AWS Partner Network (APN) Blog
Let’s Innovate Together on Behalf of Customers – Join the APN
Editor’s note – our team had great conversations with a number of companies yesterday at the AWS Chicago Summit who were interested in learning more about becoming a member of the AWS partner ecosystem, and the journey of our top partners. Today, we want to share with you the perspective of Dorothy Copeland, Director of Global Partner Programs for AWS, on joining the APN and growing your business as an APN partner.
People often ask me why they should partner with AWS. The answer is simple: You want an exceptionally successful cloud business. We want to support you along the way. Whether you’re building software solutions on AWS or providing consulting services regarding AWS, we invite you to come join us, and provide additional value to your customers around the globe.
With tens of thousands of members worldwide, the AWS Partner Network (APN) is focused on providing a great APN partner and customer experience. Companies of all sizes around the world work with us at all stages of their cloud solution and services development, whether looking to AWS to help provide technical guidance in building their solutions, or to engage in joint go-to-market. Becoming an APN partner can help you shorten customer sales cycles, and give customers budget and time to spend on other initiatives. It can enable you to move more quickly and offer your customers global solutions, provide you with on-going revenue streams, and enable you to build innovative solutions and services up the stack to solve customers’ business needs, all on top of the agile, cost-effective, and scalable AWS platform.
We consider joining the APN as the start to your journey, and we want to help provide you with best practices as you grow your business. As you get started as a member of the APN, take advantage of the APN web portal, APN partner-focused white papers, and webcasts. I encourage you to ensure your entire cloud-focused team takes advantage of our free online Business, Technical, and TCO and Cloud Economics accreditation courses as pertinent to each individual’s role. Getting your technical employees AWS-trained and certified is of paramount importance to your success as an APN member, and our training team has made available a wealth of resources for you. I recommend you download the APN Partner Learning Plan to get started.
As your AWS-based business matures, you can qualify to become an APN Standard or higher-tier Technology Partner or Consulting Partner, where you’ll become eligible for a number of additional benefits. One of the key benefits in becoming a higher-tier APN Partner is qualifying to apply for APN Partner Programs. I recommend you think about the APN Partner Programs that make sense for your business model. Consider joining the Channel Reseller Program, for instance, if you are a Consulting Partner and value owning your customers’ experience from end-to-end. Do you plan to deliver applications via software as a service (SaaS) on AWS? Take advantage of the AWS SaaS Partner Program. As you become an Advanced Partner, we will validate your offerings through third-party audits as a part of the approval process to join the Managed Service Provider Program and the AWS Competency Program. We will help enable you to market your solutions on our Partner Directory and Competency Solutions webpages. As you grow your business and want to engage in go-to-market with us, you can qualify for co-marketing funds and customer proof of concept funding to help you engage more quickly with customers and win new opportunities faster.
Tens of thousands of APN partners around the world have built successful businesses on AWS. Here’s what some of our top partners have to say about working with the APN:
“The Looker business has grown significantly since we’ve become an APN partner. Over the last year, we’ve seen 5X revenue growth, and tremendous expansion within our operational base. Becoming an APN Competency Partner has really benefited Looker’s business greatly. We’re now able to communicate how we leverage the different AWS services that are tailored specifically to our customer’s needs.”
– Keenan Rice, VP of Alliances, Looker
“The APN has had a fundamental impact in both how we can grow and scale, and mature our business.”
– Pontus Noren, Founder and CEO, Cloudreach
“We’ve experienced great support from the APN in all areas, including leveraging technical and go-to-market support. Our AWS Partner Manager proactively supports us in all areas, and has provided valuable information and guidance on how to best leverage the APN and generate awareness within AWS on our joint go-to-market initiatives.”
– Jeffrey Weiner, VP, Business Development of North American Partners, Software AG
So how do you get started? Learn more about the AWS Partner Network, join the APN, and then log in to our APN Portal, where you can access our business and technical training, and download our partner-focused business and technical white papers. As you progress as a partner, I encourage you to learn more about how to become a Standard, Advanced, and Premier APN Partner, and all of the benefits that come with moving up the partner tiers. Want to learn about what other partners’ journeys on AWS? Visit our Partner Success page.
We welcome you to our vibrant and growing ecosystem!