By Katy Nally

Image by Thad Allen

The countdown has begun! That big event you’ve been planning for is finally almost here. (I’m looking at you, re:Invent and Ignite 😉.) You’re in the home stretch, the last inning, the [insert sports metaphor] and everything is falling into place.  

But, like all big events, inevitably something will change at the last minute, and you’ll have to pivot. That’s where we can help! We know you’re on a tight timeline, but we’re ready to create those quick-turn assets you need for a homerun experience. From building hype with a teaser blog, to leaving a lasting impression with a sleek solution brief, our team can hit the ground running.  

As you think through your event checklist, consider these assets to win big with your audience. 

• Teaser blog: Generate some buzz for your sessions with a blog that previews what’s coming. This is a great way to position your presenter as an authority on the subject and draw a bigger following. 

• Deck design: Get some oooos and ahhhs from your audience with the deck of their dreams. Our deck experts can polish your slides—fast, and we’ll deliver the same outstanding design whether it’s a keynote, session, or breakout.  

• Slide animation: Make sure no one in the audience falls asleep with slides that morph, turn, and practically leap off the stage to wave hello.  

• Recap blog: Give all those GA and public preview announcements a place to live with a recap blog that hits home the highlights of your presentation and directs readers to your solutions. 

• Social GIFs: Keep that event energy going well after you wrap with animated social GIFs that showcase big announcements in a bite-sized form.  

• Solution brief: Tell ‘em what you told ‘em in a glossy, two-paged solution brief that serves up the best parts of your solution. 

 Now let’s get going!  

By Katy Nally

Image by Jenni Lydell

Does this sound familiar? 

Your partner program is thriving. Your product has a ton of new opportunities to reach customers. And your business is poised for growth. The only catch? Your go-to-market (GTM) strategy for all these new partners hasn’t really caught up. It seems like your newly onboarded partners simply go forth into the marketing ether and…poof. You don’t really know what they’re telling customers or how they’re positioning your joint value prop. You’re just badging them and hoping for the best. 

Scalable assets to the rescue!

So, how do you ensure partners are nailing your joint value prop and have the resources to secure new business? With scalable assets! Yes, the same scale that applies to your product. Scalable content often takes the form of ebooks, emails, solution briefs, and landing pages, with dedicated space for the partner to describe their offering alongside your locked marketing message. 

When you’re so focused on getting partners off the ground, that last-mile task of creating marketing materials for customer pitches and co-sell motions is often an afterthought. As the agency that helps B2B tech companies build partner programs and joint GTM assets, we know how to design scalable assets that lighten the load for your marketing team. For large cloud providers and midsized tech companies, we’ve created materials that support dozens of partners at a time. These joint assets can be in the partner’s branding or yours, and they tell your combined story.  

A win-win for you and your partner

They’re a nice win-win for both sides: Partners get a glossy piece of content connecting them to large cloud providers, while you get controlled messaging and sales reach through partners. Not only does this approach help your marketing team, but it also pulls partners back from the ether. It gives them a script to follow so they deliver your value prop consistently and persuasively every time.  

So, if you have partners who need some support—and your marketing team could too—it’s time to create scalable marketing assets. Let’s build a plan together. 

By Jane Dornemann

Image by Suzanne Calkins

Gossip (for nerds) 

• This month, Satya Nadella was like “Stoppppp giving me money” but the Microsoft board was like “Shut uppppp here are some cash wads to dry your tears.” Yes, it’s true: After asking for a pay reduction, Nadella instead got a 63% raise totaling $79.1M. It would have been $5.5M higher but he lost that incentive because of the company’s security issues. 
• AWS CEO Matt Garman said employees who don’t like the return to the office (RTO) mandate should make sure the door doesn’t slam their booties on the way out. 
• The response to “Well, then just quit” was “OK”: The company’s VP of AI dipped, along with a top exec in telecom for AWS. And a survey found that 73% of employees are thinking about leaving. Nah-uh, says Garman, who insists, in a conveniently leaked transcript, that 90% want—nay, are excited about!—RTO. 
• While Amazon is recalling people to the office, Microsoft EVP Scott Guthrie says don’t worry lil babies, I gotchu…with one caveat: Productivity must not drop. If it does, the floggings will continue until morale improves!!! 
• A flogging is exactly what Google is asking the EU to issue Microsoft, claiming that the cloud provider is giving Windows customers a choice between buying Azure or facing a 400% markup. 
• OpenAI will release its next-gen AI model, Orion, on Azure by December 2025. The model is expected to have 100 times more power, and be an “ultra-advanced model that approaches Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).” 
• That’s great and all (Is it, really?), except Azure’s CTO says the company is about to hit the power grid limit, tee hee. AI demands so much energy that the company may need to connect multiple data centers if it wants to train these advanced models. Energy needs underlie Microsoft’s nuclear energy efforts and its new virtual machines optimized for AI. 
• Meh, OpenAI is going full honey badger and doesn’t care—the company is telling Microsoft to move faster or move out of the way, and will start “lining up data centers and AI chips” outside of Microsoft. The New York Times says the bromance is starting to fray. 
• Despite this activity, some analysts think that interest in AI will dwindle as market demand corrects itself, forcing OpenAI to sell to Microsoft in the next three years. Or is this already happening? A Wall Street analyst with Oppenheimer lowered his projections for Microsoft in 2025 because Copilot sales fell below expectations. 
• Oh, look, exactly what I said would happen is happening. Researchers found that Whisper, OpenAI’s transcription tool that’s used by some medical centers, is whispering a whole bunch of CRAP. Eight out of every 10 audio transcriptions contained completely made-up chunks of text that were never spoken, including “racial commentary, violent rhetoric, and imagined medical treatments.” 

