1Strategy Offers a Unique Approach to Amazon Web Services Consulting
Seattle/Salt Lake City—December 1, 2015—As an Enterprise Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services, Rich Uhl observed a growing number of companies which were unable to take full advantage of the benefits of AWS, but were eager for assistance. Recognizing the financial and geographical barriers these companies faced, Rich developed a non-traditional model in the world of cloud consulting services: help the customers help themselves. 1Strategy was born.
Although 1Strategy provides architecture and development services, their main objective is to help customers architect solutions that leverage their existing investments in infrastructure while accelerating their adoption of AWS products. Many traditional consulting firms also provide these services, but seem to have a hard time adopting a cloud model—a specialty with which the 1Strategy team has over five years of direct experience.
1Strategy’s unique business model results in a higher efficiency than traditional consulting models, allowing them to help more customers, with fewer resources. “We want to enable customers to sharpen their skills and teach them how to improve upon what they already have. It’s a ‘teach a man to fish’ vs. a ‘give a man a fish’ approach,” Rich says. Teaching and mentoring customers enables them to take advantage of the investments they’ve already made in training and development, instead of building a dependence on a full-time on-site consultant.
Many companies who are served by 1Strategy share a common problem: they are located within a large geographical footprint where AWS support is not available to them directly. 1Strategy started in Seattle, but due to strong Utah ties and a high level of customer interest, almost simultaneously expanded into Salt Lake City, with plans to enter other markets within the next year.
Although 1Strategy was formed only five months ago, the company is already thriving and seeing a large number of customers who are eager for the expertise that 1Strategy provides. In addition, they have quickly reached the Advanced Partner level with Amazon Web Services. 1Strategy has organized and hosted multiple two-day AWS Boot Camps, all of which have had to close registration early due to the overwhelming interest. Next month, they’ll host the first AWS Summit to be held in Utah, with projected attendance of nearly 300 industry experts and professionals.
1Strategy is an employee-owned consulting firm, where ownership is an important principle. They believe that having the team be owners in the future of the company is a critical component to its success. 1Strategy will continue to grow the business in the coming year and plans to hire and build staff to support their rapidly growing business.
In conjunction with staying up-to-date on AWS products, 1Strategy works hard to maintain and grow their many close relationships with Amazon Web Services in order to provide their customers with the best support possible.
1Strategy’s Team
Rich Uhl, Founder/CEO – Along with his experience at Amazon Web Services, Rich has over 20 years of industry experience and holds two Masters-level board certifications in infrastructure and computing architecture. Prior to joining AWS, Rich was an infrastructure architect and consultant for Avanade, Accenture, and Microsoft.
Kevann Davis, Operation Manager – As 1Strategy’s Manager of Operations, Kevann oversees and coordinates all 1Strategy business functions, including Marketing, Accounting, HR, etc. As part of her marketing plan, she manages 1Strategy events, such as boot camps, Executive Roundtables, Meetups, our AWS Summit in Utah (scheduled for January 2016), and our sponsorship of AWS re:Invent next November. Kevann’s professional experience includes Travel & Tourism management, as well as Health Insurance Underwriting and Consulting.
