One of the best uses of cloud for innovators, digital transformations and busy builders is experimenting with new business ideas. But before you get your credit card out, make sure you know about these two AWS credit programs:
It’s good business practice to chat and partner with a next generation cloud MSP like Cloudsoft to work out what’s best for you. We can give you as little or as much advice as you need to succeed in the cloud.
For example, if you’re not thinking the questions below now, you will be if you burn through your credit too quickly (been there, done that!):
- Have we architected and deployed our application correctly for the cloud to get the elasticity, reliability, agility for code release? What don’t we know about this?
- Are we keeping downward-pressure on costs to reduce credit burn? Whose job is this?
- How do we migrate our application from a non-cloud environment to AWS and get started on our own cloud journey? We haven’t done AWS before.
Contact Cloudsoft for a friendly and no-obligation chat about what’s best for you.
AWS Startup “Activate” Program
Activate has portfolio packages for startups in select accelerators, incubators, seed/VC funds and other startup enabling organisations, like Codebase. This means you must be connected with one of these organisations and talk to their Program Director.
Cloudsoft is located at Codebase in Edinburgh, and Codebase is the UK’s largest tech incubator and part of the AWS Activate program. You can contact the good folks at Codebase on 0131 560 2003 or email them at info@thisiscodebase.com. Let us know if we can help, we like the Codebase team!
In addition to the credits, both options get these additional benefits:
- up to $5,000 AWS Business Support plan credit, valid for up to 1 year
- AWS Business Essentials Online Training ($600 value)
- AWS Technical Essentials Online Training or In-Person Training ($600 value)
- 80 credits for self-paced labs ($80 value)
These benefits are applied to your bill every month until you burn down the credit, so you still need to think of cost-optimisation and efficiency (APN partners like Cloudsoft can help with this).
Read more about AWS Activate.
AWS Partner Network “Accelerate” Program
If you don’t qualify for the startup-focused Activate program, and whether you are a small, new, large or mature organisation wanting to use AWS, there is a program called Accelerate available via AWS Consulting Partners like Cloudsoft.
What you qualify for is dependent on the Accelerate case put forward by you and Cloudsoft to the AWS Partner Development Rep/Manager.
Building the Accelerate Business Case
The Accelerate case needs to explain:
- What is the business purpose? Usually, it’s what experiment/project you are executing and for what outcome.
- Details of the application including a simple AWS architecture diagram.
- What is the predicted AWS consumption over a year? Ideally this is calculated with the AWS Simple Calculator, but any kind of educated projection is good.
How many credits will I get?
Accelerate credits are a monetary amount and are usually set at approximately ten percent of the projected yearly consumption. This is usually enough to get something like a Proof of Concept off the ground. There is no penalty for closing the AWS account at the end of the PoC without further purchase, but other similar (repeat) programs will not be considered — no gaming the system! 🙂
How are the credits applied?
You will get a code that can be applied to your AWS console account, and at the end of each month AWS will redeem your expenditure against your credits: effectively, burning down your credit.
To build your case and make the most of your credits, contact Cloudsoft and one of our friendly staff will walk you through it with no obligation.
Collaborate with Cloudsoft to put your case forward as part of a project to help you exploit AWS and the power of the world’s leading cloud, whatever your use case.
