster market adoption and scale,” said Dave Vellante, co-chief executive officer of SiliconANGLE, chief analyst at SiliconANGLE sister market research firm Wikibon, and co-host of theCUBE. “For customers, cloud companies make it very easy to experiment with new innovations at very low risk. TheCUBE is thrilled to be hosting this important and exciting program.” (* Disclosure below.)

Old school solutions can’t scale

Over the past decade, data has become the most important factor driving both business success and technological development. It’s also become a resource accumulating at an astounding rate. There’s no exact figure for how much data is created today, but between 2015 and 2017, it was estimated that users created over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day. That amount has since grown exponentially. As an example, in 2017, 69,444 hours of video were streamed per minute — by 2020, it had increased to 404,444 hours per minute.

That data needs to be managed at cloud-scale, enabling the real-time analytics and insights that give today’s businesses their competitive advantage. It’s not an easy task. Data is no longer safely stashed away in an on-premises data center, but dispersed across a hybrid and multicloud environment.

Tools that work fine for the data center don’t make the grade when faced with data that is distributed around the globe. Poor data management can result in reputation-destroying security breaches, inaccurate forecast decisions and misguided business strategy, creating a need for cloud native, cloud-scale data management solutions.

Growing big data muscle

As the established goliath of the cloud storage market, AWS is head of a massive partner ecosystem. Nurturing startups is a win-win strategy, as it helps entrepreneurs successfully bring their innovative solutions to market and makes sure the best-of-the-best next-generation solutions are built on AWS.

 AWS offers support for all startups, but the top-tier are invited to join the AWS Partner Network Global Startup Program. Introduced at AWS re:Invent 2019, the program is open to mid-to-late-stage startups with innovative enterprise technology products, funding and recommendations from top-tier venture capital firms. Companies must also demonstrate clear product-market fit and have existing, strong sales and marketing support to build an AWS and cloud strategy.  

“It has been proven over the years that the most important startups have been built on AWS with cloud native technologies,” said John Furrier, founder and co-CEO of SiliconANGLE and co-host of theCUBE. “TheCUBE and AWS are showcasing the hottest cloud startups that are changing how businesses will operate in the future,” he added, describing the 10 innovative startups featured during the AWS Startup Showcase, which include Reltio, MontyCloud, Kong, Amplitude, BigID, WireWheel, Cordial, Stardog, AutoGrid and Dremio.

After applying and being approved by the AWS team, startups are assigned a partner development manager who is an expert in both AWS and startup growth strategies. Together, AWS and the startup develop a partner business plan, which includes a go-to-market strategy.   

“Joining the APN was really a natural evolutionary step for us,” said Curt Pearlman, vice president of customer experience at cloud native master data management company Reltio Inc. “The APN provides us with agility and expertise for our own use internally at Reltio, which we have then in turn been able to offer to our customers.”

Rather than thinking of the APN global startup program as an exclusive “club,” potential customers can view a company’s inclusion as a seal of approval, which is an immense benefit for enterprise decision-makers reviewing numerous potential cloud native data management solutions.

Ensuring customer data remains private, secure and in compliance with data security regulations is another major hurdle faced by data-driven companies. Being part of the AWS APN program has enabled data privacy management solutions company WireWheel Inc. to help its clients securely migrate sensitive workloads to the cloud. 

“WireWheel has been able to leverage AWS’ massive scalability to deliver privacy-related solutions to clients, from the largest enterprises to emerging startups,” Justin Antonipillai, WireWheel chief executive officer and founder, told theCUBE. “This has allowed our clients to cost-effectively not only remain compliant but be privacy-forward in their relationships with their customers. Because of the regulations, the future of the cloud depends on companies being able to migrate personal data workloads to the cloud. The combination of AWS services and WireWheel services has really enabled some transformational changes.”

Startup innovation in cloud-scale data

North American companies are leading the growth curve for data analytics, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 26.4%. Globally, the market is predicted to hit $132 billion by 2026, a number driven in part by businesses moving toward more data-driven operations in response to the pandemic. APN partners Stardog Inc., Reltio, BigID Inc. and Dremio Inc. are all making a splash in the market, with BigID and Dremio recently achieving unicorn status.

Working with a large fintech client, Stardog leveraged its enterprise knowledge graph technology to deliver a 360-degree view of agents and investors, Alison Goodrum, director of customer success, told theCUBE. “Connecting thousands of analysts to millions of relationships, [the company] leverages Stardog to identify possible fraud and prevent financial crimes,” she said.

APN global startup program partner AutoGrid Systems Inc. offers intelligent data analysis solutions to the energy sector. Security is paramount, and the company bakes in cybersecurity capabilities and controls. AWS helps AutoGrid meet global compliance requirements and provides the many services and features the company uses to secure its Flex integrated flexibility management suite and maintain strict security standards. 

Customer experience management has a new look thanks to cloud native company Amplitude Inc., which competes in the product analytics market. According to a sponsored Harvard Business Review report, product analytics has overtaken legacy marketing analytics to measure digital customer experiences and is expected to reach a market size of $27.39 billion by 2028.

“As customers increasingly rely on Amplitude for digital business insights, our internal infrastructure needs to scale rapidly to meet demand,” Shadi Rostami, executive VP of engineering at Amplitude, told theCUBE. “We have designed the architecture of our solution to be horizontally scalable, leveraging a number of AWS services. Between ‘infinitely scalable’ storage primitives like Amazon S3 and DynamoDB, managed database and cache services like ElastiCache, and auto-scaling based on load, we’re able to serve today’s load cost efficiently while being prepared for 10x the load down the line.”

Amplitude and cloud native application management platform Kong Inc. are two other APN global startup members who have achieved unicorn status.

A case study of Kong client Cargill Inc. showed how the global supply chain company was able to speed deployment by 65 times and launch over 450 new digital services in just six months thanks to the dynamic scalability of the AWS cloud.

Other partners spotlighted during the showcase will be cross-channel messaging and data platform Cordial Inc. and intelligent multicloud management platform MontyCloud Inc.

Livestream of the AWS Startup Showcase: Innovations With Cloud Data

The AWS Startup Showcase: Innovations With Cloud Data is a livestream event, with additional interviews to be broadcasted on theCUBE. You can register for free here to access the live event. Plus, you can watch theCUBE interviews here on demand following the event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch the live coverage of the AWS Startup Showcase: Innovations With Cloud Data, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Guests

Companies that will be interviewed on theCUBE during the AWS Startup Showcase: Innovations With Cloud Data include Reltio, MontyCloud, Kong, Amplitude, BigID, WireWheel, Cordial, Stardog, AutoGrid and Dremio. Stay tuned for a complete list of speakers.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the AWS Startup Showcase: Innovations With Cloud Data. Neither Amazon Web Services Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE