Amazon Web Services sets up new office in Munich, to create 500 jobs

Amazon Web Services said on Monday it was creating 500 jobs in Germany and opening a new office in Munich that will showcase what cloud computing can do for potential clients in Europe's largest economy.

AWS, which grew out of the technology that runs Amazon's e-commerce platform, is gaining scale in Germany after addressing concerns about privacy that led many manufacturing firms to keep their servers on-site.

"Those clients have overcome those compliance and security constraints and are now in catch-up mode," said Klaus Buerg, general manager of AWS in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

"Because of that kind of constraint, habit and behaviour in the past, they are now working more like a fast follower than a front runner," he told Reuters in an interview.

AWS has received a cloud computing security certification from Germany's cyber-security authority, providing assurances that data is safe even if it is hosted on remote servers outside the country.

AWS is establishing a Digital Builders showroom at its Munich office, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, that will offer hands-on opportunities to demonstrate applications to prospective clients.

And, together with Siemens, it is setting up an Industrial Software showcase to illustrate how cloud computing can support manufacturing automation.

The new jobs at AWS are part of 2,800 already announced in Germany by Amazon and will be dispersed across its operations and research units in Germany, said Buerg.