How to Increase Visibility with Customers Through the AWS Competency Program

By Ashia Johnson, Program Marketing Manager at AWS

The AWS Competency Program helps customers choose top AWS Partner Network (APN) Partners to team up with by validating organizations that can provide value-added services and solutions.

AWS Competencies are built to go beyond the meaning of the word “competent,” as this is one of the toughest designations an APN Partner can achieve and maintain.

Guidance from these skilled professionals leads to better business and bigger results that help Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers at any stage of their cloud adoption journey.

Learn more about the AWS Competency Program >>

AWS Competency Program Benefits

For APN Partners that have earned an AWS Competency, the program offers specific benefits that help you increase visibility and engagement with AWS teams and customers.

In this post, we’ll look at five key areas of AWS Competency benefits:

• Increased visibility with go-to-market (GTM) activities.
• Access to Market Development Funds (MDF) and discounts.
• Demand-gen and customer acquisition.
• Unlock benefits for business development and support.
• Exclusive access to event-specific benefits.

Increased Visibility with Go-to-Market (GTM) Activities

APN Blog and Social Media

AWS Competency Partners get priority for writing features on the APN Blog and for being promoted via APN social media channels. The APN Blog is one of the most-read blogs at AWS and a great way to showcase your expertise to AWS customers looking for the right partners to team up with.

APN social media channels include Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Welcome Kit and APN Partner Badge

Newly-awarded AWS Competency Partners are featured in our “New Partners” monthly APN Blog post. This includes links to your Partner Solution Finder listing, one of the most popular pages on the APN website and a channel that connects customers directly to APN Partners.

AWS Competency Partners can also use the Badge Builder tool in APN Partner Central to create a badge for your website, social media, and other marketing materials highlighting the AWS Competency designations you have earned.

Co-Branded Marketing Campaigns like The Next Smart

The Next Smart is a global paid media campaign to drive AWS Competency brand awareness. Our message to customers is that teaming up with an AWS Competency Partner is “The Next Smart” if you want to be successful in today’s complex IT environment and remain that way tomorrow and into the future.

AWS Competency Partners have exclusive access to The Next Smart campaign assets in APN Marketing Central and can use Market Development Funds (MDF) to support these paid media efforts.

Access to Market Development Funds and Discounts

Market Development Funds (MDF)

For each AWS Competency achieved and APN Program validations attained, partners earn additional Market Development Funds (MDF). The MDF program helps APN Partners drive demand generation and GTM activities. Typical co-funded activity types include case studies, webinars, online or email marketing, and events like CIO roundtables.

AWS Solution Provider Program Discounts

AWS Competency Partners are eligible for a Technical Capability Discount when they join the AWS Solution Provider Program. This program rewards APN Partners based on technical capabilities, offers incentives for new business, and provides flexible support models.

Demand-Gen and Customer Acquisition

Prioritized Listings on the AWS Website

AWS Competency Partners get top priority in AWS Partner Solutions Finder search results. This useful tool enables AWS customers to easily search for and connect with APN Partners based on business needs.

Additionally, AWS Competency Partners are showcased on the APN websites corresponding to the Competency designations they have attained, such as Machine Learning and Microsoft Workloads.

Unlock Benefits for Business Development and Support

Gain Access to Dedicated APN Partner Field Members

AWS Competency Partners receive prioritized access to Partner Development Managers (PDMs) and Partner Solutions Architects (PSAs) who support business and technical needs.

Specifically, PDMs work cross-functionally with AWS business development, sales, marketplace, technical, and service teams to support partner GTM strategies, as well as partner advancement through the APN tiers.

Eligibility for the AWS Solution Space Program

AWS Solution Space allows AWS Competency Partners to showcase bundled solutions based on architectures validated by AWS technical experts. These are quick, cost effective, repeatable solutions meant to create new business that leads to production workloads.

Prioritization for AWS Quick Starts

AWS Competency Partners are eligible for and prioritized in the AWS Quick Starts program. Quick Starts are built by AWS Solutions Architects and APN Partners to help customers deploy popular technologies on AWS. These solutions are based on AWS best practices for security and high availability.

Each Quick Start includes AWS CloudFormation templates that automate the deployment, and a guide that discusses the architecture and provides step-by-step deployment instructions.

Exclusive Event-Specific Benefits

Early Access to AWS Event Sponsorships

AWS Competency Partners are provided with AWS event sponsorship opportunities prior to our public release date. This includes events such as AWS re:Invent, AWS Summits, and AWS Sales Kickoff.

Onsite Visibility at AWS Events

AWS Competency Partners that sponsor AWS events will be highlighted on the event website and digital platforms, such as the event’s mobile app. On the event app, there are unique filtering options that give customers the opportunity to specifically find AWS Competency Partners with sponsorship booths on-site.

In addition to being featured on the event app, AWS Competency Partners receive special booth badging that identifies you as an AWS Competency Partners. This badging helps your business stand out as a specialized AWS expert on the crowded show floor.

Are You Taking Advantage of These Great Benefits?

Check out the AWS Competency benefits one-page summary and brochure for more details. You can also read this blog post on why Teaming Up with AWS Competency Partners Drives Better Business and Bigger Results.

Learn more about the AWS Competency program through the AWS Competency Spotlight and AWS Competency overview video.

Interested in attaining an AWS Competency? Check out the Validation Checklists to get started >>