RONIN Drives Opportunities in New Industries and Countries with APN Customer Engagements Program

Organizations new to Amazon Web Services (AWS), including those with employees unfamiliar with the cloud, can use RONIN to easily start and manage their AWS resources. RONIN Core, the company’s main product, offers a straightforward interface on AWS with built-in security and cost controls.

With products designed to meet the needs of both public- and private-sector customers, RONIN is a market leader in the academic space with its high-performance computing platform. Researchers at top universities in the UK, US, and Australia use RONIN Core for easy access to flexible cloud resources that accelerate the pace of scientific discovery.

Venkat Mahadevan, cloud architect at the University of British Columbia Advanced Research Computing, says, “RONIN gives us a just-in-time resource for additional capacity that helps researchers meet deadlines or scale up in a way they can’t do on premises.”

RONIN, a member of the AWS Partner Network (APN) for over five years, has joined various APN initiatives, including the Public Sector Partner Program, AWS ISV Accelerate, AWS Think Big for Small Business Program, and AWS Solution Provider Program to increase earnings on AWS. The firm has actively utilized the APN Customer Engagements (ACE) program to explore opportunities in new industries and locations.

Byron Low, COO at RONIN, says, “The ACE program has very few entry requirements, so we gave it a try. What we’ve gotten out of it, however, has far exceeded our expectations. Co-selling significantly contributed to our global scaling, particularly in the US and the UK. Even without a local presence there, we consistently obtain qualified leads from AWS sales teams abroad for customers who might find value in our platform.”

Currently, RONIN sources at least half of its new opportunities from the ACE program. Upon initial contact with a potential customer, AWS and RONIN collaborate to create a shared sales plan. As a team, they present to the customer and manage the account as opportunities evolve.

Connecting with global AWS leaders through APN Partner events has facilitated business growth for RONIN and strengthened relationships among employees at RONIN and its clients at both companies. At a recent AWS Symposium forum in Canberra, Low and his team engaged with AWS executives, sharing experiences and challenges, and received follow-ups post-event. "It's remarkable that leaders from a large company like AWS would listen to feedback from an Australian startup," Low comments.

RONIN has also gained from AWS Training and Certification, with every employee having finished either a business or technical course from AWS. The business courses equip RONIN’s sales team to effectively position cloud resources for customers, while the technical training gives the IT team a thorough understanding of AWS services that can help simplify cloud operations.

RONIN has utilized both innovation sandbox and POC (proof of concept) credits available to AWS Partners. The Innovation Sandbox credits reduce development costs and foster ongoing innovation in RONIN’s products, while POC credits encourage customers to try cloud experiments at no risk. This approach leads to a high success rate, with almost all customers that use RONIN’s POCs eventually purchasing an annual product license and increasing usage on AWS.

Looking to the future, RONIN plans to expand into new industry verticals with AWS Support. Says Low, “Through AWS and the ACE program, we’ve experienced growth in the education, government, and commercial sectors. We’re now exploring opportunities in diverse industries, including energy, mining, banking, healthcare, and life sciences, with our Trusted Research Environment and Secure Data Environment product, RONIN Isolate. The ACE program gives our organization an outsized impact than its actual size by providing access to AWS account teams globally. These teams effectively extend our sales force by recommending our solutions.”