In CRN, Gina Narcisi summarizes a “fireside chat” I had with Jeff Kaplan. The full article is HERE
Today, AWS is unavoidable as one of the largest cloud computing provider in the world. Solution providers can learn from Amazon’s forward-thinking, customer-first mindset, John Rossman, a former Amazon executive and managing director with Alvarez & Marsal Business Consulting, told a packed audience of solution providers at The Channel Company’s NexGen 2017 Conference and Technology Expo on Tuesday.
Rossman, author of “The Amazon Way: 14 Leadership Principles Behind the World’s Most Disruptive Company,” said that Amazon stands out because of its “obsession” for making it progressively easier for customers to consume retail goods and digital services, rather than being motivated by beating the competition. That, he said, is an important takeaway for many solution providers who are in the midst of changing or evolving their own businesses.
“Amazon pays attention to competitors, but they set out to serve customers in new ways, and it just so happens that it often impacts others,” Rossman said. “They never go in thinking they are going to disrupt anything. They want to attract customers versus locking them in, and that’s a worthy cause.”
For its part, Amazon has always been a company that is looking to the next big thing, Rossman said.
Amazon was always a technology-first company and willing to invent to stay on the bleeding edge of computer sciences, Rossman explained. For that reason, the industry giant can avoid bureaucracy and move quickly, a typical challenge that faces many of the largest IT providers.
“As Amazon does, assume your business five years ago is not your business today,” he said.