Murray Thom, VP of Product Management at D-Wave Systems, speaks about the new launch on AWS Marketplace (PC HPC Wire)
Recently, market-leading quantum computing company D-Wave Systems announced its launch in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, where vendors from all around the world can test, buy, and run the variety of products that D-Wave offers. “Quantum computing is so much more than a technology,” explained Murray Thom, D-Wave’s Vice President of Product Management. “It’s not about devices. It’s not about individual companies. It’s about the entire marketplace.” Thanks to this launch, D-Wave is not only making its technology more accessible but standing out in the quantum ecosystem as a true pioneer. According to Thom: “We’re laser-focused on aligning the interests of everyone who’s participating in the industry for everyone’s common benefit. As much as it is tremendously exciting for us to advance science and improve the technology, it’s the business cases that our customers are talking about to us that get everyone the most excited.”
D-Wave has already made a name for itself within the quantum industry by being the first to produce a commercial quantum computer. They continue to be a provider of full-stack quantum computing. Now with a space in the AWS Marketplaces D-Wave will be able to offer more of its technology via the cloud. “There’s certainly a lot of work, I would say, that’s being done in the tech or computing sector just to make it easier to get access to a catalog of technologies,” Thom explained. “So, we’ve been working really hard to put together a package that will enable companies to get that value very quickly. Also, a group of professional services that allows them to explore everything from a quantum proof-of-concept to specific techniques like quantum machine learning.” This versatility in products allows companies more freedom to pick and choose what they need. As D-Wave offers quantum advising as well the launch also improves that aspect. “Everyone has a different journey,” Thom added. “There are a lot of folks doing some really innovative work and contacting us about our quantum consulting services through AWS Marketplace.” The Marketplace offers a more accessible system for vendors to learn about D-Wave and access their technology for various projects.
In working with companies like Save-On-Foods, Deloitte, and Lockheed Martin, D-Wave has already helped create some business success stories thanks to its technology. According to Thom, “We’ve had examples like Volkswagen that’s been looking at improving their scheduling on the manufacturing line and looking at ways to optimize other decisions. We identified that they can reduce the amount of waste, the cost, and the waste associated with it, by 80%.” Thom and others at D-Wave hope that other groups, not just businesses, will take advantage of their technology. “There are a number of folks in academia or innovation teams in large companies, who are themselves trying to help their organization understand how quantum computing can apply there,” Thom said. “I think the hope is that this will make access much easier and faster for people and allow them to get in touch with us and get in touch with the technology. That way they can use full-stack quantum computing as a service and really shorten those cycles toward getting those practical applications built.”
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is a staff writer at Inside Quantum Technology and the Science Communicator at JILA (a partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder and NIST). Her writing beats include deep tech, the metaverse, and quantum technology.