Unlocking business potential with AWS Partner Network

Can you explain how the AWS Partner Network supports businesses in different regions, particularly in terms of local specialisation and the impact of partnerships on customer success?

The AWS Partner Network is a vast array of companies working with us to grow their businesses and help our mutual customers leverage the AWS Cloud. We view our partners as a true extension of our teams, enabling us to deliver more impact to customers across more locations and countries than we could achieve on our own.

Chris Casey, director, AWS Partners Asia-Pacific and Japan. Photo: AWS

Today, the network includes more than 140,000 partners, and interestingly, 70 per cent of those partners are headquartered outside the US. This vast network is highly valued by our customers, who also appreciate local specialisation and skills.

Customers in Vietnam are no different. Here, we have been working with local partners such as TechX, Renova Cloud, and CMC, among others. These partners support customers across various industries, offering everything from digital solutions and cloud migrations to testing automation.

One way we represent partner specialisations is through competencies. Partners earn competencies by completing rigorous processes with AWS, including demonstrating proven outcomes through case studies and materials. One of our newest competencies is in generative AI. AWS was the first hyperscaler to launch this specific competency for its partner network. Currently, around 127 partners have achieved this competency, and TechX in Vietnam is one of them.

TechX has been collaborating with banks in Vietnam, helping them implement GenAI technology on AWS. Their applications range from human resources and internal advisory to meeting assistance. It’s fantastic to see.

What’s important to note is that we support partners of all sizes and maturity levels. For example, our AWS Partner Network includes global software giants like SAP, Salesforce, Databricks, and Snowflake, which are widely used by customers worldwide. Equally important, we view startups as valuable partners. In Vietnam, notable examples include AI Hay and Kompato AI that benefit from our support through mentorship and coaching.

Our AWS Partner Network is now broad, spanning nearly every industry, with partners bringing diverse value propositions to customers. In Vietnam, for instance, the financial services sector stands out. Banks and other regulated industries are adopting technologies like GenAI to streamline processes. Partners such as TechX have helped institutions improve internal systems and customer experiences.

Healthcare is another key sector. GenAI is being used for tasks like summarising patient care records, which helps clinicians spend more time with patients and improve service delivery.

How much has AWS invested in the development of the AWS Partner Network in the region, and what are the challenges still facing you?

We have been heavily investing in partners through strategic collaboration agreements and AWS Partner Programmes. These programmes help partners by providing financial support to offset costs when building new practices or capabilities with AWS. Additionally, we offer technical expertise to support customer migrations.

Beyond direct funding, we focus on building competency programmes that include mentoring and coaching. This ensures our partners can establish sustainable, profitable practices and deliver impactful outcomes for customers. So, our investment is not just financial – it is about providing holistic support to help partners grow their businesses effectively.

One of the most enduring challenges is capturing clear signals from customers about their business needs. This allows us to provide prescriptive guidance to both existing and new AWS partners, such as the startups I mentioned earlier. With over 140,000 partners globally and many customers at different stages of cloud maturity, simplifying and streamlining this process is complex but crucial.

Our mission is to ensure we have partners that can address both traditional workloads still running on-premises and new opportunities that customers are pursuing. Managing this at scale is challenging, but it also presents a significant opportunity. The breadth of customer needs means there is always room for AWS and our partners to grow, innovate, and deliver value.

What is the growth potential for the development of the AWS Partner Network in the region?

I think it is tremendous, and we are only just getting started. When you consider some of the workloads and use cases that customers are exploring across Asia-Pacific and Japan, it is really exciting. Many customers in various countries are at the early stages of cloud adoption – thinking about moving their first storage workloads or disaster recovery workloads to the cloud.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have partners like TechX delivering a generative AI-powered chatbots, which shows the breadth of customer challenges we are addressing with our partners in Vietnam. Like other countries in the region, Vietnam has a wide range of customer needs, and the opportunity is huge.

There are two key areas to highlight. First, continued investment in startups. We are launching a startup specialisation and increasing funding through our global startup initiative. Examples like AI Hay and Kompato AI in Vietnam illustrate the benefits of these programmes. Supporting companies of all sizes, especially startups, remains a foundational focus for AWS.

Second, we are investing heavily in industry-specific solutions. For example, we launched a new AWS consumer goods competency this week, recognising the significant opportunities in the retail sector across APJ. This will help differentiate partners who can support established companies transforming their businesses using the AWS cloud.

We emphasise the need for partners to specialise, whether by industry or specific cloud use cases like migrations and modernisations. This specialisation not only drives sustainable and profitable growth for partners but also makes it easier for customers to identify the right partners for their specific transformation needs.

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