What does Tech 42's AWS Strategic Collaboration Agreement mean for my project?
Summary
An AWS Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) is a formal, multi-year co-investment relationship between AWS and a select group of partners. It is not a certification tier or a badge. AWS signs SCAs with partners it is actively investing in, providing deeper funding access, co-sell support, and strategic involvement in the partner's work. For customers, working with an SCA partner means access to a broader range of funding programs, faster engagement with AWS on funding approvals, and a partner that AWS has a direct stake in seeing succeed. Not every AWS partner holds an SCA.
When you are evaluating AWS partners for a significant project, the partner's relationship with AWS matters beyond their certification tier.
AWS organizes partners into Select, Advanced, and Premier tiers based on certifications, completed engagements, and customer satisfaction data. Those tiers are meaningful. But tier alone does not capture the full picture of what a partner can access on your behalf.
What is an AWS SCA?
A Strategic Collaboration Agreement is a multi-year business commitment between AWS and a partner. AWS enters into SCAs with a subset of partners it has identified as strategic: companies where AWS sees alignment on growth areas, customer segments, or technical specialization.
SCAs are underwritten by joint business planning, co-investment, and a defined set of commitments on both sides. The partner commits to specific goals around customer delivery and AWS revenue. AWS commits to resources, funding access, and support that go beyond what standard partner programs provide.
What an SCA means for customers
More funding programs available. SCA partners have access to a wider set of AWS funding mechanisms and often have established relationships with the AWS teams that approve funding requests. For customers, this can mean better velocity on funding requests and projects that are less likely to stall.
A partner AWS is invested in. AWS does not sign SCAs passively. The relationship comes with active involvement from AWS and translates to partner development resources, co-sell support, and joint go-to-market activity. When your project involves an SCA partner, you have indirect access to that AWS investment.
Faster assessment and approval. SCA partners have established processes with AWS for scoping and submitting funding requests. Tech 42 can run a funding assessment quickly because we know how the programs work and have the AWS relationships to move requests forward efficiently.
What this does not mean
An SCA does not guarantee any specific outcome on a funding request. AWS evaluates each project on its own merits. What the SCA does is create the conditions for that evaluation to happen faster and through channels that are well-established.
It also does not mean Tech 42 is the right partner for every project. We specialize in AI/ML workloads on AWS, like agents, RAG, intelligent document processing, voice agents, and AI infrastructure, DevOps work, etc. If your project is in that space, the combination of our technical depth and AWS relationship is directly relevant. And if you’re not sure, just reach out to us.
Evaluating partners for funded projects
If you are looking for an AWS partner who can access funding programs on your behalf, it is worth asking directly: Does this partner hold an SCA? What funding programs do they have active access to? Can they walk you through a funding assessment before you commit to an engagement?
Tech 42 can answer yes to all three. We run funding assessments covered by AWS that map your project to the programs it qualifies for. The assessment is fast, has a defined output, and does not require a commitment to an engagement first.
