A survey of 35 Amazon Web Services (AWS) partners reveals that services revenue per dollar of AWS-generated revenue varies widely, depending on the level of expertise and the breadth of services offered across the customer lifecycle.
Key findings
Conducted by Omdia and shared at AWS re:Invent 2025, the survey highlights key profitability patterns.
- For every dollar of AWS-generated revenue, an expert partner delivering a comprehensive set of services across the customer lifecycle can generate up to $7.13 in services revenue.
- In contrast, a partner focusing mainly on resale, integration, and managed services for smaller customers, without broader professional services, can expect about $1.26 in revenue per dollar of AWS revenue.
- Other partners fall in the range of $3.25 to $5.78 per dollar, depending on the mix of services provided.
- The survey finds that 61 percent of revenue opportunities for partners occur after the initial procurement of an AWS service, underscoring the importance of ongoing services such as optimization, migration, and managed support.
A notable shift toward more advanced services is evident: 82 percent of partners deliver artificial intelligence (AI) solutions within the context of AWS transformation services.
Nearly two-thirds of partners (64 percent) are actively using the AWS Marketplace, which has been augmented with AI search capabilities to expand the range of offerings available to customers.
From advisory to long-term managed services
While the survey itself isn’t highly prescriptive, it provides insight into profitability relative to the investment required to reach the higher end of the spectrum. Building a level of expertise required to generate $7.13 for every dollar that AWS collects takes time. The report notes that in the first year of partnership, many focus on advisory, migration, and implementation activities, while by the third year they increasingly offer long-term managed services, optimization, and AI solutions in production.
Profitability and strategic focus
Partners should carefully assess the cost of attaining and maintaining specialized expertise. AWS, like other IT vendors, tends to direct more leads to partners who have certified competencies. More certifications often lead to greater AWS engagement and more upsell opportunities.
Margins on reselling cloud services are typically thin. To stay profitable, partners should focus on high-margin, complementary services and a balanced offering mix. Relying solely on low-margin components (e.g., basic resale) makes it harder to reinvest in growth and weather competitive pressure.
Practical takeaways for partners
- Invest in a multi-faceted service portfolio that covers advisory, migration, implementation, and ongoing optimization.
- Pursue and maintain AWS competencies and certifications to increase lead flow and opportunities for engagement.
- Leverage AWS Marketplace and AI-enabled tools to broaden offerings and differentiate services.
- Prioritize higher-margin professional services to balance revenue and profitability.
The survey ties greater service breadth and depth to higher AWS revenue multipliers. The path to the top tier requires time and investment, but AI, transformation, and managed solutions can yield meaningful rewards.
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