Wheelin’ and dealin’ 

• When the military industrial complex says it’s too expensive, you know it’s too expensive. Yes, we’re still stuck on the Microsoft Goggles that cost $80,000 each. The Army said the price has to come down mucho if it’s going to order 121K of them. A deal would earn Microsoft $22B over a decade, also known as Satya Nadella’s next totally unwanted bonus that he absolutely must accept despite his protests. 
• Solutions provider Presidio signed a “huge deal” with AWS, applying its consulting services to the implementation of advanced AWS technology such as ML and AI. The duo will also develop industry-focused solutions. 
• Digital Domain has moved to AWS so it can build industry-specific Autonomous Virtual Humans. Because autonomous real humans must do pesky, work-disrupting things such as eat, sleep, shower, and feel feelings. 
• Smartsheet is partnering with AWS to connect with Amazon Q Business. This will let businesses answer queries on projects and other Smartsheet-related data. 
• Microsoft and NetApp collaborated with Tessell, a database-as-a-service platform, to create Copilot for Cloud Databases. 
• In China, now only enterprises, not individuals, can subscribe to OpenAI, which this article says will affect independent developers in the country. 
• Oncology technology company Ontada is collaborating with Microsoft using Azure AI to process unstructured oncology document components. I love document components! 
• Rezolve AI, which offers AI-powered solutions for commerce and retail, is using Azure to support its Brain Suite, helping increase digital customer engagement. 
• When the Beatles wrote you say you want a revolution, what they were REALLY talking about was Microsoft’s partnership with Medline to design a healthcare supply chain resiliency solution.
• AWS and SentinelOne are building on their existing partnership to improve AI-powered cybersecurity using the cloud provider’s AI infrastructure and SentinelOne’s Purple AI solution, which sounds like Prince invented it. 
• Databricks is using AWS Trainium AI chips so users can develop custom LLMs with Databricks’ Mosaic AI platform. 
• Behavioral health technology provider Kipu Health is using AI services from AWS to reduce customers’ administrative workloads through transcription note-generation and chart summaries. 
• Omnichannel payment solutions provider Valor PayTech migrated to AWS. 
• To address the lack of diversity in cybersecurity, AWS and the NFL are collaborating to provide more support and inroads for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 
• Smarsh, a communications data and intelligence platform, is working with AWS to bring AI to financial services for risk detection and compliance automation. Wow, that solved my insomnia right away. 

World domination 

• The US Department of Defense awarded a $7.2M contract to AWS for a “zero trust pilot” of AWS Virtual Private Cloud for the Pentagon. 
• The UK government signed a five-year agreement, or 1,825 tea times, with Microsoft to bring AI to the public sector as part of a broader modernization push. In Italy, Microsoft will invest 4.3B Euros over two years in regional AI infrastructure, but it must do so at top volume while fervently gesticulating its hands. 

Ma’am, I’m going to have to call security 

Whoopsies! Microsoft lost a month’s worth of security logs for some of its customers. Which means there’s nothing to return to for…idk…root-cause analysis. 

New stuff 

• When it comes to nuclear power, mini meltdowns sound so much cuter than full-scale meltdowns. In an agreement with Dominion Energy, AWS will spend more than $500M to build small modular reactors that, with any luck, will be run by leprechauns (who will hopefully be piss tested every morning). 
• In a bid to capture some of Salesforce’s market share, Microsoft launched 10 ready-for-use autonomous AI agents for Dynamics 365. This comes just weeks after Salesforce announced its own autonomous agents, part of “the third wave of AI” that will move businesses beyond chatbots. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff (who looks like a hitman nearing retirement in this picture) slammed Microsoft’s new product, calling it “Clippy 2.0” and claiming “it doesn’t work.” In lieu of these pre-built agents, organizations can now create their own using Copilot Studio. 
• As Microsoft and Salesforce beef up their autonomous agents, AWS has added capabilities for Amazon Q in Connect. The big reveal? Companies can customize smart assistants’ responses to brand guidelines, womp womp. Things don’t stop there—how about some Salesforce Contact Center with Amazon Connect? This keeps joint customers from having to do the integration themselves and allows them to use one platform for both solutions. 
• Meanwhile, Google signed a $2.7B deal with Character.AI to drive forward its own agentic AI line of business. Google is basically paying a lot of money to hire the notable AI brainiacs leading Character.AI and to license the company’s technology. 
• Microsoft is coming to rescue us from AI’s bad side with new product capabilities that will correct hallucinations in real time. 
• Drasi is Microsoft’s new event-driven platform for data processing. It helps businesses track data activity to better understand changing needs. 
• IT admins can now use AWS Chatbot to manage AWS accounts from third-party apps such as Microsoft Teams and Slack. 

