AWS consulting: which partner should you hire?
Ten AWS consulting partners compared on tier, case studies, reviews, prices and team, with one pick per kind of project.
The short answer: Mission Cloud comes out on top, at 4.1 out of 5, for most US mid-size companies: Premier tier, three named cost cases with figures and a 24/7 managed service after the project. Pick nClouds (3.8) for a server migration at a price tied to your server count, and Slalom (3.8) to modernize a mainframe or a contact center. For other needs:
- A custom architecture built by engineers: ClearScale
- A global, multi-country program: Accenture
- Generative AI on Amazon Bedrock: Caylent
- Handing day-to-day AWS operations to a support team: Rackspace Technology
- Buying through AWS Marketplace: Presidio
- Regulated industries: Deloitte; SAP and mainframe estates: IBM
We compared 21 firms on what they publish and what AWS publishes about them: tier, case studies, reviews and analyst ratings, prices, team. All ten ranked here sit at the Premier tier, so tier alone doesn't separate them; proof does. Still choosing the cloud itself? Start with our public cloud comparison.
The ranking can't be bought: a sponsored place is always labeled as such, and no link is an affiliate link. Hack'celeration is not ranked. The rank follows our score, the average of five criteria, each backed by what the firm or AWS publishes.
Who is an official AWS partner, and at what tier?
AWS ranks its services partners on three tiers: Select (trained and certified people, some customer experience), Advanced (a strong certified team and proven customer experience) and Premier, which AWS describes as its most experienced partners, "recognized as leaders" in their markets. On top of the tier, AWS grants competencies (a validated practice in migration, security, data, an industry) and the Managed Service Provider (MSP) designation for firms that run environments after launch.
Two tips before you compare. First, read the tier on AWS's Partner Solutions Finder, not on the firm's site: we counted a tier only when we read it on the directory profile. Second, the competencies matter more than the tier for your project. A Premier firm without the Migration and Modernization competency is a weaker bet for a migration than an Advanced firm that holds it.
| What AWS's directory shows | Where they work, what they do best | |
|---|---|---|
| Mission CloudPremier | Premier; 11 competencies; 4,700+ customer launches. | California. FinOps, 24/7 operations, migration, generative AI. |
| nCloudsPremier | Premier; 10 competencies; 1,000+ customer launches. | Texas. Fixed-price migration, data and AI, 24/7 management. |
| SlalomPremier | Premier; 21 competencies; 1,400+ certifications. | Seattle and US cities. Mainframe exit, Amazon Connect, data. |
| ClearScalePremier | Premier; 14 competencies; 1,000+ projects. | San Francisco. Custom architecture, serverless, data. |
| AccenturePremier | Premier; 30 competencies; AWS MSP; Gartner Leader. | Worldwide. Large multi-country programs. |
| CaylentPremier | Premier; 22 competencies; AWS Managed Services Provider. | Irvine, California. Generative AI, migration, managed services. |
| Rackspace TechnologyPremier | Premier; 20 competencies; 2,900+ customer launches. | San Antonio, Texas. Managed operations and support. |
| PresidioPremier | Premier; 8 competencies; AWS MSP designation on its site. | New York. AWS Marketplace buying, 24/7 managed services. |
| DeloittePremier | Premier; 30 competencies; AWS MSP; Gartner Leader six times in a row. | Worldwide. Regulated industries, industry accelerators. |
| IBMPremier | Premier; 25 competencies; AWS MSP on the directory. | Worldwide. SAP on AWS, mainframe modernization. |
Each score runs from 2 to 5. Expertise: 5 for the Premier tier read on AWS's directory, 4.5 for Advanced, 4 for Select or an AWS specialist. Track record: 2 with no named client, 3 for named clients, 3.5 for one named AWS case with a figure, 4 for two to four. Client reviews: counted on independent platforms (under 5 reviews for 3, 5 to 19 for 3.5, 20 to 49 for 4), minus 0.5 under a 4.0 average; one analyst Leader rating of the last two years is worth 4. Transparency: 3 for a rate read on a directory or a published method, 3.5 for an entry price on the firm's site, 4 for prices. Team: 3 for an unknown size or under 10 people, 3.5 from 10, 4 from 50, plus 0.5 for published support after launch and 0.5 for a team in the US.
Mission Cloud
Mission Cloud, now "a CDW company", is a born-in-the-cloud consulting and managed services firm headquartered in California. It sits at the Premier tier on AWS's Partner Solutions Finder, with 11 AWS competencies and more than 4,700 AWS customer launches logged on its directory profile.
