Amazon Web Services’ highly anticipated launch of its New Zealand cloud region unravelled this week as it nonplussed journalists and the public alike with PR spin that failed to mask the cracks in its narrative. 

In a special episode of The Business of Tech podcast to round out the week, Ben Kepes joins me to break down the blunders, highlighting misplaced numbers, poor communication, and missed opportunities to tell a genuinely positive story.

According to Kepes, a Christchurch-based businessman and board director who has closely followed cloud industry developments for over 20 years, AWS’s attempt to herald its new local infrastructure fell apart due to a mix of political expediency and surprising vendor immaturity. 

“There are two stories here, right? The first story is one about investment, NZ Inc, infrastructure, politics, frankly. And that was a total debacle. And it was because of political expediency on the politician side and, frankly, immaturity, surprising immaturity on the vendor side,” Kepes told me.

Listen to the full conversation on this special episode of The Business of Tech powered by 2degrees Business, streaming on iHeartRadio and wherever you get your podcasts.

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