Navigating the AWS Partner Network can feel complex. You'll encounter terms like "AWS Partner," "AWS-certified professional," and the focus of this guide: "AWS Migration and Modernization Competency Partner." Understanding these distinctions is the first step to finding a team that can de-risk your migration and accelerate your growth.
As you read, remember that AWS programs and partner designations evolve. It's always a good practice to verify a partner's current status and competency details using the official AWS Partner Finder before making a final decision.
Key Takeaways
- An AWS Migration and Modernization Competency Partner has been vetted by AWS for their proven expertise and customer success in moving workloads to the cloud.
- While competency status is a strong trust signal, you should still perform due diligence on a partner's methodology, references, security practices, and post-migration support.
- For small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), the best partner is one whose migration approach aligns with your workload complexity, internal skills, budget, and long-term goals.
- Cloudtech's status as an AWS Advanced Tier Partner and our team's certified expertise should be evaluated alongside the specific competency or service designations relevant to your project.
What Is an AWS Migration Competency Partner?
The AWS Competency Program is a framework designed to help customers find and choose partners with deep, specialized expertise in specific industries, use cases, and workloads. Think of it as a directory of validated experts. AWS says the program requires a rigorous technical assessment and a review of multiple successful customer projects.
An AWS Migration and Modernization Competency Partner is a consulting or technology firm that has passed this validation process specifically for helping customers plan, execute, and operate workloads on AWS. As of 2024, AWS has refined this designation to better reflect the scope of work, often distinguishing between Migration Services (like-for-like moves) and Modernization Services (re-architecting applications).
These related terms show how the designation fits the broader partner ecosystem:
- AWS Partner: Any organization that has joined the AWS Partner Network. Basic membership is available at no cost and signifies participation in the program, not a specific technical validation.
- AWS-Certified Professional: An individual who has passed one or more AWS certification exams. This validates personal knowledge and skills but is not an organizational-level designation.
- AWS Competency Partner: An organization recognized for specialized expertise and proven customer success in a defined area, such as migration, security, or data and analytics.
- AWS Service Delivery Partner: An organization validated for its deep technical knowledge and experience in delivering a specific AWS service, like AWS Lambda or Amazon RDS.
A competency badge is a strong starting point, not a guarantee of success. You still need thorough due diligence on project scope, pricing, security practices, customer references, and delivery responsibilities.
What Do AWS Migration Competency Partners Do?
A qualified migration partner guides you through the entire cloud journey, which AWS organizes into three main phases: Assess, Mobilize, and Migrate & Modernize. They bring structure, technical execution, and strategic guidance at every step.
Assess: Building the Business Case
Before any workload moves, a partner helps you inventory what you run and why it matters:
- Inventory applications and infrastructure with tools like AWS Application Discovery Service
- Map critical system dependencies so cutover does not create surprises
- Assess each application’s cloud readiness and flag migration risks
- Build a data-driven business case tied to outcomes like lower CapEx or stronger operational efficiency
Mobilize: Planning the Journey
With scope and value defined, the partner helps you choose how each application should move. AWS defines seven common strategies, often called the "7 R's":
| Strategy | Meaning in Brief | Key Question |
|---|---|---|
| Retire | Decommission an application that is no longer needed. | Is this system still providing value? |
| Retain | Keep an application in its current environment for now. | Are there business or technical reasons not to move it yet? |
| Rehost | Move an application without changes ("lift and shift"). | Is speed the top priority? |
| Relocate | Move servers or resources between environments, like from VMware on-premises to VMware Cloud on AWS. | Can we move the platform without rewriting the app? |
| Repurchase | Replace an existing application with a different product, often a SaaS solution ("drop and shop"). | Is a commercial off-the-shelf product a better fit? |
| Replatform | Move an application while making some cloud optimizations ("lift, tinker, and shift"). | What small changes can deliver value without a full redesign? |
| Refactor | Re-architect an application to take full advantage of cloud-native features. | Do the business benefits justify a more complex project? |
This phase also covers your AWS landing zone: a secure, multi-account foundation for the target environment. The partner then builds a detailed plan for security, compliance, testing, and rollback.
Migrate & Modernize: Execution and Optimization
Partners then run the migration itself, managing technical execution so cutover stays controlled and disruption stays low. After go-live, work continues on:
- Right-size resources and manage spend with tools like AWS Cost Explorer
- Train your team to operate the new environment with confidence
- Put governance in place for security, compliance, and cost control
- Define a modernization roadmap for serverless, containers, or advanced analytics
Why Work With an AWS Migration Competency Partner?
For an SMB, choosing a migration partner is hard when every provider claims cloud expertise. AWS Competency validation cuts that uncertainty: it confirms technical skill and a documented track record with other customers.
