Tag: AWS

  • This week 16,000 Amazon employees learned they were losing their job via an erroneously sent email

    This week 16,000 Amazon employees learned they were losing their job via an erroneously sent email

    Finding out you’re losing your job is never fun but finding out via an email you were never supposed to see alongside 16,000 other employees might be on another level.


    Such was the case for Amazon this week when an internal email leaked about a global redundancy, shortly after the company announced that jobs would be cut. While the message was sent by mistake and quickly cancelled, the damage was done. Amazon has said the jobs reductions were part of a plan to “remove bureaucracy”, this was after other large cuts specifically to their corporate workforce were announced in October of last year. Many are speculating these cuts are related to Amazon and other tech giants’ investing heavily in AI.


    The draft email was penned by an employee named Colleen Aubrey who is the senior vice president of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and was titled “Send project Dawn email”, Project Dawn is allegedly what Amazon refers to layoffs within the company. This alerted employees that layoffs would be happening before they had officially been told and some employees reported they knew weeks beforehand that a reduction in the workforce would be happening soon. Former staff members were aware of Amazon’s goal to lay off at least 30,000 employees in 2026.


    This also follows other changes to structure within the company, such as returning to a five day a week in office schedule (Amazon is one of the few tech companies that insist on a full-time in-office schedule) and tightening of company expenses, such as reducing the amount given for cell-phone cost reimbursement. Many of these changes link back to new CEO Andy Jassy who directly replaced Jeff Bezo’s as head of the company last year (Jeff Bezo’s still being heavily involved in the back end and focused on Amazon’s space ambitions with Blue Origin). It’s also worth noting that Bezo’s net worth jumped 5.7 billion in the wake of this announcement due to rising stock prices.


    It’s clear we’ll continue to see major shifts in workforces and overall business strategy in 2026, but it’s still a reminder that practicing good email hygiene is paramount to not having plans unintentionally leaked. Events like this can cause panic and uncertainty for employees and reduce overall trust even for companies as large and established as Amazon.



    There are a few things you can do to prevent and mitigate unfortunately email blunders such as the one that occurred this week:


    3 ways to help prevent email leaks


    1) Implement approval workflows for sensitive communications
    Messages involving layoffs, financial updates, legal matters, or internal strategy should require at least one additional reviewer before sending. A second set of eyes often catches wrong distribution lists, accidental attachments, or premature messaging.


    2) Restrict and clearly label large distribution lists
    Large mailing groups should be locked down so only approved users can send to them. Adding clear naming conventions such as “All Employees – Executive Only” or “Leadership Confidential” helps prevent someone from selecting the wrong list in Outlook or Gmail autocomplete.


    3) Use email safeguards and delay-send policies
    Many email platforms allow automatic sending delays (e.g., 1–5 minutes), external recipient warnings, or confirmation prompts when emailing large groups. These safeguards give senders a short window to recall or correct a mistake before the message leaves the organization.

    2 ways to mitigate damage if a leak happens


    1) Respond quickly and transparently
    Silence usually makes situations worse. Leadership should quickly acknowledge the mistake, clarify what information is accurate, and communicate next steps. Fast, honest communication helps reduce rumors and employee anxiety.

    2) Lock down further distribution and investigate immediately
    Disable forwarding where possible, remove access to affected emails or attachments, and review audit logs to understand how the incident occurred. Use findings to update procedures and prevent repeat mistakes.

    In short, email mishaps are rarely caused by technology alone, they’re usually process failures. A mix of communication discipline, permission controls, and technical safeguards dramatically lowers the chance of repeating this kind of incident.


    If technology planning (including email handling) is still being evaluated for your business in 2026, Valley Techlogic can be your partner in setting up systems that work and prevent unexpected surprises. Learn more today with a consultation.


  • AWS vs Azure, what is your best option when choosing a cloud platform?

    AWS vs Azure, what is your best option when choosing a cloud platform?

    We’ve had articles in the past about why you should consider making the move from on-premises to the cloud, but we’ve never specifically addressed which provider you should consider when making this move.

    For many, AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Azure are the main players that they look to when making the jump the cloud. Brand recognition is obviously there for both choices, as well as a history of impeccable uptime. Uptime is a very important factor, obviously you want your data to be available when and how you need it, but there are more things to consider.

    First, let’s look at the players. AWS has been around since 2006 and offers a “pay as you go” model, which means you pay only for the data you actually use. Many of us are familiar with the webstore Amazon, and you’d probably be surprised to learn AWS is a much bigger venture for Amazon, with 74% of their profit coming from AWS.

