(upbeat music) >> Welcome back friends. It's theCUBE LIVE in Las Vegas at the Venetian Expo, covering the first full day of AWS re:Invent 2022. I'm Lisa Martin, and I have the privilege of working much of this week with Dave Vellante. >> Hey. Yeah, it's good to be with you Lisa. >> It's always good to be with you. Dave, this show is, I can't say enough about the energy. It just keeps multiplying as I've been out on the show floor for a few minutes here and there. We've been having great conversations about cloud migration, digital transformation, business transformation. You name it, we're talking about it. >> Yeah, and I got to say the soccer Christians are really happy. (Lisa laughing) >> Right? Because the USA made it through. So that's a lot of additional excitement. >> That's true. >> People were crowded around the TVs at lunchtime. >> They were, they were. >> So yeah, but back to data. >> Back to data. We have a couple of guests here. We're going to be talking a lot with customer challenges, how they're helping to overcome them. Please welcome Kevin Zawodzinski, VP of Sales Engineering at COMMVAULT. >> Thank you. >> And Paul Meighan, Director of Product Management at AWS. Guys, it's great to have you on the program. Thank you for joining us. >> Thanks for having us. >> Thanks for having us. >> Isn't it great to be back in person? >> Paul: It really is. >> Kevin: Hell, yeah. >> You cannot replicate this on virtual, you just can't. It's nice to see how excited people are to be back. There's been a ton of buzz on our program today about Adam's keynote this morning. Amazing. A lot of synergies with the direction, Paul, that AWS is going in and where we're seeing its ecosystem as well. Paul, first question for you. Talk about, you know, in the customer environment, we know AWS is very customer obsessed. Some of the main challenges customers are facing today is they really continue this business transformation, this digital transformation, and they move to cloud native apps. What are some of those challenges and how do you help them eradicate those? >> Well, I can tell you that the biggest contribution that we make is really by focusing on the fundamentals when it comes to running storage at scale, right? So Amazon S3 is unique, distributed architecture, you know, it really does deliver on those fundamentals of durability, availability, performance, security and it does it at virtually unlimited scale, right? I mean, you guys have talked to a lot of storage folks in the industry and anyone who's run an estate at scale knows that doing that and executing on those fundamentals day after day is just super hard, right? And so we come to work every day, we focus on the fundamentals, and that focus allows customers to spend their time thinking about innovation instead of on how to keep their data durably stored. >> Well, and you guys both came out of the storage world. >> Right. >> Yeah, yeah. >> It was a box world, (Kevin laughs) and it ain't no more. >> Kevin: That's right, absolutely. >> It's a service and a service of scale. >> Kevin: Yeah. So architecture matters, right? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Paul, talk a little bit about, speaking of innovation, talk about the evolution of S3. It's been around for a while now. Everyone knows it, loves it, but how has AWS architected it to really help meet customers where they are? >> Paul: Right. >> Because we know, again, there's that customer first focus. You write the press release down the road, you then follow that. How is it evolving? >> Well, I can tell you that architecture matters a lot and the architecture of Amazon S3 is pretty unique, right? I think, you know, the most important thing to understand about the architecture of S3 is that it is truly a regional service. So we're laid out across a minimum of 3 Availability Zones, or AZs, which are physically separated and isolated and have a distance of miles between them to protect against local events like floods and fires and power interruption, stuff like that. And so when you give us an object, we distribute that data across that minimum of 3 Availability Zones and then within multiple devices within each AZ, right? And so what that means is that when you store data with us, your data is on storage that's able to tolerate the failure of multiple devices with no impact to the integrity of your data, which is super powerful. And then again, super hard to do when you're trying to roll your own. So that's sort of a, like an overview of the architecture. In terms of how we think about our roadmap, you know, 90% of our roadmap comes directly from what customers tell us matters, and that's a tenant of how we think about customer obsession at AWS and it really is how we drive a roadmap. >> Right, so speaking of customers Kevin, what are customers asking you guys- >> Yeah. >> for, how does it relate to what you're doing with S3? >> Yeah, it's a wonderful question and one that is actually really appropriate for us being at re:Invent, right? So we got, last three years we've had customers here with us on stage talking about it. First of all, 3 years ago we did a virtual session, unfortunately, but glad to be back as you mentioned, with Coca-Cola and theirs was about scale and scope and really about how can we protect hundreds of thousands of objects, petabyte to data, in a simple and secure way, right. Then last year we actually met with a ACT, Inc. as well and co-presented with them and really talked about how we could protect modern workloads and their modern workloads around whether it was Aurora or as well as EKS and how they continue to evolve as well. And, last but not least it's going to be, this year we're talking with Illinois State University as well about how they're going to continue to grow, adapt and really leverage AWS and ourselves to further their support of