Professional pivots 

• It may have lost some, but AWS also won some: Pilar Schenk, formerly a COO at Cisco, is now VP of sales operations. And Jon Jones, formerly VP for GTM at AWS, is now VP and global head of AWS Startups. 
• OpenAI yoinked Microsoft’s VP of GenAI research. The company is being transparent about the fact that this move is focused on furthering AGI efforts. 

Best friends forever 

It was like Chrismukkah for the AWS Partner network this month. 

• Insight, which helps businesses migrate to the cloud, achieved AWS Premier Tier Service Partner status. 
• Matellio, a custom software-engineering studio, and Cloudtech, a cloud-modernization services firm, both achieved AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner status. 
• Kasada, which helps defeat automated cyber threats, earned its AWS Security Competency. 
• Education technology company Everspring and appointment scheduling platform Coconut Software are now AWS Partners. 
• Cloudelligent, a managed services provider, achieved AWS Migration Competency status. Not to be confused with CloudHesive, which had its WAF validated by AWS (why does that sound inappropriate?). 
• Observability and OTel provider Embrace has joined the AWS ISV Accelerate Program and is also slapping its goods in AWS Marketplace. 

New to AWS Marketplace 

• Zoom’s Contact Center, so you can say “Sorry, I was on mute,” but now you can say it on AWS 
• Arduino Cloud, an all-in-one platform for building IoT applications 
• Zimperium, a mobile security provider 
• StackGen’s Generative Infrastructure from Code, which eliminates developer bottlenecks 
• Finzly’s FedNow Service, an instant payment service 

New to Azure Marketplace 

• Addlly AI, a customizable, zero-prompt AI playground that simplifies content generation 
• Ascendion AVA+ GenAI Core Platform, which helps businesses customize AI for use cases
• SqlSafeKeep, a compliance solution for developers and data scientists
• Mattermost, which offers secure collaboration and communication for government and other critical sectors 

By Nora Bright

Image by Jenni Lydell

Bringing in a marketing consultant can be a great way to tackle short-term tasks or get a fresh perspective on strategy. But how do you know that your consultant has what it takes to get results? 

2A regularly interviews marketing consultants for our Embedded Consulting practice, assessing whether to add them to our talent network and consider them for client opportunities. Over the years we’ve refined a screening process that identifies consultants that will deliver results for clients. Whether you’re seeking expertise in product, partner, digital marketing, or another marketing area, the following questions can help you secure the right consultant:  

1. What do you like about consulting? 

Whether your potential consultant appreciates the flexible hours or the autonomy to choose their projects, make sure they love freelance work. You want to know they’ll be available to work with you in the future—and aren’t likely to ditch you mid-project for a full-time gig. Also, people who love what they do are generally more pleasant to work with! 

2. How long have you been consulting? 

From making decisions independently to staying organized when working with multiple clients, it takes a specific skill set to run a successful consulting business. Ideally, your consultant has experience in their marketing specialization as both a consultant and an FTE, as full-time work is a great environment for professionals to build expertise. 

3. How do you prefer to communicate with clients? 

You want your consultant to have a thoughtful approach to client communication. And, know that they’ll work well with your team’s communication style. Do they enjoy face time, or prefer to talk over email or chat? You’ll likely appreciate someone who wants to get on a call once in a while but can also work independently.  

4. How would you approach this project? 

The right consultant will have experience with projects similar to yours, and have an approach in mind. This question is also a good way to test their listening skills, and to make sure you’re aligned on scope. Look for a response that shows they understand your needs and demonstrates their expertise as they walk through the steps they would take.  

5. Is the scope achievable within the time frame? What potential pitfalls do you see? 

Less experienced freelancers might hide their concerns about a scope of work to secure a new client. You want someone who is experienced enough to spot potential issues, and confident enough to share them with you. And if your proposed scope isn’t realistic with the time or resources you’ve allotted—you’ll want to know that now. 

6. Can you provide examples of work? 

Consultants who do great work are happy to show it off. It’s never a bad idea to ask for examples! 

7. Can you provide references? 

Checking references is an important step in the hiring process, even for freelancers. Ask for a quick call instead of an email, so you can hear the reference’s enthusiasm and tone of voice. Phone calls also make asking follow-up questions easier. 

Are you interested in hiring a marketing consultant or other contract or temporary hire? 2A has a network of excellent candidates that have already been vetted. Reach out, and we’ll fast-track the consultant-finding process for you! 

By Olivia Witt, Mollie Hawkins

Image by Alyssa Smith

Let’s face it: running an AI startup is hard enough without having to worry about how to explain what you do and why it’s important. Between the jargon, technical complexity, and the need to stand out in a busy market, it can feel like no one quite “gets” you or your brand. The last thing you have time for is perfecting your marketing message (ah, that seemingly low-hanging fruit). But even the most groundbreaking AI needs more than just great features. Without a clear, compelling message, your genius can get lost. Pitching your AI products to new customers in clear, easy-to-understand ways has never been more important. Enter your new best friend, the messaging and positioning framework (MPF).  

Turning AI speak into human speak 

AI might be the future, but that doesn’t mean everyone understands how it works—or why it’s valuable. If you’ve ever tried explaining your product to someone outside the tech world, you know it’s easy to lose them in a sea of buzzwords, or cliché one-liners like “Join the AI revolution!” But here’s the deal—if people don’t understand your product, they won’t buy it. The magic of MPFs is they take the complex and make it crystal clear. We help translate your genius into language that connects with both investors and customers, without dumbing it down or losing your voice. 