Its home page calls the firm "100% AWS-focused". The work splits into projects (migration, modernization, data and generative AI) and a set of monthly services: FinOps (financial operations, the practice of managing cloud spend) with reserved-instance management, a 24/7 operations service, security and a subscription "pod" of data and AI specialists.
- COMPLY: $460K cut from its AWS costs
- Driven: AWS bill down by over $80,000 a month
- Ignite Sales: roughly 25% off monthly AWS spend
- 4,700+ AWS customer launches on its directory profile
- ✓Three cost cases you can check, each with a dollar or percentage figure
- ✓24/7 monitoring and alert response after the project
- ✓A Clutch rate range you can budget against
- ✗Only 5 Clutch reviews, a small sample
- ✗Its Clutch rate ($200 to $300 an hour) sits at the top of the partner range
- ✗Now part of CDW: ask who staffs your account and how renewals work
The pick if your AWS bill is the problem and you want a team to keep it down month after month. For a one-off architecture review, compare its quote with a smaller boutique.
nClouds
nClouds is an AWS consulting partner headquartered in Texas (its AWS directory profile), founded in 2012, which lists 50 to 249 people on Clutch. AWS lists it at the Premier tier with 10 competencies and more than 1,000 customer launches. It builds data, machine learning and AI systems for commercial and enterprise clients and runs AWS environments around the clock afterwards.
Its Rapid Migration Offer is the detail to note: a fixed price, set by your server count rather than by hours, which moves the risk of a slow migration onto the partner.
- Toshiba: demand forecasting accuracy up 45%, excess inventory down 30%
- Prodea's Arrayent group: product delivery more than 10x faster
- Fixed migration price based on server count
- ✓A migration price set on server count, not hours
- ✓24/7 AWS management after go-live
- ✓Rate and minimum visible on Clutch before the first call
- ✗Its Clutch profile shows no client reviews yet
- ✗Two published AWS cases with figures, fewer than Mission Cloud or Slalom
- ✗A $25,000 minimum rules out small one-off jobs
A strong match for a scoped server migration with a fixed price. Ask for two client references, since public reviews are thin.
Slalom
Slalom is a business and technology consulting firm founded in 2001 and headquartered in Seattle and lists 1,000 to 9,999 people on Clutch. It is a Premier partner with 21 AWS competencies and more than 1,400 AWS certifications on its directory profile. AWS is one of its partner practices, next to strategy, data and change work.
Its AWS cases lean on modernization: La-Z-Boy moved critical workloads off an aging IBM mainframe, Terex/Genie moved its contact center to Amazon Connect (AWS's cloud contact center), and Avis Budget Group built an optimization engine for its connected cars.
- La-Z-Boy: $1.1M in annual cost avoidance after leaving the mainframe
- Terex/Genie: average call wait time down 50% on Amazon Connect
- Avis Budget Group: development 10x faster than expected
- ✓Three named AWS cases with clear numbers
- ✓Mixes AWS engineers with business and change consultants
- ✓A Clutch hourly range of $100 to $149
- ✗Its single Clutch review is rated 2.0
- ✗AWS is one practice among many
- ✗No managed service after launch named on its AWS profile
Pick Slalom when the hard part is the business change around AWS. For a pure FinOps or operations contract, Mission Cloud fits better.
ClearScale
ClearScale was founded by AWS engineers and has been building on AWS since 2011, from San Francisco. Its directory profile says it has delivered more than 1,000 projects and holds 14 AWS competencies at the Premier tier. Its company page puts its model in one line: "We staff 15 engineers for every one sales position".
Its site shows logos from large companies (GE, Dell, Chewy, Aetna) and testimonials, but one named case with a hard result: Willamette Dental Group, which cut project monitoring costs by 50% with automation and serverless infrastructure.
- 1,000+ AWS projects, per its directory profile
- Willamette Dental Group: monitoring costs down 50%
- 15 engineers for every salesperson
- ✓Engineering-led, AWS-only since 2011
- ✓Long project list across data, serverless and migration
- ✓Big-company logos on its site
- ✗One named case with a figure on its site
- ✗A single Clutch review
- ✗Quote only, with no rate on Clutch
Good for a technical build where you want engineers in the room. Ask for two cases close to yours with numbers, since few are public.
Accenture
Accenture runs an Accenture AWS Business Group and sits at the Premier tier with 30 AWS competencies, more than 24,500 AWS certifications and 6,900+ customer launches on its directory profile. Gartner placed it as a Leader in its Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Optimization and Transformation Services, highest on Ability to Execute among the 17 providers assessed.
