APN Ambassadors Are Passionate About Sharing Their AWS Technical Expertise

By Elaine Perales, Manager, Global Programs at AWS

The APN Ambassador Program is a vibrant worldwide community of technical experts from AWS Partner Network (APN) Consulting Partners.

APN Ambassadors are prominent leaders who are passionate about sharing their Amazon Web Services (AWS) technical expertise. They author blogs and whitepapers, create and deliver public presentations, and contribute to open source projects.

APN Ambassadors evangelize AWS via social media and facilitate peer-to-peer learning by presenting at conferences, leading workshops, and hosting user group events.

As a result of their membership in the APN Ambassador program, AWS Partner team members can gain advanced knowledge and sharpen their technical delivery best practices.

How Do APN Ambassadors Benefit from the Program?

APN Ambassadors benefit from 1) industry and peer recognition; 2) early access to information on new AWS services and best practices; and 3) access to thought leadership and exclusive networking with AWS teams.

Additional benefits for APN Ambassadors include:

Featured on our public website highlighting APN Ambassadors, including each expert’s brief profile.
Access to AWS usage credits for innovation. Credits are used to offset the cost of learning, AWS GameDays, hackathons, testing new services, and developing prototypes in support of technical pre-sales for AWS engagements.
Close contact with AWS Partner Solutions Architect(s) assigned to the geography, or to a specific partner to request joint architectural reviews for customer designs.
Participation in dedicated APN Ambassador sessions during AWS re:Invent, and select AWS Summits worldwide. These sessions focus on diving deep into new AWS services and features.
Participation in roadmap conversations with AWS service teams, and access to special service betas.
Dedicated technical briefings where APN Ambassadors can pick the topics and provide feedback to AWS service teams and understand product line vision.
Eligibility to publish content on the APN Blog.

What Have Our APN Ambassadors Been Up To?

Local AWS communities are a vital resource for cloud professionals around the world, and many of these are hosted by APN Ambassadors. Members of local communities look to their leaders to provide guidance and mentorship on how to build AWS skills, solve technical problems, and grow their careers.

Here are several examples of the technical expertise shared by APN Ambassadors across the world.

ANZ

AWS: Inside the Region – By Arjen Schwarz, DigIO
10 Smart Ways to Use AWS CodeBuild – By Moha Alsouli, Tigerspike

ASEAN

Amazon ECS and CI/CD Deployment Pipeline – By Varun Kumar, Deloitte
AWS Enterprise User Group Meetup

Japan

Applying Spot Instances with AWS Batch to Optimize Costs – By Yutaka Hiroyama, iret

What Are the APN Ambassadors Saying About the Program?

APN Ambassadors are highly qualified and possess multiple AWS Certifications, as well as in-depth AWS knowledge and experience.

As APN Consulting Partner representatives, they work closely with AWS Solutions Architects to migrate, design, implement, and monitor AWS workloads.
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Umashankar Nedunchezhian, CTO at 1CloudHub (India)

“Being an APN Ambassador has helped us feel proud and differentiate us among our own community and with customers. It opened up opportunities to interact with fellow ambassadors, and having access to a quick tip or views from this elite fellow talent pool is awesome. I feel as privileged as an APN Ambassador as I do a diplomatic passport holder.”

Zamira Jaupaj, Solution Architect at Mobiquity (EMEA)

“It has been a great honor to be part of this very professional APN program, meeting AWS experts and all the Ambassadors worldwide. In addition to virtual meetings with AWS experts, this program provides in-depth sessions on AWS Cloud technology and gives me the opportunity to share AWS architecture ideas and best practices. This has helped me in providing the best and most suitable solutions for my customers and set them up for success.”

Rolf Koski, CTO at Cybercom AWS Business Group (EMEA)

“It has been a huge privilege to meet all of these fellow APN Ambassadors from around the globe, and I appreciate being acknowledged and for being part of the crew. In other circumstances we might be considered competitors, but in this forum we are first and foremost peers and contributors around the same interest, providing the best possible advisory for people using AWS services.”

Greg Cockburn, Principal Practice Lead at AC3 (ANZ)

“Being an APN Ambassador allows me to connect with my peers and gain exposure to the cutting edge in AWS technology, skills, and new products. Being able to connect with like-minded APN Ambassadors has been invaluable in helping me and my team create innovative, fresh solutions for our customers.”

Kaushik Mohanraj, Director at Blazeclan Technologies (ASEAN)

“The APN Ambassador program provided us with exclusive early accessibility to newly-launched AWS services, insights into the AWS roadmap, and empowered us to accelerate the value of cloud to our customers. In particular, the program enabled us to co-learn and collaborate with the like-minded and super enthusiast tech professionals community.”

Rich Uhl, CTO & Founder at 1Strategy (NAMER)

“1Strategy’s participation in APN Ambassadors influences key business direction, and the insights gained are a differentiator for us. The APN Ambassador program prepares 1Strategy to see trends in the market and prepare for upcoming demand on AWS technology expertise.”

Melissa Gwaldis, Principal Architect at SHI (NAMER)

“Much like the stock market, our previous success is not a guarantee of future results. To succeed today, we need to rethink the game we’ve been playing and how it’s being played, all while watching the rules of the game change around us. Participating in the APN Ambassador Program led me to adopt systems thinking and contemplate not only what could go wrong, but also what must go right. Thank you AWS for the rewarding program and for being a great partner. I look forward to continuing to achieve more together!”

Ian McKay, Lead DevOps Engineer at Kablamo (ANZ)

“The APN Ambassadors program has allowed me to interact with, and provide feedback to, service teams working on new and existing services, and gain insight from the best technical experts in the partner community.”

Stephen McMaster, Cloud Architecture & Engineering Lead at Deloitte UK (EMEA)

“I have found the program to be an invaluable source of information and expertise. APN Ambassador events allow us to collectively discuss recent announcements and gain insights from AWS product owners and subject matter experts. Information I have gleaned from the program has helped me guide client conversations and remain up-to-date with the latest cloud technologies.”

Rowan Udell, Technical Director at Versent (ANZ)

“Having access to service teams and key contributors inside AWS is a valuable resource that enables us to deliver the best solutions. More than that, getting a bunch of like-minded individuals together who are advanced users of AWS, even though we’re often competitors, has been a lot of fun, and something I look forward to doing more of in the future.”

Getting Started

To learn more about the program and see the current APN Ambassadors, visit our APN Ambassador page.

If you are an employee of an APN Consulting or Technology Partner in the Advanced or Premier tiers, hold multiple AWS Certifications, and contribute to the AWS business community through public presentations, open source projects, and social media, see if you qualify for the APN Ambassador Program.

If you’re an AWS customer and want to contact an APN Ambassador, we have listed each APN Ambassador’s contact information so you can connect with them directly through their employer. Just click the Connect button to get started!

Find an APN Ambassador in your area >>