Cloud is moving fast, and AWS is the one setting the pace. Through constant innovation and its ever-growing range of services, AWS continues to change what’s possible for customers. But how well are IT channel partners keeping up?
Our 2025 Channel Research Report found that 43% of partners don’t have the cloud skills their customers are asking for. Now, we talk about the “cloud skills gap” all the time, but what does it really mean? It’s easy to say partners are behind, but the specifics matter. Which skills are missing, and why?
To get some answers, we spoke with Aaron Rees, SVP AWS Business at Westcon-Comstor and CEO at Rebura, about exactly what’s lacking, what’s changing, and what partners can do to stay out in front.
Thanks for joining us, Aaron! First things first: everyone knows there’s a cloud skills shortage – but which cloud skills?
With the pace AWS is moving, it’s not surprising companies are finding it hard to keep up. AWS is pushing out innovation so fast that just migrating to the platform isn’t enough anymore. If you’re not modernising your systems, rethinking your data management, and embedding AI across your stack, you’re already behind the market.
We’re also seeing a distinct lack of architectural design skills, with data expertise and DevOps being high in demand too. But here’s the thing – once you’ve built and deployed all this, you still need the skills to support it! Many partners simply don’t have the right balance in their teams yet.
What’s one skill partners are training for that won’t matter in the next three years?
Honestly, it’s hard to think of anything AWS-related that’s going to become irrelevant; their ecosystem evolves constantly, keeping most skills on the table. But with Infrastructure-as-Code growing, manual configuration is becoming less important. It’s shifting – those repetitive processes are being automated away.
One thing to keep on the radar is the future of VMware. It’s not going anywhere, but we don’t know how its role will change or how partners and their customers will interact with it. It’s a bit of a moving target right now.
If you could give partners one brutally honest piece of advice about hiring or upskilling, what would it be?
The world’s changed, and the best technical people don’t want to work in legacy environments or on-prem setups anymore. If you want to attract the best talent, you have to be investing in your technology stack ahead of the curve.
It’s a competitive market out there. Salaries and benefits are higher than they’ve ever been, especially for people with AWS, cloud, or data expertise. The partners we see doing well are those who aren’t shying away from it; they’re building new business models to support their investments, particularly in areas like Professional and Managed Services. For partners taking a more measured approach to transformation, options like P2P collaboration, outsourcing, and reskilling existing staff can still drive progress.
What’s the most creative or unconventional way you’ve seen a partner tackle the skills shortage?
I think you have to look at GenAI here. We’ve seen partners adopting GenAI tools – not just to solve short-term problems but to transform the way they operate. From boosting customer service with AI bots to mining data for insights, it’s unlocking a lot of productivity.
A recent example from AWS is Kiro, which has just been generally released. It’s helping companies move from prototyping to production-ready systems in record time. Partners using tools like this are gaining an edge by making AI the backbone of their operations. We’ve also seen it applied in clever ways like resource allocation, sales outreach, or even predicting funding needs. The key is figuring out where AI makes the biggest difference.
As hybrid cloud adoption grows, how do you see the skills landscape changing, and how can partners stay ahead?
Hybrid cloud adoption might be growing, but AWS is still outpacing it. For some customers, multi-cloud fluency will remain important, but the bulk of demand is still shifting towards AWS. I talk to partners daily about building an AWS practice, and I always have the same piece of advice: you’re not stopping your customers moving to AWS. The question is whether you’ll be the partner who helps them get there and supports them once they’ve made the move!
The cloud skills shortage isn’t going away anytime soon, but partners have a real opportunity to rise to the challenge. Whether it’s through smart investments in tech, creative use of AI, or building stronger AWS expertise, those who adapt will win.
At Westcon-Comstor, we offer enablement and technical upskilling programs on AWS, so you can keep your teams sharp and confident. You can also work with our AWS Premier Partner, Rebura, as your own virtual AWS consulting team, giving you extra AWS support whenever you need it. Contact us to find out more.