Its AWS directory profile shows a client case with a figure: Promosis saved 30% on AWS and gained 5x performance through a database migration to Aurora (AWS's managed relational database) and cost work.
- 24,500+ AWS certifications, 30 competencies
- Gartner Leader for public cloud optimization and transformation
- Promosis: 30% saved on AWS, performance up 5x
- ✓Scale for multi-country, multi-cloud programs
- ✓Analyst recognition year after year
- ✓Wide range of AWS competencies
- ✗One AWS case with a figure on its directory profile
- ✗Quote only
- ✗Its certification count is global: ask how many sit on your project
A fit for a board-level cloud program. For a 20-server migration, the overhead will cost you more than it saves.
Caylent
Caylent is an AWS-only consultancy founded in 2015 in Irvine, California and lists 250 to 999 people on Clutch. Its directory profile is one of the richest on this page: Premier tier, 22 AWS competencies, 900+ AWS certifications, 2,900+ customer launches, and the AWS Managed Services Provider (MSP) designation. It says it holds ten AWS Partner of the Year awards, including GenAI, Migration and Security in 2025.
Its headline case is Smarsh, which reworked its software delivery with Amazon Bedrock (AWS's managed service for AI models) and Claude Code, saving $5 to $10M a year.
- Smarsh: $5 to $10M saved a year with Amazon Bedrock and Claude Code
- LaunchNotes: 40% lower costs after its AWS migration
- 22 AWS competencies and the MSP designation
- ✓Deep generative AI practice on AWS
- ✓Managed services after launch (AWS MSP)
- ✓Ten AWS Partner of the Year awards by its own count
- ✗No public client reviews on Clutch
- ✗Quote only: ask early for a ballpark
- ✗A busy firm with many fast-growing clients: ask who stays on your account
The pick for an AI build on AWS with a team that can run it after. Ask for a reference in your industry, since Clutch has no reviews to read.
Rackspace Technology
Rackspace Technology was founded in 1998 in San Antonio, Texas, as a hosting company, and now runs a large AWS practice: Premier tier, 20 competencies and 2,900+ customer launches on its directory profile. Its AWS offer is built around the Fanatical Support for AWS team, which runs and supports customers' environments after migration.
Its directory profile names Redcat, which moved its Linux servers onto AWS and now processes millions of logins per hour with 100% uptime.
- Fanatical Support for AWS: a support team for your environment
- 2,900+ AWS customer launches
- Redcat: 100% uptime at millions of logins an hour
- ✓Long track record in running other companies' infrastructure
- ✓Support after launch is the core of the offer
- ✓Large AWS practice
- ✗One named AWS case with a figure on its directory profile
- ✗No Clutch reviews
- ✗Quote only
Choose it when you want someone else on call for AWS. For an AI build, Caylent or Mission Cloud show more relevant work.
Presidio
Presidio is an IT solutions provider headquartered in New York and a long-standing AWS Premier partner, with 8 competencies and 1,000+ customer launches on its directory profile. It says it was the first consulting partner to reach $1B in AWS Marketplace sales, which matters if your company buys software and services through Marketplace to draw down an AWS spend commitment.
Its AWS page names three results: Navient ($400M in overall cost savings and a 90% smaller technology footprint), Q2 (80% faster engineering productivity) and, on its directory profile, Warner Music Group, which makes music videos with AI agents on AWS for about $60 each.
- Navient: $400M in overall savings on AWS
- First consulting partner to reach $1B in AWS Marketplace sales
- 24/7 managed services for AWS
- ✓Three named cases with large numbers
- ✓Strong on AWS Marketplace buying
- ✓24/7 managed services
- ✗No public client reviews
- ✗Quote only
- ✗AWS is one line in a wide IT catalog
Worth a call if Marketplace buying or an existing Presidio contract makes procurement easier. Compare its quote with a specialist.
Deloitte
Deloitte is a Premier partner with 30 AWS competencies, 16,000+ AWS certifications and 3,600+ customer launches on its directory profile. Gartner has named it a Leader six times in a row in its Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Optimization and Transformation Services, formerly Public Cloud IT Transformation Services.
Its AWS listing is built around industry accelerators (contact centers for insurers and banks, clinical trials, marketing mix modeling) rather than client stories: the contact center accelerator, for example, speeds implementation "by up to 50%". Ask for named references in your industry.
