Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched a new IoT certification for partners dubbed IoT Competency, which aims to help customers find suitable partners to enable them to exploit the Internet of Things.
The new certification was launched at the AWS Global Partner Summit at re:Invent in Las Vegas, and aims to give those partners who have technology and/or implementation capabilities for a variety of use cases such as intelligent factories, smart cities, transportation and healthcare, an edge over their rivals.
But in order to become an AWS IoT Competency Partner, companies must meet a number of requirements, such as providing use case-specific public customer references, as well as completing a third-party audit of their IoT solution or practice.
On launch, AWS had several partners who had already been certified as IoT Competency Partners. This included Intel and Microchip Technology in the edge space, MachineShop in the gateway area, Bsquare, C3 IoT, Splunk, PTC and Thinglogix in the platform provider area, and Amdocs, Asavie, Eseye and SORACOM in the connectivity space.
There were also a number of AWS IoT consulting competency partners on launch including Accenture, Aricent, Cloud Technology Partners, Luxoft, Mobiquity, Solstice, Sturdy and Trek10.
Rob Bamforth, analyst at Quocirca, suggested that partner programs like this were vital for organisations like AWS.
“Getting the right partners involved stimulates the virtuous adoption cycle,” he told Internet of Business.
“The platform attracts partners, who offer more services, which attracts customers, which adds value to the platform as an opportunity for partners, which in turn attracts partners,” he added.
Bamforth emphasised the importance of being able to offer some sort of gain to everyone involved in the partner community.
He also said that sifting partners to ensure customers are aware of the most competent companies is important, as otherwise customers could have a bad experience and lose confidence in the platform itself.
“This type of competency program is a good way to bring in as many partners as possible, while maintaining quality – mirroring what Apple did with its App store,” Bamforth said.
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