If your company is evaluating moving its systems to the Amazon Web Services cloud, sooner or later you will come across the term AWS Partner. And a fair question: do I really need one, or can I do it on my own?

In this guide I answer that directly, from the inside. You will understand what an AWS Partner actually is, how the program is organized today (the naming changed, and a lot of information online is now outdated), what types and tiers exist, and —most importantly— how to recognize the right partner for a cloud project in Peru or Chile.

What an AWS Partner is

An AWS Partner is a company that Amazon Web Services formally recognizes for its ability to help other organizations design, migrate, operate, or build on the AWS cloud. It is not a badge you buy: it is recognition earned by accumulating technical certifications, proven customer experience, and validations that AWS audits periodically.

All of these partners are part of the AWS Partner Network (APN), Amazon’s global program that connects its customers with qualified technology and consulting companies. The underlying idea is simple: AWS builds the cloud services; partners bring the knowledge, the methodology, and the support so each company makes the most of them.

In practice, working with an AWS Partner means having a team that has already walked the path you are about to start: it knows which architecture decisions to make early, how to avoid cost surprises, how to meet your industry’s regulatory requirements, and how to keep operations stable once you are in the cloud.

How the AWS Partner Network is organized today

Here it pays to be precise, because this is where the most outdated information circulates. For years AWS classified its partners into “Technology Partners” and “Consulting Partners,” with levels called APN Standard, Advanced, and Premier. That structure is no longer current. AWS reorganized the program around two concepts: Partner Paths and, within the services path, tiers.

Partner Paths

A Partner Path defines the type of relationship a company has with AWS based on what it does. Today there are five:

  • Services Path — for companies that offer consulting, professional services, or managed services on AWS. It is the path of cloud consultancies that migrate, modernize, and operate infrastructure for their customers.
  • Software Path — for companies that develop software that runs on AWS or integrates with its services.
  • Hardware Path — for manufacturers of devices that connect to the cloud.
  • Training Path — for organizations authorized to deliver official AWS training.
  • Distribution Path — for authorized distributors that enable other partners to resell AWS.

A single company can be on more than one path. For a migration or modernization project, the relevant one is almost always the Services Path.

The tiers of a Services Partner

Within the Services Path, AWS distinguishes three tiers based on partner maturity. You can think of them as a ladder of proven experience:

  • Select Tier — partners with trained and certified staff, and initial customer experience. It is the entry point to the program.
  • Advanced Tier — partners with a consolidated team of certified professionals and demonstrated experience on real projects. It is a high level of maturity: AWS requires a considerable number of certifications and validated success stories to grant it.
  • Premier Tier — the tier designed for partners operating at very large scale, with multiple program validations. The difference with Advanced is mostly about size and reach: both an Advanced and a Premier are partners with consolidated experience recognized by AWS.

For reference: at Caleidos we are an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, the level AWS recognizes for a certified team and proven experience on cloud projects.

Specializations: the most reliable signal of depth

Tiers measure general maturity. Specializations measure depth in something concrete, and they are the most reliable proof that a partner truly masters what it claims to master. That is why, when choosing a partner, it is worth looking at them even before the tier.

AWS grants each specialization only after a demanding technical validation in which it audits real customer cases. The main ones are:

  • Competencies — validated experience in an industry (financial services, healthcare, retail) or in a technical discipline (migration, DevOps, data, security). They carry the most weight: they mean AWS verified that the team delivers results in that specific area.
  • Service Delivery — proven mastery of a specific AWS service.
  • Service Ready — software or solutions that work in a proven way with an AWS service.

When a company holds validated competencies in, say, migration or DevOps, it is saying something very different from “we work with AWS”: it is showing that AWS audited its projects and confirmed it knows how to execute them. That is the signal most worth looking for.

How demanding a competency is: the Migration example

To gauge how much a specialization weighs, it is worth seeing what AWS requires to grant the Migration Competency, one of the most demanding in the program. A partner must demonstrate, among other requirements:

  • 15 individuals certified at Associate level and 8 at Professional or Specialty level.
  • 4 migration success stories, at least 2 of which must be public and verifiable.

This is not a formality: it is a real audit of the team and the results. We know it firsthand, because at Caleidos we hold this competency. Two of our public migration cases are available to review in detail: Culqi and its cloud-native acquiring platform on AWS and KasNet’s complete migration to AWS with a Data Lake.

