AWS Marketplace Now Offers Professional Services

Now with AWS Marketplace, customers can not only find and buy third-party software but also the professional services needed to support the full lifecycle of those products, including planning, deployment and support. This simplifies the software supply chain including tasks like managing provider relationships and procurement processes and also consolidates billing and invoices in one place.

Until today, customers have used AWS Marketplace for buying software and then used a separate process for contracting professional services. Many customers need extra professional services when they purchase third-party software, like premium support, implementation, or training. The additional effort to support different procurement processes impacts customers’ project timelines and adds a lot complexity to the customer’s organization.

Last year we announced AWS IQ, a service that helps you engage with AWS Certified third-party experts for AWS project work. This year we want to go one step further and help you find professional services for all those third-party software solutions you currently buy from AWS Marketplace.

For the Buyers
Buyers can now discover professional services using AWS Marketplace from multiple trusted sellers, manage the invoices and payments from software and services together and reduce procurement time, accelerating the process from months to days.

This new feature allow buyers to choose from a selection of professional services such as assessments, implementation, premium support, and managed services and training from consulting partners, managed service providers and independent software vendors.

To get started finding and buying professional services, first you need to find the right service for you. If you are looking for a professional service associated with a particular piece of software, using the search tool in AWS Marketplace, you can search for the software and the related professional services will appear in the search results. Use the delivery method to filter the results to just include professional services.

After you find the service you are looking for, you can visit the service details page and learn more information about the listing. If you want to buy the service, just click continue.

That will open the request service form where you can connect to the seller and request the service. The seller will receive a notification and then they can contact you to agree on the scope of the work including deliverables, milestones, pricing, payment schedules, and service terms.

Once you agree with the seller on all the specific details of the contract, the seller sends you a private offer. Now the offer page will show the private offer details instead of a request for service form. You can review the pricing, payment schedule, and contract terms and create the contract.

The service subscription starts after you review and accept the private offer on AWS Marketplace. Also, you will receive an invoice from AWS Marketplace and you can track your subscriptions in the buyers management console. The purchases of the services are itemized on your AWS invoice, simplifying payments and cost management.

For the Sellers
This new feature of AWS Marketplace enables you, the seller, to grow your business and reach new customers by listing your professional service offerings. You can list professional services offerings as individual products or alongside existing software products in AWS Marketplace using pricing, payment schedule, and service terms that are independent from the software.

In AWS Marketplace you will create your seller page, where all your information as a seller will be displayed to the potential buyers.

Public professional service listings are discoverable by search and visible in your seller profile. You will receive customer requests for each of the services listed. Agree with the customer on the details of the service contract and then send a private offer to them.

AWS Marketplace will invoice and collect the payments from the customers and distribute the funds to your bank account after the customers pay. AWS Marketplace also offers you seller reports that are updated daily to understand how your business is doing.

Availability
To learn more about buying and selling professional services in AWS Marketplace, visit the AWS Marketplace service page. 

— Marcia