PRAGUE – March 24, 2021– Today, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the opening of its first office in Prague, Czech Republic. The new office is part of AWS’s ongoing investment in Central Eastern Europe as the company expands its team supporting the growing number of customers and partners in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. AWS account managers, partner managers, solutions architects, trainers, and many other staff positions will support Czech and Slovak organizations of all sizes as they transition to AWS, including startups, small and medium-sized businesses, enterprises, educational groups, nonprofits, and government organizations.
“Prague offers an incredible talent pool of highly skilled and creative people. It is home to many notable Czech enterprises leading the way in digital innovation as well as fast-growing startups,” said Przemek Szuder, AWS Central and Eastern Europe Leader. “We have seen increased customer adoption of AWS and decided to open an office in Prague to support customers who are looking to use AWS to innovate and to lower their IT costs. We look forward to helping even more organizations accelerate their digital transformations and deliver innovative new products and services to Czech and Slovak customers and citizens.”
To grow and reinvent their businesses, organizations are using AWS to run everything from mobile, web, and social applications to development and test environments, to Big Data analytics, enterprise business applications, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), and mission critical workloads. AWS counts many of the Czech Republic’s top enterprises and fastest-growing startups as customers, including CLEO.one, Economia a.s, Eleveo, Innogy, Keboola, Moneta Money Bank, Socialbakers, and Vitkovicke Slevarny, as well as Czech public sector organizations, and Slovak companies HB Reavis, News and Media Holding, and Pixel Federation.
The Czech Republic has a strong focus on development, innovation, and digitization, and we welcome Amazon Web Services to our country. We’re aware of the significant role cloud-based technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things can play to contribute to our country’s vision of a digital future, and therefore we appreciate this investment.
Czech government representatives welcome the news of the opening of the AWS office in Prague. Deputy Ministers of Industry and Trade, Ms. Martina Tauberová and Mr. Petr Očko, say: “The Czech Republic has a strong focus on development, innovation, and digitization, and we welcome Amazon Web Services to our country. We’re aware of the significant role cloud-based technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things can play to contribute to our country’s vision of a digital future, and therefore we appreciate this investment.“
The new office follows the launch of an Amazon CloudFront Edge Location and an AWS Direct Connect Location in Prague in 2017. Amazon CloudFront is a fast content delivery network (CDN) service that securely delivers data, video, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs) to customers globally with low latency and at high transfer speed. An AWS Direct Connect Location allows customers to have a dedicated network connection from their own premises to AWS infrastructure.
Czech and Slovak AWS Partners welcomed the opening of the new office. With tens of thousands of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Systems Integrators (SIs) around the world, AWS Partners help businesses accelerate their journey to the cloud. The businesses can take full advantage of all that AWS has to offer, providing their customers with business, technical, marketing, and go-to-market (GTM) support. AWS Czech Partners such as Alef Nula, Deloitte, Labyrinth Labs, Revolgy, and Unicorn are working with enterprise, startup, and public sector customers, helping them migrate to AWS, deploy mission-critical applications, and provide a full range of monitoring, automation, and management services for customers' cloud environments.
AWS supports developers in the region, together with Czech and Slovak AWS Training Partners, Alef Nula and Datascript, to deliver classroom and digital based training. Instructors with the AWS Authorized Instructor Program deliver AWS Training Partner courses. AWS customers have the benefit of advancing their technology skills by engaging with AWS Training programs and content, which are provided by instructors with local knowledge of the market, culture, and employment environment.
For many years, AWS has supported the Czech and Slovak startup and technology community by bringing programs like AWS Activate to the two countries. AWS Activate provides startups with the resources they need to get started on AWS - including up to $100,000 (USD) in credits, training, and support, as well as contact with incubators, accelerators, and venture capital firms. Some of the startups using AWS services to innovate, lower IT costs, and grow in the cloud are Cinnamon Technologies, CITIQ, GoodVision, SignageOS, and Slido.
With the rapid adoption of AWS among developers, startups, and enterprises in Czech Republic and Slovakia, communities have launched AWS-focused user groups with over 1,100 active users in Prague and Bratislava. User groups are peer-to-peer communities, which meet regularly to share ideas, answer questions, and learn about new services and best practices across industries. Those looking to join the AWS user groups can visit https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/usergroups/europe.
"We see a rapidly growing interest for AWS in Czech Republic,” said Petr Ruzicka, organizer, Prague AWS User Group and Senior Cloud Architect at McKinsey & Company. “Opening the local AWS office will contribute to the further expansion of know-how for cloud beginners, as well as for long-standing professionals. Sharing cloud knowledge is key for all industries and we are looking forward to welcome many new members. I would like to thank Amazon Web Services, our partners, IT professionals, and the many presenters that dedicate their time to the Prague AWS User Group in Czech Republic."
AWS continues to invest and support the Czech and Slovak education systems with AWS Educate, a comprehensive program for building skills in cloud computing with students age 16 and older. AWS Educate member institutions include the Czech Central School of Electrical Engineering (SPŠE), Kostka High School, Prague British School, St. Stephen’s College, and the Slovak University of Kosice.
Customers looking to learn more about AWS services can visit https://aws.amazon.com.
Individuals interested in career opportunities with AWS in the Czech Republic can learn more and apply online at www.aws.amazon.com/careers.
