Amazon Web Services Inc. wants to provide more of a helping hand to its customers with the launch today of a new program called AWS IQ.

AWS IQ is a service that connects Amazon customers directly with AWS certified engineers. The idea is to provide assistance to customers working on a range of computing projects.

Examples include choosing the right architecture for each workload, optimizing workloads, building applications and even just general help setting up various AWS services. AWS Chief Evangelist Jeff Barr said in a blog post introducing AWS IQ that the service should prove helpful to businesses of all sizes.

“While organizations of any size can use and benefit from AWS IQ, I believe that small and medium-sized businesses will find it particularly useful,” Barr wrote. “Regardless of the size of your organization, AWS IQ will let you quickly & securely find, engage, and pay AWS Certified experts for hands-on help.”

Customers who wish to use AWS IQ will find the service is already integrated with their main AWS accounts. To request help, all they have to do is describe their needs in a few sentences, and certified AWS engineers will be able to respond. Customers can then choose to hire a suitably qualified expert.

The service also enables customers to grant, monitor and control access to their AWS accounts, and manage payments. For qualified engineers, who must possess an active AWS associate, professional or specialty certification, AWS IQ can be used to create contracts, track projects, invoice customers and receive payments.

Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller said AWS IQ was an example of Amazon responding with software to the challenges and increased complexity that come from rapid growth in its services ecosystem. Scaling with software is an ideal approach, he said, because when it works, there are no growth limits.

“With AWS IQ, Amazon is helping its customers find the right resources for their service needs,” Mueller said. “Of course this is a delicate process as it determines who gets what work and business, and so it will be key to see how partners and customers embrace the new tool.”

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