AI is smart—your messaging should be too (and maybe a little fun) 

AI messaging can sometimes feel complicated and confusing, but that doesn’t mean your startup has to follow suit. At the end of the day, your brand messaging should match your core business value propositions—what are you selling, and what action do you want your customers to take? You don’t have to bore them to tears with messaging that they don’t understand (or relate to). An MPF helps you bridge the gap between “what we do” and “why it matters” to your audience. 

MPFs are all about giving your brand personality and character, distilling technical language into concise value statements. We help you communicate not just what your product does, but why people should care. Are you building AI that’s fast, user-friendly, or are you saving people time? We make sure those points shine through in a way that grabs attention and feels approachable. 

Standing out without shouting 

There are a lot of AI companies out there, and it’s easy to blend into the background if you don’t have a strong message. Your cool features aren’t enough if no one understands why they should care. We’ll work with you to highlight exactly what makes your product different. Whether it’s your focus on ethical AI, a killer feature, or the fact that your solution actually works in real-world scenarios, we help craft messaging that sticks without resorting to empty buzzwords or overused tech lingo. 

In fact—that’s our specialty. MPFs are our jam. We get everyone on the same page, because we know what it’s like when product says one thing, marketing says another, and sales is winging it. We help align your whole team with a clear, consistent, and unified story that everyone can get behind. No more mixed signals or confusing handoffs. 

Your product may be brilliant, but that’s just half the battle. With 2A in your corner, your AI startup gets more than just a snazzy tagline—you get a framework that lets you confidently tell the world what you do, why it matters, and why they should be paying attention. Ready to make your audience care as much as you do? Reach out to us anytime! 

By Andrea Swangard

Image by Brandon Conboy

It’s event season, so represent, re:Invent and Ignite attendees! If you’re going to be a presence at an event, you know the importance of being well prepared. Not only do you need to know your product pitch down pat, but also, you want to stand out and provide a stellar experience for your audience (hey, that booth over there is giving out stickers). Whatever branding you stand behind—playful, quirky, super-high-tech, or all of the above—there are specific assets that always resonate with event goers, or as we like to call them, your soon-to-be customers. 

Get noticed 

Your booth is the coolest booth. Why? Because you used eye-catching booth wraps. These provide a professional, cohesive look to your spot on the event floor—and can grab attention from across the room. They make you easy to spot and can make show attendees gravitate your way. 

While we’re talking about gravitational pull, let’s talk animations. Regardless of booth size, you’ll typically have space for projecting video, which is a major win. Animations give folks something to watch that showcases your product—whether it’s a sequence of images showing a process in action, or bite-sized snippets of your key features and benefits. Not everyone may want to chat, or you’ll be so popular they won’t get the chance to. Give them something to watch so they learn what you’re about in a quick, fun way. 

Provide info-tainment 

Booth animations are entertaining, it’s true. But sometimes people like touching things, and that’s where click-through demos shine. These are demos that customers can interact with, which helps them feel immersed in your product story. Interactive demos are also helpful if your booth is busy, since folks can self-serve. If you do get the chance to interact directly, you’ll want a pitch-perfect pitch deck. These product overviews can surprise and amaze customers with the information you’ll walk them through—and we can create the accompanying talk track for you too, to ensure customers take away your key points. 

Be memorable 

Speaking of takeaways…it’s a good idea to have something tangible for customers to take with them. Create a one- or two-page overview of your product’s key features and benefits (often referred to as a solution brief), and hand them to folks you’ve chatted with. That quick reference guide will provide a visible reminder of you, and it’s something recipients can easily share with others. And let’s not underestimate the importance of swag—stickers, socks, pens (everybody needs pens)—have a supply of goodies that event goers can grab when they stop by. Those mementos keep you top of mind and stoke curiosity when other people see them. You’ve seen those snazzy stickers on people’s laptops…be that sticker! 

To summit up 

Events are fun and full of promise. Boost your presence by preparing beforehand and following up afterward. Before the event, craft an announcement email and social media card to let potential attendees know you’ll be there. Create a landing page on your website that captures your presence at the event and highlights what you’ll showcase and how people can find you. Send that post-event email (“In case you missed it”) that recaps what you did there and what folks missed if they couldn’t attend. 

Finally, those cool animations you used at the event? Cut them down into smaller short videos to repurpose on your website or on social media. If you had conversations with customers or recorded interviews with other companies, turn those into testimonial videos or case studies that you can use on your website and share with partners. 

At 2A, we create all of the assets we’ve discussed, and more—take a look at examples of our work. Ready to make your event experience exceptional? Let’s do this! 