their teachers and their staff. So that is really helping us quite a bit to continue to move forward. And the things we're doing, again, with our customer base it's really around, focused on what's important to them, right? Customer obsession, how are we working with that? How are we making sure that we're listening to them? Again, working with AWS to understand how can we evolve together and really ultimately their journeys. As you heard, even with those 3 examples they're all very different, right? And that's the point, is that everybody's at a different point in the journey. They're at a different place from a modernization perspective. So we're helping them evolve, as they're helping us evolve as well, and transform with AWS. >> So very mature COMMVAULT stack, the S3 bucket and all the other capabilities. Paul, you just talked about coming together- >> Right. >> Dave: for your customers. >> Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And just, you know, we were talking the other day, Paul and I were talking the other day, it's been, you know, we've worked with AWS, with integration since 2009, right? So a long time, right? I mean, for some that may not seem like a long time ago, but it is, right? It's, you know, over a decade of time and we've really advanced that integration considerably as well. >> What are some of the things that, I don't know if you had a chance to see the keynote this morning? >> Yeah, a little bit. >> What are some of the things that there was, and in fact this is funny, funny data point for you on data. One of my previous guests told me that Adam Selipsky spent exactly 52 minutes talking about data this morning. 52 minutes. >> Okay. >> That there's a data point. But talk about some of the things that he talked about, the direction AWS is going in, obviously new era in the last year. Talk about what you heard and how you think that will evolve the COMMVAULT-AWS relationship. >> Yeah, I think part of that is about flexibility, as Paul mentioned too, architecture matters, right? So as we evolve and some of the things that we pride ourselves on is that we developed our systems and our software and everything else to not worry about what do I have to build to today but how do I continue to evolve with my customer base? And that's what AWS does, right? And continues to do. So that's really how we would see the data environment. It's really about that integration. As they grow, as they add more features we're going to add more features as well. And we're right there with them, right? So there's a lot of things that we also talk about, Paul and I talk about, around, you know, how do we, like Graviton3 was brought up today around some of the innovations around that. We're supporting that with Auto Scale right now, right? So we're right there releasing, right when AWS releasing, co-developing things when necessary as well. >> So let's talk about security a little bit. First of all, what is COMMVAULT, right? You're not a security company but you're an adjacency to security. It's sort of, we're rethinking security. >> Kevin: Yep. >> including data protection, not a bolt-on anymore. You guys both have a background in that world and I'm sure that resonates. >> Yeah. >> So what is the security play here? What role does COMMVAULT play? I think we know pretty well what role AWS plays, but love to hear, Paul, your thoughts as well on security. >> Yeah, I'll start I guess. >> Go on Paul. >> Okay. Yeah, so on the security side of things, there's a quite a few things. So again, on the development side of things, we do things like file anomaly detection, so seeing patterns in data. We talked a lot about analytics as well in the keynote this morning. We look at what is happening in the customer environment, if there's something odd or out of place that's happening, we can detect that and we'll notify people. And we've seen that, we have case studies about that. Other things we do are simple, simple but elegant. Is with our security dashboard. So we'll use our security dashboard to show best practices. Are they using Multi-Factor Authentication? Are you viewing password complexity? You know, things like that. And allows people to understand from a security landscape perspective, how do we layer in protection with their other systems around security. We don't profess to be the security company, or a security company, but we help, you know, obviously add in those additional layers. >> And obviously you're securing, you know, the S3 piece of it. >> Mmmhmm. >> You know, from your standpoint because building it in. >> That's right. And we can tell you that for us, security is job zero. And anyone at AWS will tell you that, and not only that but it will always be our top priority. Right from the infrastructure on down. We're very focused on our shared responsibility model where we handle security from the hypervisor, or host operating system level, down to the physical security of the facilities in which our services run and then it's our customer's responsibility to build secure applications, right. >> Yeah. And you talk about Graviton earlier, Nitro comes into play and how you're, sort of, fencing off, you know, the various components of the system from the operating system, the VMs, and then that is designed in and that's a new evolution that it comes as part of the package. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Absolutely. >> Paul, talk a little bit about, you know, security, talking about that we had so many conversations this year alone about the threat landscape and how it's dramatically changing, it's top of mind for everybody. Huge rise in ransomware attacks. Ransomware is now, when are we going to get hit? How often? What's the damage going to be? Rather than, are we going to get hit? It's, unfortunately it's progressed in that direction. How does ensuring data security impact how you're planning the roadmap at AWS and how are partners involved in shaping that? >> Right, so like I said, you know, 90% of our roadmap comes from what customers tell us matters, right? And clearly this is an issue that matters very much to customers right now, right? And so, you know, we're certainly hearing that from customers, and COMMVAULT, and partners like COMMVAULT have a big role to play in helping customers to secure and protect their applications, right? And that's why it's so critical that we come together here at re:Invent and we have a bunch of time here at the show with the COMMVAULT technical folks to talk through what they're hearing from customers and what we're hearing. And we have a number of regular touch points throughout the year as well, right? And so what COMMVAULT gets from the relationship is, sort of, early access and feedback into our features and roadmap. And what we get out of it really is that feedback from that large number of customers who interface with Amazon S3 through COMMVAULT. Who are using S3 as a backup target behind COMMVAULT, right? And so, you know, that partnership really allows us to get close to those customers and understand what really matters to them. >> Are you doing joint engineering, or is it more just, hey here you go COMMVAULT, here's the tools available, go, go build. Can you address that? >> Yeah, no, absolutely. There's definitely joint engineering like even things around, you know, data migration and movement of data, we integrate really well and we talk a lot about, hey, what are you, like as Paul mentioned, what are you seeing out there? We actually, I just left a conversation about an hour ago where we're talking about, you know, where are we seeing placement of data and how does that matter to, do you put it on, you know, instant access, or do you put it on Glacier, you know, what should be the best practices? And we tell them, again, some of the telemetry data that we have around what do we see customers doing, what's the patterns of data? And then we feed that back in and we use that to create joint solutions as well. >> You know, I wonder if we could talk about cloud, you know, optimization of cloud costs for a minute. That's obviously a big discussion point in the hallways with customers. And on your earnings call you guys talked about specifically some customers and they specifically mentioned, for example, pushing storage to lower cost tiers. So you brought up Glacier just then. What are you seeing in the field in that regard? How are customers taking advantage of that? And where does COMMVAULT play in, sort of, helping make that decision? >> You want to take part one or you want me to take it? >> I can take part one. I can tell you that, you know, we're very focused on helping customers optimize costs, however necessary, right? And, you know, we introduced intelligent hearing here at the show in 2019 and since launch it's helped customers to reduce costs by over $750 million, right? So that's a real commitment to optimizing costs on behalf of customers. We also launched, you know, later in 2020, Glacier Deep Archive, which is the lowest cost storage in the cloud. So it's an important piece of the puzzle, is to provide those storage options that can allow customers to match the workloads that are, that need to be on folder storage to the appropriate store. >> Yeah, and so, you know, S3 is not this, you know, backup and recovery system, not an archiving system and, you know, in terms of, but you have that intelligence in your platform. 'Cause when I heard that from the earnings call I was like, okay, how do customers then go about deciding what they can, you know, when it's all good times, like yeah, who cares? You know, just go, go, go. But when you got to tighten the belt, how do you guys? >> Yeah, and that goes back to understanding the data pattern. So some of that is we have intelligence and artificial intelligence and everything else and machine learning within our, so we can detect those patterns, right? We understand the patterns, we learn from that and we help customers right size, right. So ultimately we do see a blend, right? As Paul mentioned, we see, you know, hey I'm not going to put everything on Glacier necessarily upfront. Maybe they are, it all depends on their workloads and patterns. So we use the data that we collect from the different customers that we have to share those best practices out and create, you know, the right templates, so to speak, in ways for people to apply it. >> Guys, great joint, you talked about the joint engineering, joint go to market, obviously a very strong synergistic partnership between the two. A lot of excitement. This is only day one, I can only imagine what's going to be coming the next couple of days. But I have one final question for you, but I have same question for both of you. You had the chance to create your own bumper sticker, so you get a shiny new car and for some reason you want to put a bumper sticker on it. About COMMVAULT, what would it say? >> Yeah, so for me I would say comprehensive, yet simple, right? So ultimately about giving you all the bells and whistles but if you want to be very simple we can help you in every shape and form. >> Paul, what's your bumper sticker say about AWS? >> I would say that AWS starts with the customer and works backwards from there. >> Great one. >> Excellent. Guys- >> Kevin: Well done. >> it's been a pleasure to have you on the program. Thank you- >> Kevin: Thank you. >> for sharing what's going on, the updates on the AWS-COMMVAULT partnership and what's in it for customers. We appreciate it. >> Dave: Thanks you guys. >> Thanks a lot. >> Thank you. >> All right. For our guests and Dave Vellante, I'm Lisa Martin. You're watching theCUBE, the leader in live enterprise and emerging tech coverage. (upbeat music)