SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 3, 2009-- Amazon Web Services LLC (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), today launched Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) running Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server in its EU Region, allowing customers to access Windows-based compute resources for Europe and running on the reliable and proven AWS cloud. Also starting today, the AWS Management Console will provide support for Amazon EC2 in the EU enabling developers to manage their Amazon EC2 resources in the EU Region using a simple, point-and-click web interface. Launched in August of 2006, Amazon EC2 is the popular AWS service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud for businesses and developers. To sign up for Amazon EC2 and other AWS services, go to http://aws.amazon.com.

Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows is a fast and dependable environment for deploying applications using the Microsoft Web Platform, including ASP.NET, AJAX, Silverlight, and Internet Information Server (IIS). Amazon EC2 also supports the SQL Server Express and SQL Server Standard databases. With these announcements, Amazon EC2 running Windows is now joining Linux/Unix-based Amazon EC2 environments, the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon CloudFront in the EU Region. As with all AWS services, Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows is priced on a cost-effective, pay-as-you-go pricing model so that customers pay only for the compute capacity that they use.

Also announced today, the AWS Management Console now supports the Amazon EC2 EU Region, allowing developers to start and stop Amazon EC2 instances, view and perform actions on running instances, and manage Amazon Elastic Block Store volumes with simple clicks of a mouse. The AWS Management Console provides a quick, global picture of a developer’s cloud computing environment, giving them an easy tool for managing their AWS cloud-based assets.

“Many AWS customers have asked us for Amazon EC2 running Windows instances in Europe,” said Peter De Santis, General Manager of Amazon EC2. “Businesses and developers can now access and manage all of their compute resources, whether Windows-based or Linux/Unix-based, close to their European customers, partners, and other computing services including Amazon S3.”

eXpansys PLC is a retailer of smartphones and handheld devices shipping over 1.5 million products to over 250,000 customers in over 125 different countries. “eXpansys has been preparing to move our global ecommerce infrastructure to Amazon EC2, a move that we forecast will halve our operating costs and almost eliminate IT capital expenditure,” said Matt Kydd, CTO of eXpansys. “With the expansion of Amazon EC2 running Microsoft Windows, we are able to launch immediately.”

“Our European clients with Windows-based services will now recognise that Amazon has eradicated one of the last barriers to cloud adoption. Amazon EC2 running Windows adds to the already compelling benefits of speed, flexibility, and cost-reduction when moving to our European Amazon-based service,” said Karl Deacon, CTO Capgemini Outsourcing UK.

Since 2003, Folk, a creative agency in the UK, has been delivering award-winning solutions from the worlds of design, online, advertising, publishing, gaming, brand development, film production, television and music. “With the launch of EC2 running Windows for Europe, we can use Amazon Web Services to launch a video based media system running completely in the cloud,” said Simon Jenkinson, Interactive Director at Folk. “AWS is scalable, cost-effective, fast, reliable and is by far the best of the cloud-based solutions in the market. It’s made my job a whole lot easier, which is all we developers really want!”

About Amazon EC2

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (http://aws.amazon.com/ec2) is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. Amazon EC2's simple web service interface allows businesses to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. It provides complete control of your computing resources and lets you run on Amazon's proven computing environment. Amazon EC2 reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to minutes, allowing you to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as your computing requirements change. Amazon EC2 changes the economics of computing by allowing you to pay only for capacity that you actually use.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc., seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel; Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial.

Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and www.amazon.cn.

As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, indebtedness, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

Source: Amazon Web Services LLC

Amazon.com, Inc.
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