- Gartner Leader for public cloud transformation, six times in a row
- 16,000+ AWS certifications
- Industry accelerators for insurance, banking and life sciences
- ✓Deep industry and regulatory knowledge
- ✓Analyst recognition six times in a row
- ✓Very large AWS bench
- ✗No named AWS client result on its directory profile
- ✗Quote only
- ✗Built for large programs, not small projects
A fit when compliance drives the project. Ask for a named client in your sector before you sign.
IBM
IBM Consulting is a Premier partner on AWS. Its AWS page claims 23,000 AWS certifications and 36 competencies (its directory profile shows 25 competencies and 23,700+ certifications), and its directory profile mentions 36,000 SAP consultants. IBM itself has more than 300,000 employees across 170+ countries.
It appears in Google's top 10 for this search. Its AWS page talks in averages ("4x faster migration", up to 30% less development effort with AI agents) rather than named client results, which is why it sits last here.
- 23,000+ AWS certifications
- 36,000 SAP consultants
- Software and consulting from one supplier
- ✓SAP and mainframe depth
- ✓Huge bench in many countries
- ✓Own software stack next to AWS
- ✗No named AWS client result on its AWS page
- ✗Analyst recognition cited on its page is from 2024
- ✗Quote only
Consider it for SAP on AWS or a mainframe exit. For anything smaller, the firms above show more proof.
Firms we compared but did not rank
Each of these appears in Google's top 10 for "aws consulting", sits in a list of AWS partners you may have read, or came up in our research. Here is the fact that kept it out of this page.
- AWS Professional ServicesAWS's own consulting arm, not an independent firm. One published estimate puts it at $300+ an hour, and it often brings a partner into larger projects anyway.Not ranked
- Oxford Global ResourcesIn Google's top 10, but its AWS offer is staffing: it places individual consultants rather than running projects as a firm.Not ranked
- Cygnet.One and RomexsoftBoth rank in Google's top 10 with guides. Their delivery teams are based in India and in Lviv, Ukraine; this page covers firms that deliver in the US.Not ranked
- TrackItA Premier partner from Marina del Rey, California, built around media and entertainment studios (Paramount's render farm, for one). A strong niche pick, too narrow for a general ranking.Not ranked
- EffectualA Premier partner focused on the public sector and regulated organizations. Its Gartner placement is an Honorable Mention, and Deloitte covers the regulated buyer here.Not ranked
- Ollion (formerly 2nd Watch)A Premier partner, renamed from 2nd Watch. Its AWS directory profile shows one case (Yamaha, $500K saved a year), and its own site gave us too little on AWS work to score it.Not ranked
Make your AWS project work with a partner, step by step
AWS projects rarely fail on the technology. They fail on a migration plan nobody costed, a bill that climbs after go-live, and an account structure the partner keeps control of. These seven steps follow a real engagement and close those gaps.
Write down one goal and one number
Week 1Pick the outcome before the firm: move 40 servers out of a data center, cut the AWS bill by a fifth, ship an AI feature on Amazon Bedrock. Add the number you'll judge it by. Partners price and staff very differently for a migration, a cost review or an AI build, and a vague brief gets you the most expensive version.
- Deliverable
- One goal, one metric
- Time
- A few days
Check the tier and the competency on AWS's directory
TrapOpen the Partner Solutions Finder, search the firm's name, and read three things: the tier, the competencies that match your project (Migration and Modernization, Security, Data, Generative AI, your industry) and the case studies on its profile. A firm's own site can be older or bolder than its profile. Then ask who will actually work on your account, their AWS certifications, and whether they're employees or subcontractors.
- Tiers
- Select, Advanced, Premier
- Ask for
- Named engineers
Ask what AWS will fund before you pay
Money left on the tableAWS runs the Migration Acceleration Program (MAP), which pairs Migration Competency partners with "financial investments" across three phases: Assess, Mobilize, and Migrate and Modernize. Startups can apply for AWS Activate credits, up to $200K for eligible companies. Ask every partner which programs your project qualifies for and who files the paperwork: a good partner brings this up before you do.
- Program
- MAP: Assess, Mobilize, Migrate
- Startups
- Activate credits up to $200K
Get a fixed price per phase
RiskTime and materials (paying for hours) puts the risk of a slow project on you. Ask for a fixed price per phase, with each integration or application wave as its own line. nClouds, for example, prices its Rapid Migration Offer on server count. If a firm will only quote hours, ask for a cap.
- Ask for
- Fixed price per phase
- Avoid
- Open-ended hours
Keep the root account and the billing in your name
Must-haveYour AWS accounts, the root user and the billing relationship should stay with your company. Some partners resell AWS, and then your AWS billing goes through them. That can bring support or discounts, but read the exit terms: how you get your account and its history back if you leave. Infrastructure as code (Terraform or CloudFormation, the files that describe your setup) should live in your own repository.
