AWS Launches AWS Local Zones location in Auckland, New Zealand

AWS Local Zones help AWS customers deliver distributed edge and hybrid cloud applications that require single-digit millisecond latency to end users in Auckland

Air New Zealand, Datacom, Deloitte, Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand, and TVNZ are among customers and AWS Partners welcoming AWS Local Zones

AUCKLAND, New Zealand—10 May 2023—Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ:AMZN), has announced the launch of a new AWS Local Zones location in Auckland, New Zealand. AWS Local Zones are a type of infrastructure deployment that places AWS compute, storage, database, and other services near large population, industry, and information technology (IT) centres⁠—enabling customers to deploy applications that require single-digit millisecond latency to end users or on-premises data centres. Customers can run workloads with low latency requirements on AWS Local Zones while seamlessly connecting to the rest of their workloads running in AWS Regions. AWS now has 33 AWS Local Zones around the world, with announced plans to launch 20 more Local Zones globally. To get started with AWS Local Zones, aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/localzones/locations.

For applications that require single-digit millisecond latency or have to remain within a geographic boundary to meet data residency preferences, the location of cloud infrastructure matters. Most customer workloads run in an AWS Region, a geographic location where AWS clusters data centres to serve customers. However, when an AWS Region is not close enough to meet low latency or data residency requirements, customers need AWS infrastructure closer to their data source or end users. Organisations have traditionally maintained these location-sensitive workloads on premises or in managed data centres that require customers to procure, operate, and maintain their own IT infrastructure, and use different sets of Application Programming Interfaces and tools for their on-premises and AWS environments. AWS manages and supports AWS Local Zones, meaning customers do not incur the expense and effort of procuring, operating, and maintaining infrastructure in various cities to support low latency applications.

The launch of the new AWS Local Zones location in Auckland gives customers the ability to easily deploy applications close to end users across the city. Having AWS Local Zones close to large population centres enables customers to achieve the low latency required for use cases like online gaming, live streaming, and augmented and virtual reality. They can also support customers operating in regulated sectors like healthcare, financial services, and public sector that might have data residency preferences. AWS Local Zones can also help organisations migrate additional workloads to AWS, supporting a hybrid cloud migration strategy and simplifying IT operations.

In March 2023, AWS opened New Zealand's first AWS Direct Connect location in Auckland. Using AWS Direct Connect, customers can create a private, physical network connection to the new AWS Local Zones location in Auckland, and access public AWS Regions, AWS GovCloud Regions, and all other AWS Local Zones worldwide. In addition to AWS Direct Connect, customers can access AWS Local Zones using an internet connection or virtual private network (VPN).

“The launch of an AWS Local Zones location in New Zealand is an important milestone for Aotearoa’s digital economy and represents our continued commitment and investment to bring world-class cloud infrastructure closer to our customers,” said Tiffany Bloomquist, AWS commercial sector country manager, New Zealand. “New Zealand customers across a wide range of industries such as aviation, media and entertainment, the public sector, and telecommunications are already exploring use cases. With the new AWS Local Zones location in Auckland, we look forward to helping more customers in Aotearoa accelerate their pace of innovation, improve productivity, and elevate the customer experience by developing latency-sensitive applications that can be stored locally on AWS.”

The new AWS Local Zones location in Auckland is the newest addition to AWS infrastructure in New Zealand, which includes two AWS CloudFront locations, AWS Direct Connect, and AWS Outposts. AWS also plans to open an AWS Asia Pacific (Auckland) Region in 2024, investing NZ$7.5 billion (US$5.3 billion) over 15 years, which is estimated to create 1000 new jobs and contribute NZ$10.8 billion (US$7.7 billion) to New Zealand’s Gross Domestic Product.

“New Zealand customers across a wide range of industries such as aviation, media and entertainment, energy, and telecommunications are already exploring use cases. With the new AWS Local Zones location in Auckland, we look forward to helping more customers in Aotearoa accelerate their pace of innovation, improve productivity, and elevate the customer experience by developing latency-sensitive applications that can be stored locally on AWS.”

Customers and AWS Partners welcome and experiment with AWS Local Zones in Auckland
Selected New Zealand customers and AWS Partners have spent the last few weeks previewing the new AWS Local Zones infrastructure to understand which workloads will benefit from single-digit low latency.

Air New Zealand is New Zealand’s national carrier with a global network of passenger and cargo services, catering to more than 12 million people every year. “Air New Zealand aims to be the world’s leading digital airline by providing a seamless digital experience for our customers, digitising and automating our operations, as well as the engineering and maintenance of our aircrafts,” says Nikhil Ravishankar, chief digital officer at Air New Zealand. “We have been using a wide range of AWS cloud services since 2016 to help deliver on our digital aspirations and differentiate our carrier globally, including building a secure and industry-leading customer app and website, housing our enterprise data mesh, and supporting aspects of airline and flight operations functions. An AWS Local Zones location in Auckland gives us more choice on where to host our workloads and the flexibility to deliver future applications that require single-digit millisecond latency.”

TVNZ is New Zealand’s state-owned, commercially funded broadcaster, reaching more than 2 million Kiwis through channels TVNZ 1, TVNZ 2, DUKE, and online entertainment platform, TVNZ+. “An AWS Local Zones location is a significant investment in local infrastructure, and basing deployment of services in Aotearoa will give businesses like TVNZ a greater opportunity to improve and innovate different customer offerings,” said Jean-Louis Acafrao, general manager of Technology at TVNZ. “We’re committed to growing our digital platform, TVNZ+, to scale and deliver a world-class watching experience. Providing a highly reliable service with a low lag time is crucial for our audiences in this space. We’re looking forward to exploring further ways to leverage the Local Zones location to help us deliver the best possible experience for Kiwi viewers.”

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is the government’s lead agency for property and location information. “Investing in cloud technology gives us access to modern, secure, resilient and adaptable technology which allows us to improve the delivery of essential services to millions of New Zealanders,” said Murray Young, kaihautū of digital delivery at Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand. “The new AWS Local Zones location in Auckland enables us to leverage fast and secure cloud computing services that enhance the way we provide and manage land titles and land information, while keeping our data on-shore within Aotearoa.”

Datacom is Australasia’s largest homegrown New Zealand technology company and an AWS Premier Consulting Partner. “The launch of AWS Local Zones in Auckland unlocks new opportunities for organisations with low latency and data residency preferences,” said Justin Gray, managing director for Datacom. “We have been collaborating with AWS since 2015, leveraging AWS cloud infrastructure and services to strengthen our customers’ reliability and scalability without compromising security and compliance. We work with a range of large government agency and mid-market and enterprise customers to transform their systems, supporting their digital strategy and improving performance and security, and look forward to continuing our collaboration with AWS in Aotearoa.”

Deloitte New Zealand is an AWS Premier Consulting Partner and technology services provider focused on helping organisations transform by modernising systems, data, and processes in the cloud. “Deloitte leverages AWS's world-class cloud infrastructure and services to help organisations in New Zealand understand their data to deliver better business outcomes and refresh their aging technology to be cloud-native and more adaptable," said Damian Harvey, cloud transformation lead at Deloitte New Zealand. “An AWS Local Zones location in Auckland brings the cloud even closer to our customers, allowing for low-latency connections, providing quicker response times and improved customer experiences. Applications migrated to AWS Local Zones can benefit from the agility and scalability offered by cloud while still retaining close connection to sources of data in New Zealand. It's a great addition to AWS's already significant investment in the upcoming AWS Region in New Zealand, and together will help accelerate cloud adoption and drive our digital economy forward.”

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