Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Improving your solutions with AWS Partner technical validation (PEX205)

Summary

• AWS technical leads Jing and Mike discussed the top five challenging areas for AWS partners based on thousands of partner applications.
• The session aimed to help partners address gaps and complete partner validation to differentiate their solutions.
• The talk was technical but high-level, focusing on the AWS Partner Network (APN) programs' technical validation without delving into solution details or coding examples.
• Jing and Mike emphasized the importance of customer obsession and the need for partners to follow best practices and demonstrate customer success.
• They highlighted the differences in validation evidence required for software products versus service offerings.
• The five key challenge areas identified were basic account security, customer account access, resilience, workload health monitoring, and customer handover/shared responsibility.
• The session also covered updates to AWS Partner validation programs and checklists, including a major update for consulting partners' competencies and service delivery programs.
• Jing and Mike encouraged partners to use AWS resources and best practices to improve their solutions and provided links to relevant AWS documentation and tools.

Insights

• Customer Obsession: AWS prioritizes customer needs, and partners are validated to ensure they can be recommended with confidence.
• Technical Capability and Customer Success: AWS looks for partners who not only follow best practices but also have a proven track record of successful customer use cases.
• Validation Evidence: The evidence required for validation differs for software products and service offerings, with a focus on solution details and standard mechanisms in place, respectively.
• Challenge Areas: The five key challenge areas are foundational and require partners to have a deep understanding of AWS best practices and the ability to apply them to customer solutions.
• Resilience: AWS emphasizes the importance of intentional design for resilience, taking into account the trade-offs between cost, complexity, and business needs.
• Operational Excellence: Partners are expected to monitor workload health and understand the business implications of operational events, ensuring they can react appropriately.
• Shared Responsibility: Clear communication with customers about who is responsible for what aspects of the workload is crucial to avoid surprises and ensure successful operations.
• Continuous Improvement: AWS continuously updates its checklists and validation criteria to raise the bar for partners and improve the quality of solutions offered to customers.
• Resources and Tools: AWS provides a wealth of resources, including white papers, best practice guides, and tools like AWS Resilience Hub, to assist partners in meeting validation requirements.
• Feedback and Engagement: Jing and Mike encouraged partners to provide feedback and engage with AWS to better understand and meet the technical validation requirements.