5 Steps to Create Your AWS Partnership Strategy
Unlock sales growth through AWS partnerships with our actionable strategy guide. Learn key steps and gain insights to scale your business with AWS.
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This post is part of a series, which describes Epsagon’s (now part of Cisco) journey as a Technology Partner.
In my previous post, I focused on WHY to become an AWS Partner and shared what our motivation was. In this post, I will describe the HOW — how to build a partnership strategy with AWS. Creating a partnership with AWS is a journey, because it is a marathon. Working on the partnerships tiers and the partner programs are the building blocks of this journey. Below I will describe in detail, what are the necessary steps for achieving such building blocks.
First, lets start by understanding what a partnership with AWS means.
The AWS Partnership Flywheel Explained: Co-Develop, Co-Market & Co-Sell
So what a partnership with AWS actually means?
Partnership with AWS is where AWS collaborates with companies and offer them partner programs that provide business & technical support. The partnership flow can be presented as the 3C’s flywheel — Co-Develop, Co-Market & Co-Sell:
First, a company develops a product or service that integrates with AWS Services and then jointly markets and sells it with AWS support. For detailed Co-Develop, Co-Market & Co-Sell activities, visit my Cloud Partnership guide.
5 Steps to Becoming an AWS Partner
Creating an AWS Partner Strategy
To successfully forge a partnership with AWS, there are five essential steps you need to follow. The first 3 steps below are focused on building your partnership foundation, and the 4th and 5ths steps are where you start leveraging your partnership foundation and begin to see the impact on your business. Here are the 5 setps you need to follow in order to build your cloud partnership strategy with AWS (or other Cloud vendors):
Step 1: Assess
First, you need to identify the partnership opportunity and its potential. Don’t move forward without such an assessment. See here more details about how to make this partnership value assessment.
Step 2: Onboard
If your assessment indicates a promising partnership opportunity and you’ve addressed the common challenges, the next step is to join the CSP’s partner program. Here you need to Onboard as an AWS partner while understanding the AWS partner programs that fit your business and the partner benefits you can leverage.
Step 3: Differentiate
As you can expect, there are many AWS partners, you must differentiate your offering. where do you shine? what’s your unique value? There are different AWS differentiation programs you can leverage here like AWS Competency. Differentiation is something you should constantly do.
Here are a few actions a strongly recommend taking in order to differentiate:
- Share success stories of satisfied customers to showcase your unique value.
- Craft a joint value proposition and tailored messaging exclusively for your partnership.
- Explore relevant CSP differentiation programs that set you apart in the partner ecosystem.
Step 4: Create a joint go-to-market plan (Partnership Business Plan)
You have to have a plan. Start with creating a plan for at least 12–18 months. Not sure how to does a partnership GTM plan looks like? You can use this AWS Partner Plan Template that I created in on of my blog posts. In this blog post you can also follow the expected partnership timelines for each phase of the partnership journey. Building a partnership with AWS takes time. Don’t expect an immediate impact. If you are looking for an immediate impact. You partner GTM needs to include product and business alignment:
Step 5: Sell and Grow
At at this stage, you are sharing opportunities with AWS, co-selling with AWS sellers and even selling through the AWS Marketplace. I highly recommend to follow the AWS Co-Sell CHEER Model, that I developed, and shared in detail here.
How Long does it takes to be an AWS Partner?
A partnership plan should reflect a long-term strategy. If you are looking for fast ROI and short-term impact, this is not the path for you.
Check out this blog post to see a typical 3-year AWS Partner Plan and realistic timeline of a partnership’s progress.
Cloud Partnerships KPIs:
Measuring the AWS partnership impact is crucial. Same as you measure your sales and marketing performance, you need to measure the AWS Partnership performance.
As it takes time to see direct revenue impact, it is important to set metrics that will help you to measure the partnership progress and not only measure revenue metrics. while some KPIs will have a direct sales and marketing impact, other KPIs will have an indirect impact and will reflect the partnership progress. The progress will be an indicator of the revenue impact potential.
Here are 13 metrics you should be tracking, divided to 3 pillars — Co-Develop, Co-Market and Co-Sell.
As you can see on the link, some of the KPIs with a direct revenue impact, such as the number of customer referrals and some have indirect revenue impact KPIs such as enrollment in the co-sell program. It is important to track both types of KPIs.
How Much does it Cost to be an AWS Partner?
There is a partnership fee that needs to be paid in order to become an AWS Partners. The fee is $2,500 per year. You can usually get the same amount back in AWS Credits.
Key Takeaways
Embarking on an AWS partnership journey is a strategic move to accelerate your business growth. Follow these steps and utilize our comprehensive guide and course to turn AWS collaboration into your competitive advantage.
- Understand the Why and How: the journey to becoming an AWS Partner involves understanding both the motivation behind the partnership and the practical steps to establish it successfully.
- Follow the five steps to create a successful AWS Partnership strategy. Each step contributes to creating a strong partnership foundation and driving business impact.
- Long-Term Perspective: Building a partnership with AWS is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires a long-term strategy and commitment. It’s important to set expectations and understand that measurable impact may take time to materialize.
- Measure the partnership impact & performance. Measuring the success of your AWS partnership involves tracking a variety of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These KPIs span both direct revenue impact and indirect indicators of partnership progress.
By focusing on these takeaways, you can navigate the complex landscape of AWS partnerships, understand the value they bring, and effectively measure their impact on your business growth.
Free Cloud Partnerships Online Course
Ready to skyrocket your sales with AWS? Enroll in my free Cloud Partnership course to unlock exclusive strategies and tips for success in the AWS marketplace.
