With AWS Marketplace, easyJet Accelerates Innovation and Elevates Customer Experience

The journey to AWS Marketplace first started as pay-as-you-go solutions for immediate, tactical needs. While designing a new landing zone in AWS, for example, the easyJet team wasn’t certain which technology it preferred around certain elements, particularly the firewall and virtual private network (VPN). A range of possibilities was available in AWS Marketplace. That meant the team could spin something up, try it, and—if the outcome was not what they were looking for—spin it right back down and try something else.

Previously, easyJet would try one solution and hope it worked. In AWS Marketplace, it can independently test three solutions in the same timeframe—without signing up for a subscription or onboarding a supplier into the backend system. “Being able to spin up a solution and spin it down without starting and managing new relationships with suppliers provides massive peace of mind,” says Simon Challis, senior technology manager at easyJet.

And once easyJet has identified the solution it wants, it’s faster to deploy. For example, when it wanted to use Cisco ThousandEyes to improve observability across its IT environments and ensure services are always available to customers, easyJet was able to deploy without delay. Before, onboarding a supplier could take weeks; in AWS Marketplace, easyJet could obtain the business solutions it needed within a matter of days.

easyJet teams were also pleased to discover AWS Marketplace offers the flexibility to procure through Seller Private Offers or Channel Partner Private Offers (CPPO), depending on the organization’s requirements. Private offers streamline SaaS purchasing and billing, adding speed, agility, and operational efficiency to an organization’s procurement process—whereas CPPO lets customers do all of the above, while continuing to develop an established relationship with a preferred vendor. “Working with a Channel Partner in AWS Marketplace unlocked a whole heap of additional services we never would have considered,” says Challis.

Authorized Channel Partners can resell software in AWS Marketplace, offering customized pricing, duration, end-user license terms, and additional services for their customers. That means easyJet can negotiate private offers to obtain the exact service or solution it wants—from a provider it prefers to work with—at a pricing model that fits its budget.

Private offers also give customers an opportunity to purchase SaaS solutions with additional services, procuring both the software licensing and the specialized training needed to run it. With AWS Marketplace, customers can purchase technical support, managed services, and more, giving teams a road map to ensure they are prepared to launch a new solution.

For example, easyJet worked with ISV Databricks to develop a solution that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities on AWS, managed via a single user interface accessible across its data scientist and analyst community. As part of a private offer, Databricks also provided training during the engagement to help ensure easyJet teams could successfully manage the solution long after launch.

Although easyJet may negotiate several different SaaS contracts, AWS Marketplace consolidates and simplifies billing for all of them in a single portal with key details. This helps easyJet leadership and decisionmakers maintain visibility and governance across all spending.

AWS Marketplace offers a variety of pricing options (SaaS free trials, pay-as-you-go, and annual or multi-year contracts), so easyJet IT teams are free to choose the right pricing model and quickly deploy solutions, while staying on track with budgeting. Customers have access to cost management and reporting capabilities in AWS Marketplace that can help track and manage costs associated with their software purchases. “I see absolutely no additional costs going through AWS Marketplace,” says Challis, “only added benefits.”

As a result, easyJet’s engagement with AWS Marketplace has since grown to include more long-term and multi-year contracts with its preferred vendors. Overall, working with AWS Marketplace increases easyJet’s agility—giving it the flexibility and cost-optimization to accelerate innovation, respond to changes in the industry, and stay the course on its journey to be a customer-centered airline.