By using Systems Manager and other AWS Management Tools, GE Appliances has total visibility into its hybrid- cloud environment. “Before we had access to AWS tools, we had to do lots of configuration and process logging and then absorb everything into a centralized platform to understand security events after the fact,” says Garrido. “By using Amazon EC2 Systems Manager and the other AWS tools, we’ve gone from zero to 100 percent real-time visibility, a night-and-day contrast with our prior security posture.”

Security is further heightened by the rules and guardrails Garrido and his team can automatically enforce with AWS Management Tools. For example, instead of having to audit new code and architectures at the end of the development process, Garrido can ensure the company’s security requirements are “baked into” new architecture and code from the start, avoiding project roadblocks and saving his team from time-consuming manual processes.

When security incidents do occur—such as unauthorized deletions of encryption keys or changes to route tables—AWS Management Tools have reduced response times for the GE Appliances team from days to hours. “The alerting and automation capabilities of Systems Manager and other AWS tools have helped us reduce our mean acknowledgement time from one day to less than one hour, and our mean remediation time from three days to 80 minutes,” says Garrido. “That average includes weekends and nights, and we don’t have to keep staff on duty around the clock.”

Garrido is happy with how AWS Management Tools and other AWS services have resulted in a more satisfied and engaged DevSecOps team that is building value for the company. “With the visibility and automation that Systems Manager and other AWS tools provide, my team can spend more time with their hands on their keyboards, doing strategic work like developing code that helps us shift even more from a reactive to a proactive stance,” says Garrido. “For the true technologist, working in the AWS Cloud is a really refreshing change.”