Why work with an AWS Partner (and not go it alone)

You can migrate and operate in the cloud without a partner. The question is how much it costs to learn as you go. An experienced AWS Partner brings four things that are hard to improvise:

A proven route. A team that has already migrated dozens of workloads knows the patterns that work and the decisions that, made wrong early, get expensive later. That experience shortens timelines and reduces the risk of rework.

Cost control by design. Much of cloud overspend comes from poorly sized architectures. A partner designs for efficiency from day one and knows how to leverage the credits and funding programs AWS makes available through its partners.

Compliance and security kept current. Partners stay up to date on each industry’s regulatory requirements —critical in sectors like banking, insurance, or healthcare— and apply the security practices AWS recommends.

Support after the project. Migration is the beginning, not the end. A good partner trains your team, leaves documentation, and offers support so operations stay stable and keep evolving.

How to choose an AWS Partner in Peru and Chile

The AWS program is global, but a cloud project is executed with people, time zones, and concrete regulatory frameworks. For companies in Peru and Chile, these criteria mark the difference between a distant vendor and a partner that truly stays with you:

Prioritize specializations and at least Advanced Tier. Any company can say “we work with AWS.” What really matters is that it holds validated specializations in what your project needs —for example competencies in migration or DevOps— and that it is at least Advanced Tier, a level that already implies maturity proven by AWS.

Value regional proximity. With the AWS Santiago Region available to Southern Cone customers, it is now possible to host workloads nearby, with low latency and within regional compliance frameworks. A partner that knows the local context —and bills in US dollars, with no exchange-rate risk— makes the conversation much simpler.

Ask for verifiable success stories. AWS-validated experience weighs more than promises. Ask about projects in your industry and about measurable results.

Assess the support, not just the execution. Does the partner stay after go-live? Does it train your team? Is it there when something gets complicated? Continuity is what sets a one-off vendor apart from a long-term ally.

Look at the human team. On a cloud project you will work side by side with the partner’s team for months. A team at human scale, accessible, and that understands your business matters as much as the certifications.

How we see it at Caleidos

We work as an AWS cloud consultancy from Lima, with operations across the region. We are an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, with validated competencies in Migration & Modernization and in DevOps, and we support companies in banking, insurance, retail, consumer goods, healthcare, automotive, and education on their journey to the cloud.

Our regional proximity is reinforced by our role as a launch partner for the AWS Santiago Region, which lets us offer architectures with the nearest cloud region for customers in Peru and Chile. And the way we work combines technical excellence with a team that stays: we support before, during, and after each project.

If your company is evaluating migrating to AWS, modernizing applications, or adopting DevOps practices, let’s talk. In a first conversation we understand your starting point and map out the route that makes sense for your business.

Frequently asked questions about AWS Partners

What is an AWS Partner? It is a company that Amazon Web Services formally recognizes for its ability to help other organizations migrate to, operate, or build on the AWS cloud. It belongs to the AWS Partner Network (APN) and earns that recognition by accumulating technical certifications and proven customer experience.

What are the AWS Partner tiers? For services partners, AWS defines three tiers: Select (entry), Advanced (proven maturity with a certified team and real projects), and Premier (for partners operating at very large scale). Both Advanced and Premier represent partners with consolidated experience. The old APN Standard, Advanced, and Premier naming is no longer current.

What is the difference between a tier and an AWS specialization? The tier measures the partner’s general maturity. Specializations, such as industry or technical competencies, measure validated depth in a specific area, for example migration or DevOps. Specializations are the most reliable signal of real experience, because AWS grants them after auditing customer projects.

What does AWS require for the Migration Competency? Among other requirements, the partner must demonstrate 15 individuals certified at Associate level and 8 at Professional or Specialty level, plus 4 migration success stories, at least 2 of which must be public and verifiable. It is one of the most demanding competencies in the program.

How do I choose an AWS Partner in Peru or Chile? Prioritize validated specializations in what your project needs and confirm the partner is at least Advanced Tier. Add regional proximity with the AWS Santiago Region, ask for verifiable success stories in your industry, and assess whether it offers support after the project, not just the initial execution.