Key Benefits for SMBs
- Specialized skills: Covers network architecture, databases, and security so your internal team is not stretched thin
- Structured methodology: Uses a proven process that limits risk, avoids costly errors, and protects continuity
- Modernization beyond lift-and-shift: Flags chances to adopt Amazon RDS, AWS Fargate, or AWS Lambda—not only move servers
- Funding support: Helps you pursue programs such as the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP)
According to AWS, MAP can offset initial migration costs with credits and investments for eligible workloads. A Competency partner can guide the application and shape a plan that qualifies.
That mix of method, modernization, and funding shows up clearly in real engagements.
A SaaS company might rehost its app and replatform databases to Amazon Aurora to cut latency for a growing international user base. The partner ties that choice to retention goals and performance SLAs. In one AWS-published case, a partner helped a customer reduce database costs by up to 30% by selecting the right instances during migration.
How to Evaluate and Choose an AWS Migration Competency Partner
Once you've shortlisted a few partners with the right designation, the real evaluation begins. A competency badge gets a partner in the door, but these questions will help you decide if they're the right one to lead your project.
Assess Industry Fit and Proven Experience
Start with your business context. Does the partner understand your industry and constraints?
- Have they worked with companies in your industry, such as healthcare, financial services, or manufacturing?
- Are they familiar with your compliance requirements, like HIPAA or SOC 2?
- Do they have experience with your workload type, such as large databases, legacy monoliths, or data warehouses?
- Can they share case studies with applications, data volumes, and migration goals comparable to yours?
- Do they provide measurable before-and-after outcomes, such as cost or performance gains?
- Can you speak with customer references who will validate their claims and working style?
Scrutinize the Proposed Methodology
A detailed proposal is a sign of a mature partner.
- Discovery and Planning: How will they map dependencies and plan the migration waves?
- Landing Zone Design: What is their approach to building a secure and scalable AWS environment?
- Security and Compliance: How will they handle identity management, data encryption, and logging?
- Testing and Cutover: How will they handle validation, user acceptance testing, go-live, and rollback if something fails?
- Post-Migration Support: What level of support, documentation, and knowledge transfer is included?
Validate the Delivery Team
The people on the proposal are not always the people doing the work.
- Who will be on the project team? What are their AWS certifications and hands-on experience?
- What are the project roles, responsibilities, and escalation paths?
- Who is ultimately accountable for project success after the contract is signed?
Final Checklist: Before you sign, run through these steps:
- Verify the partner's status in the official AWS Partner Finder.
- Confirm their current designations match your project needs, such as Migration Services vs. Modernization Services.
- Request a detailed, written migration plan that outlines scope, milestones, and success criteria.
- Look past badges and low quotes. Choose the partner with proven experience, a clear plan, and shared understanding of your goals.
How Cloudtech Can Fit an AWS Migration Evaluation
Cloudtech is a U.S.-focused, boutique AWS Advanced Tier Partner with SMB Competency, built for SMBs, mid-market companies, and startups. Our team is primarily former AWS employees and holds 100+ AWS certifications.
While we are not designated as an AWS Migration and Modernization Competency Partner, we hold several AWS Service Delivery designations, including for AWS Database Migration Service, AWS Control Tower, and AWS CloudFormation. Those designations reflect hands-on strength in core migration building blocks, including MAP-funded cloud migration and modernization work.
Our approach is built for SMB and mid-market teams that need enterprise-grade results without enterprise overhead:
- Embed with your team through human-first consulting and clear communication
- Ship measurable outcomes fast with lean delivery and pre-packaged accelerators (often weeks, not months)
- Apply enterprise-level security, automation, and efficiency within SMB budgets and constraints
- Tie every engagement to business goals—cost, security, or growth
Planning a move to AWS? Talk through your migration discovery, modernization scope, or implementation needs with our team and see whether our delivery model fits your workload and support requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 7 R's of AWS migration strategies?
The 7 R's are common strategies for moving applications to the cloud: Retire, Retain, Rehost, Relocate, Repurchase, Replatform, and Refactor. Choose the right approach for each application based on business goals, cost, and complexity.
What is the AWS Competency Program?
AWS recognizes Partners with deep technical expertise and proven customer success in areas like migration, data, or security. AWS runs a rigorous validation review before awarding the designation.
What does an AWS Migration Competency Partner do?
They guide businesses through the full migration lifecycle. That covers environment assessment, migration planning, technical execution, security, and post-migration optimization and support.
How do I choose an AWS migration partner?
Verify their current AWS status and look for comparable case studies and customer references. Review their methodology, delivery team certifications, security practices, and post-migration support model.
Is an AWS Competency Partner the same as an AWS-certified consultant?
No. An AWS Competency is an organization-level designation for a company’s proven expertise. An AWS Certification is an individual credential earned by passing an exam.
