AWS Partner Network (APN) Blog

We are thrilled to be in Las Vegas for AWS re:Invent 2018 and our annual Global Partner Summit. This year’s event provides APN Partners with opportunities to connect, collaborate, and discover. Keep reading this blog post throughout the week as we share on-the-ground updates, details of APN program launches, and things to check out from re:Invent, including the GPS keynote, breakout sessions, program launches, and more.

The annual Global Partner Summit was held November 27 at AWS re:Invent 2018, and we are excited to introduce key initiatives and program launches announced by Terry Wise, Vice President of Global Alliances and Channels, AWS. Announcements include APN Tier changes and updates to the overall APN benefits structure, as well as new programs like the AWS Well-Architected Partner Program, AWS IoT Service Delivery designations, the AWS Container Competency, and AWS Device Qualification Program.

We announced at AWS re:Invent 2018 updates to the overall APN program that will further recognize and support the growth, investment, and innovation of our evolving APN Partner community, and better align APN Partners to more structured program benefits. These changes include renaming the Standard Tier to Select Tier and updating APN requirements to measure each APN Partner’s knowledge, experience, and customer success.

The AWS Well-Architected Framework helps cloud architects build secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient infrastructure for their applications. At AWS re:Invent 2018, we announced the AWS Well-Architected Partner Program that enables APN Partners to establish good architectural habits, eliminate risk, and assist customers in building and responding faster to changes that affect their designs, applications, and workloads.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the next phase of digital transformation, and AWS IoT Service Delivery Partners are driving this evolution. They are improving customer experiences and outcomes by choosing the best approach for the design and implementation of IoT solutions that are optimized for cost, reliability, security, performance, and scalability. At AWS re:Invent 2018, we introduced AWS IoT Service Delivery Partners in three key areas: AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT Greengrass, and AWS IoT Analytics.

Containers are an increasingly important way for developers to package and deploy their applications. AWS customers use containers as the fundamental unit of compute to deploy both existing and net-new workloads like microservices, big data, machine learning models, and batch jobs. At AWS re:Invent 2018, we announced the AWS Container Competency Program to highlight top APN Partner solutions that offer support to run workloads on containers on AWS.

The new AWS Device Qualification Program makes it easier for APN Partners to qualify their devices on AWS IoT Greengrass, Amazon FreeRTOS, AWS IoT Core, and/or Amazon Kinesis Video Streams so that customers can find and purchase hardware they can trust for their IoT projects. With AWS IoT along with our APN Partners and their qualified hardware, customers will have the intelligence needed to build new services and business models, improve products and services, and strengthen the customer experiences.

To help you prepare for AWS re:Invent 2018, we’ve rounded up a number of things to check out while you are in Las Vegas. Please join us for the Global Partner Summit, which provides APN Partners with opportunities to connect, collaborate, and discover. You’ll learn how to leverage AWS technologies to serve your customers, and how the APN program can help build and grow your business. This year, GPS sessions will take place throughout the week across the entire re:Invent campus.

If you want to be successful in today’s complex IT environment, and remain that way tomorrow and into the future, you need AWS Competency Partners you can team up with. AWS Competency Partners are experts who have demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success in specialized solution areas. Guidance from these skilled professionals can lead to better business and bigger results. Teaming up with an AWS Competency Partner is The Next Smart.

The AWS Service Delivery Program identifies and endorses APN Partners with validated customer experience and a deep understanding of specific AWS services, such as Amazon Aurora, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon EC2 for Windows. Please join us in congratulating these top 8 APN Partners on achieving AWS Service Delivery Program designations in October. Each organization follows AWS best practices and has proven success delivering AWS services to end customers.

Many organizations feel that AI will be the biggest disruptor to their industry in the next five years, and many leaders are asking if machine learning is right for their business. We offer an approach to identifying real business value using ML and discuss how to identify and quantify which use cases are the best fit for your industry and how to derive business value with the help of AWS Machine Learning Competency Partners.

Managed services have historically been tied to infrastructure, but next-generation MSPs are involved at a much deeper level on the AWS Cloud. It’s not just about managing the infrastructure anymore. It’s about managing the full lifecycle of services—from planning and designing to building and optimizing workloads for AWS Customers. The AWS MSP Partner Program recognizes leading APN Consulting Partners that are highly skilled at providing full lifecycle solutions to AWS Customers.