    Azure was launched in 2010 and is also pay as you go. However, how they differ is that Azure actually lets users access their data through a virtual machine on a Virtual Hard Desk (VHD). This means their interface is slightly more user friendly from the start. For a similar interface in AWS you must rent an EC2 (their version of a virtual machine). EC2 is more customizable but Azures Virtual Machine may more easily work with existing Cloud computing tools.

    Both are similar in that they offer scalable storage solutions; however, their object size restrictions vary slightly, with AWS having a 5 TB object size limit and Azure having a 4.75 TB limit. For most of our customers this would be a very negligible difference, however.

    Both do an excellent job of securing your data, in AWS you customize your security settings on setup. With Azure, they use Microsoft’s Cloud Defender services which are similar to the Windows Defender services you probably already utilize.

    AWS has a dashboard that may be easier to use if it’s your first-time using cloud services when it comes to looking for documentation on how to use the service. Where Azure has them beat though is that Azure keeps all of your user account and information in one place. So, depending on which kind of information you’re looking for, you may prefer one over the other.

    If customizing your cloud experience via code is something you’re after, you probably want to stick with AWS. Through their SageMaker system you can utilize their artificial intelligence (AI) tools to develop a very specific and unique experience when it comes to tracking data, making modifications, and applying updates.

    Azure on the other hand has opted for a “Codeless” interface, even someone with zero coding knowledge can drag and drop pieces to customize their cloud’s AI interface.

    Of course, from a base level you can look at what operating system these are compatible with. AWS is more compatible with Linux while Azure offers compatibility through .net with Linux, Windows and MacOS.

    In a nutshell, these two cloud behemoths are more alike than different but there are some factors that depending on your particular business sector or goals may lead you to shift one way or the other. We also want to spend a moment addressing a pricing breakdown for both AWS and Azure. You can see their pricing models in the chart below. We also want to note that both provide a free introductory period so you can test their services before committing to a plan.

    Are you considering a move to the cloud and aren’t sure which provider to go with, or even how to make it happen? Valley Techlogic can help. We’re experts in cloud computing and have managed many customer cloud migrations. Reach out today to schedule a free consultation.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

  • AWS had an outage this week that took out many top websites and is causing delivery issues for Amazon

    AWS had an outage this week that took out many top websites and is causing delivery issues for Amazon

    Amazon Web Services (AWS) is so prevalent in their cloud services they could be considered an internet backbone. Their cloud computing network is so ubiquitous with online web hosting it would be difficult to find a business that doesn’t utilize their service for some or all of their online hosting requirements.

    So, when an outage occurs on their networks the effects are far reaching and severe. This week’s outage lasted five hours and effected major players – such as Netflix, Southwest Airlines, the Associated Press, Delta and more. The outage mostly occurred on the east coast but even Amazon’s own e-commerce site was affected, which may cause delays in some deliveries as Christmas shopping is in full swing.

    This outage echo’s the Facebook outage that happened on October 4th  in that there is a ripple effect that occurs when these large providers have an outage. This instance is also similar in that, like with Facebook, there has been no word as of posting as to why yesterday’s outage even happened.

    The outage didn’t just affect big businesses either, many smaller businesses that utilize AWS for their company hosting found themselves locked out services necessary to complete their job duties. It points to the issues that can occur when all of our information is locked into just a few centralized places.

    When the internet was first established it was originally designed to be a decentralized network. No one business was meant to control most of it, that was so no single point failure could level it. Now “Big Tech” has eroded that goal and it will be difficult to undo the current state of things.

    It’s hard to argue though that AWS Isn’t a convenient service to use, they have streamlined the cloud computing process where many others have sought to make it convoluted for the end user, they have flexible payment options and it’s accessible on demand. When you compare it to Azure, who groups users under a domain (making it difficult to access the one you need) and is slower when it comes to large data transfers unless you have a premium subscription, it’s easy to see why many businesses choose AWS.

    Still, diversifying our networks would help protect us from outages such as these and major breaches. If you’re a business looking into cloud solutions, you might consider the Multicloud Redundancy approach.  What this means is you might have some of your data and services hosted by AWS and some hosted by another provider.

    Another option is hybrid cloud. Hybrid cloud is when you have a mixture of on premises storage (such as your office server), private cloud services and public cloud services (like AWS).

    Chart of cloud solution options
    Click to view the full size version.

    At Valley Techlogic we utilize AWS, but we also take the hybrid cloud approach. In fact, our backup program TechVault utilizes three different methods of storing your data. In this world of uncertainty when it comes to cybersecurity attacks and online outages that you have no control over, diversity is key.

    If you would like to learn more about TechVault or need help with your cloud service choices, reach out to us today.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.

    This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.