By Jane Dornemann

Image by Suzanne Calkins

Wheelin’ and dealin’ 

• It’s a big deal, literally: In a multi-billion-dollar co-investment, Intel has agreed to produce a custom AI chip for AWS. Following the news, Intel stock rose 14%. 
• On the brink of a history-making election and a world war, you know what we need? More dormant nuclear power plants to start back up. Despite a meltdown in 1979, Microsoft has entered a new energy-sharing agreement with Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island to produce clean energy that will power datacenters for AI. 
• You know what else we need? To never, ever let go of the HoloLens headsets for the Army. Even though it’s been an expensive, years-long failure, I say we keep going—and Microsoft agrees. It recently partnered with Palmer Luckey, an American entrepreneur who makes interesting facial-hair choices, to embed new software into the system that will “enhance soldiers,” much like “Starship troopers,” because war is a funny ha-ha movie. 
• SaaS log analytics platform Sumo Logic is strategically collaborating with AWS to enhance its services with Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Security Lake. Also, Sumo Logic went full overachiever and earned three competencies in Cloud Operations for education, retail, and government. 
• Vodafone is unleashing the raw power of Microsoft 365 Copilot to help 68,000 employees get more work done. 
• AWS is the last of the three big cloud providers to say uncle to Oracle. Now, AWS customers can access Oracle’s databases on AWS infrastructure with zero-ETL integration. The companies will co-market the offering. 
• NetApp has signed an agreement with AWS to expand and accelerate generative AI efforts. This will increase AWS Marketplace purchases and make it easier for AWS customers to implement NetApp solutions. 

Gossip (for nerds) 

• No single entity can fund the compute power AI needs, like, ruhl soon. So, conspiracy theory subject fan-favorite BlackRock has partnered with Microsoft to launch the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (GAIIP). The program wants to raise $30 billion for datacenters and related energy infrastructure to power hungry, hungry hippos AI. NVIDIA will serve as an advisor for the initiative. I’m wondering if the first thing they’d advise is to have THOUGHT ABOUT THIS YEARS AGO before AI was forced into every Microsoft app imaginable, but maybe not. 
• After all, not everybody is down with this AI-in-everything approach. Customers testing Microsoft’s AI-shoving in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint have had a “lukewarm response” due to performance and cost issues. 
• Nonetheless, Microsoft says, ACTUALLY you’re wrong, people love us. People want to BE us—just look at these gains.
• And then Marc Benioff was like, that’s great, but no. The Salesforce CEO said that Microsoft’s AI products and strategy have “disappointed many customers,” then pivoted to why we should buy his sh*t instead, so…sounds like a bias-free assessment to me. 
• Will Amazon see a mass employee exodus after demanding a return to the office? A memo from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that everyone must come back in person, five days a week, by January 2, 2025, or GTFO. The company is also eliminating some management positions and bringing back assigned desks. 
• Companies that want to do new, shiny things with AI will need to cut budgets elsewhere if they hope to afford true transformation, says Microsoft’s VP for Azure. He also said some things that led his PR team to spontaneously combust, such as warning customers that there’s a risk AI could “do something unpredictable” and that organizations are encouraged to review their content because of Microsoft’s lack of transparency around data use. Finally, some honesty around here. 
• In 2024, more job postings require Azure skills and fewer are requiring AWS skills, compared to 2017. 
• Gartner named Microsoft a Magic Quadrant leader for container management and named AWS a Magic Quadrant leader for AI code assistants. 
• On-prem is back, baby! So says AWS. AWS customers are increasingly returning to on-premises infrastructure, which includes 29% of all cloud customers (not just AWS) in the UK. In EMEA, more than half of companies want to deploy workloads on legacy infrastructure. 
• Some rando in Forbes who keeps referring to “we” predicts Microsoft Azure will reach $200B in revenue in the next three years. Good thing you can use wads of cash to plug leaks in nuclear power plants. 
• Microsoft isn’t the only cloud computing company going nuclear—AWS is looking to hire a principal nuclear engineer for its datacenters. In March, the cloud provider acquired an entire nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. 

World domination 

• South African gold-mining firm Gold Fields is moving to AWS. I’d expected the press release to give it a greenwashing spin, but it was good enough to spare us the bullsh*t. 
• Brazil is getting even more datacenters after AWS pours $1.8 billion into expanding infrastructure. 
• AWS announced that it will invest more than $10 billion into AI infrastructure in the UK through 2028. 
• Oooooooo, high-speed Japanese trains! The Central Japan Railway Company is using AWS for its Yamanashi Maglev Line. The transportation company will use IoT, AI, and ML technology from AWS to reduce maintenance costs and improve operations. 

Ma’am, I’m going to have to call security 

• Lots of people didn’t have their precious apps for nearly eight hours when a distributed denial-of-service cyberattack hit Azure. Even the UK’s Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service went down, leaving judges to sit in their wigs for HOURS with nothing to do! Microsoft said Azure’s defense response made it worse. 
• To prevent a repeat of the CrowdStrike debacle, Microsoft held a closed summit with its security partners and government officials about better collaboration for testing and deployment. Actions will include investments in anti-tampering protections, such as hiring a dad who can hear you turning up the thermostat from a different room. 
• Microsoft released a progress report six months after its promise to make security a priority across the board, which include improved audit logs, a security skilling academy, and reduced token access. Good thing it hasn’t reduced tokin’ access, or I’d be super sad. 

