OSS Group achieves AWS DevOps competency

Press release -

With the COVID-19 pandemic creating uncertainty across the world, local businesses are looking to reduce costs, add value and improve agility as they seek to remain competitive and respond to the changing needs of the market, according to local IT solutions, data and platform integrator OSS Group.

As part of their approach to delivering services for some of New Zealand’s leading companies across a range of major sectors – from banking and insurance to air travel, OSS Group has become one of the few locally owned businesses in New Zealand to achieve the Amazon Web Services (AWS) DevOps Competency. The DevOps model is a combination of practices and tools that increases an organisation’s efficiency, enabling them to evolve and improve products at a faster pace. Tighter integration of development and operations teams, and increased use of automation are some of the key features of the model.

READ MORE: How a major airline saved time and money using AWS

OSS Group Head of Sales Grant Olliff says that using AWS and DevOps practices has enabled OSS Group to respond more effectively to the needs of clients, especially as they face unprecedented challenges to traditional ways of operating.

“While COVID-19 has put enormous pressures on many large local businesses, the changes we are seeing represent a larger movement to transform the way businesses are operating,” says Grant Olliff.

“Organisations are not only wanting to reduce costs and increase their competitiveness in the current environment. They are also looking to move away from old hardware, operating systems and applications to introduce cloud-based services that will allow them to get more information out of their data, make better-informed decisions and use technology to improve the range of services they offer to their customers.”

Undertaking the rigorous auditing required to achieve AWS DevOps Competency has also reinforced the confidence customers have in OSS Group’s services.

“Going through the accreditation process to attain the AWS DevOps Competency underscores that we are providing services to a globally-recognised standard,” says Grant Olliff. “But we’re also proud that we’re a locally-owned and operated business, and hold the certification for the team working in our New Zealand offices.”

Nick Walton, New Zealand Managing Director for Commercial Sector at Amazon Web Services says, “OSS Group has been a long-term advanced consulting partner of AWS and we’re delighted to have OSS Group as one of the few locally-owned organisations with AWS DevOps Competency.”

The AWS Competency Program verifies, validates, and vets top AWS Partner Network (APN). Partners that have demonstrated customer success and deep specialisation in specific solution areas or segments.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Grant and the OSS Group team in providing scalable, flexible, and cost-effective cloud solutions for their customers.”

Operating for over 25 years, OSS Group has built a loyal customer base in New Zealand and overseas, with long-term customers recognising the skill and experience of the team.

“To our customers, we are a safe pair of hands and because of that, they trust the technical capability of our wider team,” says Grant Olliff. “Time-to-value is really important for our customers and as we follow the DevOps method, we can be very responsive, without compromising on quality.”

Vodafone NZ Head of Architecture Raffaella Del Prete has worked with AWS and OSS Group for over seven years in a number of different organisations and roles, with the company becoming a ‘trusted partner’ on a wide range of projects.

Ms Del Prete says OSS Group always achieves what they promise, within scope and, often, under budget.

“Their level of competency is top notch, and they are continually investing in the skill-sets and knowledge within their company to help them maintain this level of expertise and support.”

Grant Olliff says one of the real benefits of working in the cloud, is that customers are only paying for what they need, rather than being locked into traditional licensing contracts.

“That scalability is very important, especially when businesses need to deal with challenges on the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Over the longer term, the value of the ‘infrastructure as code’ process will offer more of the benefits businesses are demanding to transform their operations.

“From designing, building and running a system in a fraction of the time, to delivering improved security, greater scalability and flexibility, and reducing disruption through automation, ‘infrastructure as code’ is enabling businesses to respond to new opportunities, control costs and reduce risks.”

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