Rackspace will be reselling and supporting Amazon Web Services (AWS), the giant public cloud service which it once hoped to supplant. 

The new service, first revealed in an analyst call in August. will sell AWS cloud services, along with Rackspace’s branded “fanatical support”, and managed security services, compliance and managed cloud, all using AWS resources onthe AWS cloud. 

chris cochran rackspace
Chris Cochran, Rackspace – Rackspace

Amazon for Rackspace fans

Many customers want to use AWS, but need more support and hand-holding from a trusted partner, Rackspace explained in its release: ”In addition, many enterprises are on a multi-phased journey to the cloud and benefit from migration services that speed deployment, as well as ongoing operating expertise that can adapt to a company’s evolving set of business and technology needs.”

“We see substantial demand from customers who want to leverage AWS for mission critical applications,” said Chris Cochran, senior vice president and general manager at Rackspace. “Launching our new business unit and adding AWS support to our portfolio of managed service offerings enables us to give our customers more choice in their infrastructure deployments.” 

Rackspace has passed Amazon’s tests to become an AWS authorised reseller and Managed Services Partner. It now has over 100 certified AWS engineers, and is joining the AWS Partner Network as an Advanced Consulting Partner.

The managed cloud company has already signed some customers to the service, who have mixed workloads and are fans of Rackspace support. “We have been with Rackspace since 2004 and the company has a proven reputation of delivering the highest level of customer support,” said Jonathan Issler, director of operational technology at Infosnap. “We have some workloads that run on AWS as well and we’ve researched other companies that could potentially provide support for this platform, but none were a good fit. When Rackspace approached us about its Fanatical Support for AWS offering, we signed immediately based on the strength of their managed cloud experience and expertise.”

There are two levels of Rackspace Fanatical Support for AWS. Navigator customers use Rackspace tools and expertise, while keeping exclusive operational control. Aviator customers hand over the complete management Rackspace. These services are available for US customers now, and will be in beta for non-US customers, with the exception of the US Government Cloud region, and the China region.

The managed security offering gives host and network level threat detection with centralized logging and analysis, backed by a full-time Rackspace security centre. The complaince assistance offering is intended to help customers get their AWS-based systems through PCI and other certification processes. Both these offerings are in beta. 

AWS welcomed its new partner:  “We’re pleased to see Rackspace support AWS customers and achieve membership in the AWS Managed Service Program,” said Terry Wise, vice president of the worldwide partner ecosystem at the giant.