Updated AWS Channel Partner Program Boosts Incentives, Benefits for Partners

In November, Amazon Web Services (AWS) unveiled strategic updates to its Solution Provider, Distribution, and MSP partner programs for 2026, aimed at expanding and modernizing its channel partner network. The improvements include broadened sales incentives, simplified benefits, and easier ways for partners to set up new deal registrations and billing, according to an announcement by the company on the AWS Partner Network Blog.

“Partners have always told us they want predictability, simplicity, and new revenue streams,” Julia Chen, vice president of Specialists and Partner Core at AWS, told ChannelE2E. “So, this announcement is really about delivering on that feedback.”

To simplify and improve the incentive program, AWS is streamlining incentives by consolidating base and technical competency benefits while also merging multiple programs into a single New Customer Incentive, said Chen. “If it is a new customer consuming AWS services, they get the incentive.”

AWS is also introducing a new Partner Growth Incentive that offers quarterly cash payments to reward partners for growing their overall AWS business, she said.

“That means we are looking at their AWS resell business, and if they grow that, AWS will pay the partner a growth incentive with quarterly cash payments,” said Chen. “It will be much more predictable and easier to calculate.”

In addition, the company is bringing new energy to its MSP program, she said. “We are launching enhanced MSP benefits with monetary incentives for partners driving cloud adoption, leveraging security and GenAI services, and supporting government customers.”

The changes arrive through feedback from service partners who have been asking for incentives that recognize their influence on customers’ buying decisions and behavior, said Chen.

“We are happy to deliver on that because we continue to see the growing importance of managed services to our customers’ businesses, as the technology continues to get more sophisticated and there continues to be a shortage of talent,” she said.

“Partners have been telling us they need predictability, simplicity, and new revenue streams so they can build a predictably profitable business with AWS, and that's exactly what these changes deliver.”

The AWS partner program updates will begin rolling out January 1, 2026.

AWS’s Partner Program Updates Highlight the Importance of MSPs: Analysts

Jessica C. Davis, a principal analyst at Omdia covering MSPs, told ChannelE2E that she is happy to see MSPs being specifically mentioned in the AWS partner program updates.

“AWS is introducing new MSP-specific incentives that reward customer management, advanced strategic services, and public-sector expertise,” she said. “These program changes underscore how important MSPs are to AWS’s growth strategy.”

In particular, the updates “streamline how MSPs engage with AWS and materially expand the financial upside for partners delivering full-lifecycle cloud and AI services,” said Davis. “New Omdia research shows a partner opportunity of $7.13 in services for every $1 of AWS sold, and the new incentives make that opportunity even clearer.”

Another analyst, Shelly Kramer, founder and principal analyst of Kramer&Co., said that she is seeing more technology vendors resetting their partner ecosystems over the last few years because they are clearly recognizing the immense value of these relationships to their businesses.

“The channel is where it happens, and incentivizing channel partners in myriad ways is good for vendors, for the partners, and, most especially, for customers,” said Kramer. “Seeing what AWS is doing on this front is not in any way surprising,” especially after the recent AWS re:Invent 2025 conference, where the company showed a deep commitment to partners throughout the event.

Kramer said she was also intrigued by Omdia’s research, which revealed that AWS partners can earn up to $7.13 in services revenue for every $1 of AWS technology sold.

“That is a value proposition that is impossible to ignore,” said Kramer. “Today’s customers need technology solutions but, more importantly, they need services alongside those solutions. AWS’s shift to services-focused partnerships is highly strategic and clearly designed to address that need. All in all, these were exciting changes announced by AWS, and it is clear the company’s commitment to its channel partners and the value they can deliver together is incredibly strong.”