The public sector has long been very important to Amazon Web Services Inc., as have partners who play a critical role in helping to drive innovation and results for the cloud provider’s customers.

As a result, Government Competency is now the largest industry-focused AWS Competency Program globally, with over a hundred partners, according to Sandy Carter (pictured), vice president of worldwide public sector partners and programs at AWS.

“That’s a huge deal,” she said. “Government is growing so fast. We saw that during the pandemic everybody was moving to the cloud, and it’s just affirmation with the government competency now taking that number one position across AWS, so not across Public Sector, across AWS.”

The AWS Competency Program helps public sector customers find and engage with the world’s top partners to achieve their specific missions. These are partners that have demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success in specialized solution areas and industries.

Carter spoke with John Furrier, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the AWS Summit Washington, DC event. They discussed how partners can improve their relationship with AWS to achieve business growth in the public sector, the areas that are currently most prominent, and trends toward public-private partnerships. (* Disclosure below.)

Healthcare stands out

In the wake of COVID-19, the healthcare area stands out within the AWS Public Sector. The pandemic has fueled the need for rapid transformation in this industry, making certification more critical for AWS partners, according to Carter.

The Authority to Operate on AWS program provides guidance and resources to partners to help them obtain the necessary certifications to serve the public sector. “We now have an ATO, Authority to Operate, for HIPAA and HITRUST, and that’s now our fastest-growing area, with 85% growth [in 2021],” she stated.

As demand from the public sector for solutions to modernize aging infrastructure and increase productivity is growing, so is the appetite of new and existing AWS partners for these businesses. To integrate new partners into the public sector, AWS has the Concierge program.

“It’s, basically, I’m going to hold your hand,” Carter explained. “Just like at a hotel, I would go up and say, ‘Hey, can you direct me to the right restaurant or to the right museum?’ We do the same thing. We hand-hold people through that process.”

Another option for new partners is to participate in APN Navigate. Launched in June, it already has more than 125 registered partners. Its idea is to provide a comprehensive view of everything vendors need to know to get started in the public sector.

“We have so many partners now who want to come and grow with us that it’s really essential that we provide them a great partner experience to how to onboard,” Carter concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AWS Summit Washington, DC event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for AWS Summit Washington, DC. Neither Amazon Web Services Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE