I’m proud to share that Perform Partners has officially graduated from the AWS Accelerated Development Program (ADP), a milestone that represents not just our progress with AWS but the opportunities this unlocks for our clients, partners, and wider network.
Why We Joined the AWS Accelerated Development Program
AWS and our partner Ingram Micro invited us to join ADP. This referral-only program is designed to accelerate partners who have already demonstrated momentum with AWS. Our successful work with organisations such as the University of Sheffield has shown both our capability and our commitment to building meaningful services on AWS, making us a strong candidate for the program.
We saw ADP as an opportunity to build on our existing work with AWS, pushing it further to validate our technical strengths, expand our service portfolio, and align more closely with the opportunities AWS offers its most trusted partners.
How did Perform Partners Graduate AWS’s Accelerated Development Program?
Graduating ADP wasn’t automatic. It required time, focus, and the willingness to raise our own bar. Over a nine-month period, we worked to meet clear milestones that combined technical depth with business maturity.
One of the most visible outcomes was achieving AWS Service Delivery validation for Direct Connect. This wasn’t just about completing a checklist; it meant demonstrating, in practice, that we can deliver secure, high-performance connectivity into AWS environments. It tested our engineering capability and proved that our standards hold up to AWS’s scrutiny.
The program also asked us to stretch beyond the technical. We refined our business plan, strengthened our marketing approach, and maintained consistent engagement with AWS and Ingram Micro. Working through regular cadence sessions and ongoing reviews with our partners gave us the structure to stay aligned, adapt quickly, and keep building towards graduation. That discipline became just as valuable as the validations themselves.
Perhaps most importantly, we invested time in understanding the broader AWS ecosystem. This included building practical knowledge of the Migration Acceleration Program (MAP), Optimisation and Licensing Assessment (OLA), One Government Value Agreement (OGVA), and the Imagine Grant. That effort has elevated us into a position more commonly associated with the leading global consultancies. These larger competitors often stand out because of the scale of their AWS offerings. However, scale can sometimes come at the cost of personal, client-first engagement. Through our partnerships with AWS and Ingram Micro, we can now bring the same access to funding programs, risk-reduction frameworks, and acceleration tools, while delivering them in a way that is more agile, collaborative, and focused on long-term value. It means our clients get the best of both worlds: the breadth of capability usually linked to the biggest consultancies, combined with the authenticity and personal commitment of Perform Partners.
Why ADP Matters for Our Clients and Network
For our clients, graduating from ADP means greater assurance and more options. When you’re planning a cloud migration or modernisation, you need confidence not only in the technical delivery but in the commercial and strategic choices around it. ADP has helped us strengthen all three.
Because we’ve proven our capability, we now sit in the pool of AWS trusted consultancies they turn to when opportunities arise. For clients, that translates into more direct access to AWS expertise, faster escalation routes, and priority visibility when funding or incentive programs are available. The work we put into MAP, OLA, OGVA, and the Imagine Grant during ADP is already paying off. It means we can now guide organisations on structuring migrations to reduce upfront costs, help public sector and education teams get the most from government frameworks, and support non-profits in securing funding that fuels innovation and change.
More broadly, we are continuing to invest in capabilities that match where the industry is heading. Many organisations are rethinking their infrastructure strategies in response to vendor changes and cost pressures. We are actively preparing to support organisations through these shifts with the right skills, quality standards, and partnerships.
Above all, this milestone reflects a mindset that’s been consistent at Perform Partners: we don’t chase badges for the sake of it. Every accreditation, validation, or program we complete is about building something that has real, lasting value for our clients. If we can’t do it to a high standard, we review whether we should be doing it at all.
Turning ADP Into Client Success Stories
Graduating from the AWS Accelerated Development Program was never just about Perform Partners ticking boxes. It was about ensuring that the expertise, structure, and partnerships we developed along the way translated directly into value for our clients. Over the past year, we’ve seen that happen in some really meaningful ways.
Take Evoke and the Royal Academy of Dance, both organisations wanted to better understand their existing infrastructure and where improvements could be made. By applying the Optimisation and Licensing Assessment (OLA), we gave them a clear picture of what they had today and where there were opportunities to reduce cost and complexity. That insight has become the foundation for how they plan and prioritise their next steps in the cloud.
With Avon, the challenge was different. They needed to understand not only what their current environment looked like, but also what a future in AWS could deliver. Through the Migration Acceleration Program (MAP Assess), we worked with their team to chart a realistic, phased migration journey. It wasn’t just about technical readiness, it was about building confidence that moving to AWS would give them the flexibility and resilience they were aiming for.
And then there’s the work we’ve done through the One Government Value Agreement (OGVA), which has been especially powerful for education and public sector organisations. For Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT), access to OGVA meant they could accelerate the development of their digital Teacher’s Assistant, “Fixter”. Instead of being slowed by funding or infrastructure hurdles, they were able to move quickly, innovate in the classroom, and bring their vision to life sooner. Similarly, for the Royal Academy of Dance, OGVA created the opportunity to set up an AWS Landing Zone and begin testing workload migrations from on-premises into AWS. For them, it opened the door to a future where their critical systems can run more securely and at greater scale, with the agility to support their global community.
What’s Next on Perform Partners Capability Roadmap?
Graduating from ADP is not the destination on our roadmap; it’s another stop, a step forward, towards a more rounded support capability with a human approach. We’re progressing towards AWS Advanced Tier and actively working on further Service Delivery Specialisations and Competencies, the 1st of which may be the Education Competency, each of which will strengthen our technical capability and extend the options available to our clients, with one consultancy.
At the same time, we’re executing on the business plan we developed during ADP; expanding our delivery playbooks, investing in our people, and continuing to build strong relationships across our partner network. AWS is an important part of that investment, but it sits alongside the work we do with other major technology providers, ensuring we can always bring clients the right combination of expertise, choice, and independence to suit their needs.
Final Thoughts: A personal one…
Looking back, the AWS Accelerated Development Program has felt highly rewarding for me; a challenging journey at times. Over nine months, it gave us structure, pace, and accountability. For me personally, it was also about leading our team through something that demanded consistency, discipline, and genuine collaboration.
I’ve learned a great deal along the way; about AWS programs like MAP, OLA, OGVA and the Imagine Grant, as well as here at Perform Partners, and how we can grow while staying true to our values. It has been a privilege to work so closely with colleagues, partners, and clients to bring this milestone to life, and it’s something I take great pride in both professionally and personally.
Most of all, this journey has reinforced what matters most to me: if we cannot deliver something to the highest standard, we review whether we should be doing it at all. That principle has guided every step of this program, and it will continue to shape everything we build, with AWS and across our wider partner network in the months and years ahead.