New stuff 

• New upgrades to Copilot include agents that you can boss around, an upgraded LLM, meeting summaries, and more.
• AWS is offering more value to partners through its new Global Passport Program. A select number of international ISVs will participate. The program includes guidance, strategic support, and resources, such as market-evaluation workshops and multi-region deployments. 
• You’ll be interested to know that Amazon Connect now supports AWS CloudFormation. JK, you won’t be interested to know. 
• Azure Advisor Well-Architected Assessment is in public preview. It provides tailored guidance to optimize cloud infrastructure. 
• Is it Fashion Week? Because Microsoft launched three new models for its open-source Phi 3.5 series to help developers with multilingual processing and video analysis, among other tasks. 
• AWS announced Parallel Computing Service, which lets customers set up and manage high-performance computing clusters. 

Professional pivots 

• Carolina Dybeck Happe has left GE to become Microsoft’s new executive VP and COO. The real question is: How legit is her LinkedIn picture? It does not disappoint. 
• Thierry Pellegrino has become the global head of advanced computing at AWS. 

Best friends forever 

• The NFL is using AWS to build a bunch of stuff for the most boring game outside of golf. Tackle Probability is an AI-powered tool that analyzes some boring game stuff. The game giant also developed Digital Athlete to improve player safety, but player safety seems like it starts with not having two 300-lb men slam into each other at top speed for the 100th time in their careers. But I’m no doctor. 
• Digital transformation solutions provider Trianz has integrated its Concierto platform with AWS. Concierto is a zero-code SaaS platform that enables “lightning fast migrations to the cloud.” I’ll forgive the hyperbole only because this had me imagine a company putting its computers in a DeLorean…then it drives really, really fast toward the clock tower…then it’s the future and it has migrated. 
• Cisco has started offering its AppDynamics application management suite as part of Microsoft’s Azure cloud services.
• Polarin by Lightstorm, which for some reason sounds like the sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas in my weird brain, is in Azure Marketplace. It’s a cloud network infrastructure platform, which is def not as fun as my sequel.
• Kong, which develops API technologies and isn’t that giant rubber toy you hide dog treats in, has made its Dedicated Cloud Gateways available for Azure.
• Australian biz-tech provider Brennan earned its Azure Data Warehouse Migration Specialization. 
• Our friends at Pinecone have made the company’s serverless vector database available on Azure. 
• Project-management tech provider LoadSpring Solutions now integrates with Microsoft Azure. 
• Belden has integrated its CloudRail software with AWS IoT SiteWise.
• AI development platform Kore.ai’s XO Automation and Contact Centre AI is now in AWS Marketplace.

By Andrea Swangard

Image by Suzanne Calkins

As skilled users of a visual language, 2A designers are fluent in working with brands. We work closely with clients to understand their industry positioning, partnerships, challenges, and—most importantly—their priorities. From well-known enterprise cloud leaders to startups, we develop assets that rely heavily on impeccable design to generate demand. And the results speak for themselves—our captivating visuals, animations, and design elements win new customers for clients. 

This expertise requires a few key capabilities that 2A designers do really well. Curious what goes into that special sauce? Let’s dive into our four key ingredients. 

Research 

The more specific information a designer can gather, the better. Sometimes there’s conflicting guidance. Sometimes brand guidelines are outdated. And sometimes they don’t exist. Alternatively, a brand may be established but offers so many design options that it needs help focusing on the essentials. 

Our designers use a combination of brand knowledge, experience, and industry expertise to make informed decisions that creatively solve problems. Being a good researcher means staying up to date on the newest offerings from brands, following their social media content, and scouring the brand’s web presence. This informs designers about a brand’s audience, its industry, and what’s available to the public. 

What pairs well with gathering resources? Asking contextual questions and hearing directly from the client about what they like. And asking questions brings us to… 

Communication 

When a product is so new it doesn’t have a brand identity yet, or a company is rebranding, our designers dig deep to learn more. They’re really, really good at asking the right questions to understand what the brand is trying to convey, review examples of designs clients love, and uncover the ultimate goal for the asset(s). 

If the recurring answer we receive is “We don’t really know what we want,” well, that’s where our ample imaginations kick in! 

Creativity 

We love the opportunity to push boundaries and surpass expectations. Initial drafts often include a safe option that closely follows what was discussed. Our experimental options are a bit edgier and often inspire an evolution. 2A designers view these as calculated risks—an opportunity to surprise and delight clients with something fresh and fun. 

Collaboration 

Our design team is tight. Whether reviewing suggestions or getting excited when a new template drops, designers are constantly sharing knowledge, ideas, and inspiration. (2A has a pretty sweet buddy system and we live for our internal trainings.) So while designers often have a focal area of expertise and backgrounds in different styles, collaboration helps add fresh perspectives, teach new methods, and solve challenges. 

With 2A’s design dream team, productivity and creativity flourish, and the hits keep on coming! 

Do you have a content conundrum we can help with? Let’s chat! 

By Olivia Witt

Image by Nicole Todd

Lights! Camera! Unions?  

Long before the “Action!” begins, a successful video production needs an action plan. With the right preparation, magic can happen—whether you’re debuting an epic product promo, highlighting a customer success story, or crafting a video short for social media.   

Practice makes perfect, and our globetrotting video team has learned a few best practices that can help ensure your next production goes off without a hitch.  

1. Scout it out 

Whether you’re in a studio, office building, convention center, or outdoors, scouting your location helps iron out potential issues before filming day. For example, my team and I recently filmed a web series in a small conference room for a client in London. Thankfully, we checked out the room ahead of time and learned important details. A constant hum from the air ventilation system meant we would need extra sound dampening blankets and time to conduct sound tests. And when we saw the low ceilings, we knew we’d need to fly in a wider lens for the overhead camera.  