- Keep
- Root account, billing, code
- Read
- The reseller exit clause
Decide who runs AWS after go-live
After launchA migration is a project; running AWS is a job. Decide before you sign whether the partner will monitor and patch the platform (a managed service, often 24/7, as at Mission Cloud, Presidio or Rackspace) or hand over to your team with a runbook and training. If the partner stays, get the response times and what's included in writing.
- Options
- Managed service or handover
- Get in writing
- Response times
Put the AWS bill on the agenda every month
OngoingMost savings in the cases on this page came after launch: rightsizing, reserved instances and savings plans, storage tiers. Ask for a monthly cost review with named actions. If you're also automating tasks around AWS, our n8n and AWS Lambda integration guide shows what you can wire up without a partner.
- Rhythm
- Monthly review
- Levers
- Rightsizing, commitments, storage
Is your agency missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
AWS partner, freelancer or in-house?
A consulting partner isn't always the answer. It depends on the size of the move, how much of it is new design, and whether you'll have someone to own AWS afterwards. Here is how the options compare, with the rates that are actually published.
Use what AWS gives you first
Hire a freelancer for a defined job
Hire an AWS partner for a migration or a build
Buy a managed service for day-to-day operations
Build an in-house team for the long run
- The tier and competencies on AWS's Partner Solutions Finder, read by you
- Names and certifications of the engineers on your account, and who is a subcontractor
- A fixed price per phase, with each application wave as its own line
- Which AWS funding programs (MAP, Activate) apply, and who files them
- Root account, billing and infrastructure code in your company's name
- Who runs AWS after launch, with response times in writing
- A monthly cost review with named actions
- One client reference at your size and in your industry
Questions buyers ask about AWS consulting
What does an AWS consulting partner do?
An AWS consulting partner designs, migrates, builds and often runs your systems on Amazon Web Services: moving servers out of a data center, setting up secure accounts, building data or AI projects, and cutting the monthly bill. A partner adds a team, AWS-validated competencies and support after launch. Tip: ask whether the architect in the sales call is the one who'll design your setup.
How much does AWS consulting cost per hour?
Published US figures put AWS partners at about $100 to $250 an hour and AWS Professional Services at $300+. On Clutch, Mission Cloud and nClouds list $200 to $300 an hour and Slalom $100 to $149. Independent consultants quote by the day: about $800 to $3,500 depending on seniority, in one North American guide. A partner team runs $15,000 to $50,000 a month in the same guide. Ask for a fixed price per phase instead of hours.
How much does an AWS migration cost?
One published estimate puts a 3-month migration of 50 to 100 applications at $96,000 to $240,000 with an APN partner, against about $288,000 with two AWS Professional Services consultants. A small, scoped migration can cost far less: one Select-tier partner's AWS Marketplace listing prices a migration at $12,400 to $14,800 in fees, plus your AWS bill. Tip: ask what the Migration Acceleration Program can fund before you sign.
How long does an AWS migration take?
A typical migration of 50 to 100 applications is planned over about three months in published estimates. Small moves take weeks; large estates run in waves over a year or more. The longest part is usually the assessment and the dependencies between applications, so budget real time for it.
What is an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner?
Premier is the top of AWS's three services tiers (Select, Advanced, Premier). AWS describes Premier partners as its most experienced partners, with multiple program validations and many customers at scale. It measures scale and commitment, not the team you'll get, so check the competencies that match your project too.
How do I choose an AWS consulting partner?
Match the partner to the job. Cost cutting and operations: Mission Cloud (4.1 on our scale). A fixed-price migration: nClouds (3.8). Mainframe or contact center modernization: Slalom (3.8). A global program: Accenture (3.7). Generative AI: Caylent (3.6). Then read the firm's profile on AWS's Partner Solutions Finder, ask for named engineers, and call one client of your size.
Should I hire an AWS consultant or a full-time cloud engineer?
Use a partner or consultant for the migration and big projects, and hire a cloud engineer once AWS runs your product every day. Many companies do both: a partner for waves of migration and AI work, an in-house engineer for daily operations and cost control.
Can an AWS partner reduce my AWS bill?
Yes, often by a large share. The cases on this page include Ignite Sales (about 25% off its monthly AWS spend with Mission Cloud), Driven (over $80,000 a month saved) and LaunchNotes (40% lower costs with Caylent). Tip: if a partner resells AWS to you, ask how its own margin works, so savings reach your invoice.