Updated on August 11, 2023

An AWS enterprise discount program (EDP) can be a powerful money-saving tool. Enterprise-sized organizations take advantage of these discount programs to make cloud costs more predictable and to save money in the long run, but EDPs offer numerous other benefits.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how an AWS EDP can also help you save on staffing costs. But if you’re in a rush, check out our AWS talent solutions. Our hiring platform Nerdly is available on the AWS Marketplace, meaning money you spend on recruiting counts towards your monthly AWS spend. For the longer version, read on.

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How does an AWS EDP work?

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If you’re familiar with discount contracts from other large tech companies like IBM and Microsoft, the AWS enterprise discount program (EDP) shouldn’t be too confusing. There are several ways you might negotiate an AWS EDP, but a general scenario looks something like this:

1. You spent $1 million on cloud services last year, and this year is shaping up to cost about the same
2. You expect your cloud spend will continue to grow over time, and you don’t anticipate switching cloud providers anytime soon
3. You negotiate a contract with AWS, getting a 10% discount as long as you commit to spend at least $1 million annually for the next three years

Of course, the spend, discount rate, and duration will vary, but that’s the gist of it. AWS also offers additional discounts if you pay upfront—either in full or in part—though this isn’t required.

One important note: AWS bills you for the value of services you consume over the agreed upon committed spend, but it will be discounted according to your contract terms. Likewise, even if you don’t consume $1 million worth of services for the year, you will still pay $1 million.

Let’s say one year you consume $500,000 worth of services over your committed spend for a total annual spend of $1.5 million. Going back to the example scenario, you’d still pay the $1 million for your yearly committed spend, but AWS would apply the 10% discount to the cost of the extra cloud services you consumed for a grand total of $1.35 million for the year.

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AWS EDP benefits

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AWS bills for its cloud services like a utility company bills for power. Just as your utility company installs a meter on your property to track your power consumption and bill you accordingly, AWS only charges you for the individual services you consume. This is a refreshing change from other tech services that sometimes use long term contracts and complex licensing structures.

So if standard AWS pricing is so easy and convenient, why would you want to change it? Several points to consider:

• The pay-as-you-go model isn’t always predictable. There are times when your organization will use more or less cloud computing services than anticipated. This might not be a problem if you consume less, but consuming more leads to unbudgeted expenses. Again, think of how you pay for the electricity in your home. Your power consumption might be predictable for different seasons, but an unexpected cold front or heat wave can make a big difference in your monthly bill.
• Even seemingly small discounts make a difference. EDPs are for big spenders. If you exceed your committed spend, you could save millions of dollars compared to what you would spend without one.
• Cloud services aren’t the only way to use committed spend. Money you spend on the AWS Marketplace counts towards your committed spend, including listings from third-party vendors. If it looks like you’re going to fall short of consuming the value of your committed spend, you can get more for your money by allocating some spend to the AWS Marketplace.

Before pursuing an AWS discount program, do your homework. Does it make sense to pursue one of these agreements given your current levels of consumption? What about your projected consumption? EDPs offer many advantages, but that doesn’t mean they’re right for every organization.

Staffing solutions on AWS Marketplace

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The AWS Marketplace is home to over 10,000 listings. AWS sells some of those, but the vast majority of solutions come from third-party vendors across categories like business applications, security, machine learning, and internet of things (IoT).

You’ll also find staffing solutions.

Searching for the right candidates to fill your open positions is a time-consuming and costly business. Not only do you pay for internal HR resources—you also pay an opportunity cost for every day an open position goes unfilled. Hiring gets even more expensive once you start looking at bringing on third-party recruiters or a staffing agency.

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Thankfully, staffing solutions on the AWS Marketplace count towards committed spend. If you’re looking to get more out of your EDP in the event of a consumption shortfall, you can devote some of your consumption to hiring cloud engineers. As long as you stay under your committed spend, you won’t owe anything else, and anything over your committed spend is discounted according to your EDP terms.

Consider, too, that if you aren’t eligible for a discount program, you might qualify for an AWS EDP based on projected spend. If you sense increased hiring efforts on the horizon, taking the time to estimate those costs could push you over the minimum spend threshold and into EDP territory. If you’re hiring cloud professionals, taking this approach could eliminate some cloud spend uncertainty while also giving you a staffing solution discount.

What role do AWS EDPs play in AWS Marketplace?

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If your organization is enrolled in an EDP, going through AWS Marketplace offers the additional benefit of counting toward your committed spend. This can potentially save you millions of dollars, depending on your budget.

Let’s revisit our previous example. As a reminder, we’ll say your organization has an EDP with the following terms:

• $1 million annual committed spend
• 10% discount
• 3-year duration

If you’re on track to consume below $1 million in value of cloud services, you could put the remaining value of your committed spend towards hiring developers through AWS Marketplace. Since you’ll pay $1 million for the year anyway, you won’t pay anything extra by getting a talent solution on Marketplace (provided you don’t consume more than $1 million in value for the year).

Even if you do exceed $1 million in value consumed, you’re still better off going through AWS Marketplace to hire cloud talent because you’ll get a 10% discount on everything over your committed spend. That might not sound like a lot at first, but if a talent solution costs $20,000 for 12 months, you could save up to $2,000—assuming you didn’t already get some of it for “free” due to a consumption shortfall.

Is staffing through AWS Marketplace right for you?

It depends. Do your homework and make sure the AWS Marketplace has the staffing solutions you need. If you’re looking to hire sales professionals, you might do best sticking to more traditional recruitment methods. But if you need AWS engineers, the AWS Marketplace has at least a couple options to choose from.

We sell talent solutions through Marketplace ourselves, where you’ll find:

• Cloud solutions architects
• AWS developers
• DevOps engineers
• SysOps engineers
• Cloud security professionals
• Cloud migration consultants
• AWS cost optimization consultants

And more! Click the button below to learn more about our AWS staffing solutions.

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