2. Firm up the schedule before the shoot  

Precise timing is critical to a successful production, so a finalized schedule will create a less stressful day on set. When planning your schedule, account for breaks, buffer time, and information that might impact production. This could be building closing times, hard stops, and anything else that might be helpful for the team to know ahead of time. Sending out a call sheet the night before production days is key to keeping everyone informed. We’ve also learned that bringing a few extra printed copies on the day-of helps everyone stay on task, and sets the team up for success. 

3. Communication, communication, communication  

We know from experience there’s no such thing as overcommunication when a lot of people are involved. Every role is interconnected, so getting everyone on the same page helps prevent costly re-shoots, rushed schedules, and maybe a few tears. If everyone’s clear on the vision and goals, you avoid unnecessary conflict or last-minute changes that compromise the quality of the final product.   

4. Don’t roll the dice on regulations  

Your production may need to follow a set of local regulations, which differ from place to place. For example, when 2A went to Las Vegas for a production, we learned our location was owned by a hotel and casino entertainment company that had its own production union labor regulations. We would need to work directly with the union to source our crew and provide strictly mandated breaks. Knowing the rules helped us flesh out our day-of schedule, providing enough time for breaks without sacrificing the creative vision…or violating labor laws. Phew! 

5. Embrace the unknowns 

No matter how much you prepare for a production, there will always be surprises. You must learn to be flexible and go with the flow of the project, which may turn out a bit differently than expected. Productions have so many moving parts that, inevitably, something will come up and you’ll have to pivot. Maintain calm and wear your problem-solving hat to keep everything running smoothly. Having an agency to lean on that’s well-versed in video shoot plot-twists and creative solutions can be indispensable. 

Looking for end-to-end production services? From creative to staffing to pre-through-post-production, 2A creates eye-catching marketing videos that captivate audiences. Get in touch today. 

By Jane Dornemann

Image by Suzanne Calkins

Gossip (for nerds) 

• Reports of slowing Azure growth following Microsoft’s quarterly earnings report, plus “light sales guidance,” led the stock to dip 5%. Even though earnings grew 10% YoY and cloud sales grew 30% that growth is smaller compared to the previous quarter’s growth. In particular, Intelligent Cloud “missed expectations.” Capital expenditure in early AI is also detracting from profitability. 
  • In response, Microsoft is going to change how it reports numbers for its business segments, kind of like when I tell my husband I put money into savings this month but leave out the part where I bought a $50 concealer (IT GOT RAVE REVIEWS AND I NEED IT, OK?). 
• Regardless of how Microsoft structures its earnings, it should be fine as long as I keep overconsuming TikTok. As of March, the platform spent $20M per month on Azure OpenAI Service through Microsoft—a whopping 25% of the revenue Microsoft was generating through that business. Is an OpenAI rep on their way to Washington, DC to beg Congress not to ban TikTok as I type this? 
• Amazon earnings were bright, with AWS as the driving force behind a quarterly profit of $13.5B—a 19% increase YoY and above expectations. But all this demand isn’t necessarily a great thing, because AWS has “a titanic backlog” for its services. It’s unclear if that’s why AWS closed some of its services to new customers, such as Amazon S3 Select, or whether they plan on retiring those services down the road.  
• Meanwhile, The demand for AI is more than Microsoft can accommodate, so the cloud giant is spending billions to use third-party centers while it builds out more of its own.
• Like Microsoft, AWS is spending a significant amount on capital ($16.4B for Q2!), which includes building new data centers instead of refurbishing old ones. Next up: Hyderabad, India. 
  • Investments also include the race to create AI chips that are cheaper and faster than NVIDIA’s.
• In a leaked internal fireside chat, the AWS CEO told the company’s software developers that they need to find other skills because AI is going to start coding for them. “Upskill and learn new technologies” was the depth of the direction they received. Are you feeling left out? Don’t—the CEO said most white-collar jobs will look completely different in five to 10 years. Time to upskill and learn new technologies!!!!
• Microsoft wasn’t the only cloud provider to experience at outage at the end of July—AWS had connectivity issues for a day, preventing customers from accessing storage, databases, and other services. The guest contributor who wrote this article asked if this dependency on two clouds calls for a plan B, and lucky for him, he’s a man and doesn’t have to think about equitable access. OH YOU MEAN THE OTHER PLAN B…right right, yes, let’s get on that. 
• Where was Microsoft’s “the customer is not always right” mentality when I was a waitress? Delta’s CEO, Microsoft, and CrowdStrike exchanged some WORDS over July’s outage. Microsoft and CrowdtSrike are blaming Delta for its slow recovery, saying the airline refused Microsoft’s help. Delta is like “We don’t need your help, also, we hate you and this is your fault.” 
• Last year, Nokia and AWS decided to collaborate. Well, they collaborated a little too hard because now AWS is suing Nokia for stealing patented intellectual property. I almost never say this, but this article about the conflict is great from start to finish, and involves rowing teams beating each other with oars, a “criminal pivot” for a business strategy, and German indifference. Thanks Iain Morris.  

World domination 

• The US government is doing its darndest to keep advanced chips and other AI capabilities out of the hands of China, but as Jeff Goldblum’s character states in Jurassic Park, nature finds a way—and that way is AWS. They are exploiting a loophole in which Chinese companies can access technology like NVIDIA A100 chips through cloud providers who are fully allowed to operate in the country (or, through intermediary companies). But this velociraptor has figured out how to have babies y’all. 
• Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service achieved FedRAMP certification, which means some federal agencies now have permission to use it for sensitive datasets. The IRS started with the prompt, “Show me everyone who is not paying their taxes,” which yielded a list of extremely wealthy individuals. So, they adjusted the prompt to say “Compile a list of poor souls who make under $30k a year and were late filing by two days so we can rain hellfire upon them without fear of them being able to afford an accountant.” 
  • That FedRAMP certification came just in time for Microsoft and Palantir to sell cloud-enabled AI and data analytics to US defense and intelligence agencies. 
• AWS is talking to UK regulators like they lied about doing their homework. The cloud provider is “disappointed in [the investigation]” of the AWS-Anthropic relationship, claiming it is in no way anti-competitive, along with calls to “end the probe” like it’s being abducted by a UFO or something. 

Ma’am, I’m going to have to call security 

• A hacker group is exploiting vulnerabilities in Azure subdomains to spread disinformation on Android phones via push alerts that lead users to fake news sites. My favorite part about this story is that the fake news was about—wait for it—Harry Connick Jr. Don’t they want people to actually click on the links? No offense to HCJ, but WGAF? 
• Just two weeks after the famed CrowdStrike update outage, Microsoft experienced another global outage due to a cyberattack that affected Outlook, Azure, and Minecraft. Office workers and middle school nerds everywhere were distraught. The 10-hour downtime was the result of a DDoS attack and Microsoft’s “failure to properly defend against it.” Does everybody remember the recent Microsoft announcement that executive bonuses would be tied to security performance? Looks like you’re not getting that boat this year, David. 
• At its annual conference in Vegas, Black Hat discovered six critical vulnerabilities (they didn’t get the memo that that should have stayed in Vegas). Is AWS trying to be like Microsoft with all these security headlines? AWS, just be yourself. You don’t need to Single White Female your competitor, it’s OK, we like you for YOU. 
  • But then, attackers were able to grab AWS keys and access tokens in a data extortion campaign, as uncovered by Networks’ Unit 42 arm. 
• Is there anything more ironic (or, iconic) than an infected health bot? Privilege escalation flaws in Azure’s cloud-based AI Health Bot Service allowed unauthorized access to customers’ resources via a malicious attack. When users asked what they should do about a health problem, such as a rash, the health bot responded “Put a bird on it” 100% of the time (that was for my fellow Portlandia lovers only). A research engineer at cybersecurity firm Tenable says this is what happens when AI development is rushed. 

Wheelin’ and dealin’ 

• AWS is going to power GE HealthCare’s generative AI models via Amazon Bedrock, with the aim of improving patient care. Honestly, the bar for good healthcare is so low in this country that you could put an extra garbage can in the exam room and I’d call that improving patient care. 
• I guess Leeds Teaching Hospital in England wants to put a bird on everything now that it has moved entirely to Azure.
• Telecoms company Lumen Technologies is using Azure to drive AI adoption and innovation. In return, Microsoft will use Lumen’s Private Connectivity Fabric to strengthen connectivity capabilities among Microsoft data centers. 
• More than half of Y Combinator startups are accepting Microsoft’s cloud credits initiative, which aims to get promising young companies to build on Azure. 

New stuff  

• As AWS wins new clients in the public sector, it has decided to expand its cohort of government tech suppliers. The AWS Champions Program highlights vendors and public agencies who use AWS for civic advancement.  
• Microsoft Teams has a new app that unifies your personal and work accounts. Sounds…like…a great…idea… 
• Mithra, which sounds like some angry Greek goddess, is the newest platform from AWS. The CIO went on to explain what it does “in simplest terms” but it was not, in fact, the simplest terms, so figure it out for yourself. 
• Oracle has an official partnership with Microsoft but doesn’t yet offer its MySQL Heatwave for Azure. However, Oracle just announced it has made the database service available on AWS despite no official partnership with the cloud provider. MySQL Heatwave itself runs on AWS. 

Professional Pivots 

• Microsoft welcomed its new AI Transformation Officer, Pamela Maynard, formerly CEO of Avanade. 

Best Friends Forever 

New to Azure Marketplace: 

• Ivanti, which sounds like a cheap clothing brand that’s trying to pass for Italian high fashion, will help Microsoft customers break down barriers between IT and security. 
• iiDENTIFii, a company that apparently never wants to be Googled properly, is bringing its biometric identity authentication to Azure Marketplace. 
• Lumifi has added its managed detection and response services 
• Pathlock Cloud, which offers identity governance solutions, is on Azure Marketplace 
• Mobile device management company Jamf became a Microsoft Partner and will enter Azure Marketplace later this year.’

New to AWS Marketplace:  

• MicroStrategy ONE for Government, a managed SaaS solution for data security and governance 
• Versium’ REACH APIs (dang, y’all don’t have to yell), a data enrichment and cleansing tool 
• Veritone’s enterprise AI solutions for media and entertainment companies 
• LastPass, a password and identity management solution