At Pax8, we’ve been working on improving our AWS services, based on our partner feedback. We’ve heard you needed a better way to bill, secure, operate and govern AWS accounts through a channel motion. That’s why we partnered with AWS to launch AWS Billing Transfer, an automated solution to improve the ways in which Pax8 partners transact, manage and secure AWS services for their clients.
What Is AWS Billing Transfer?
At its core, AWS Billing Transfer separates security and billing responsibilities into their respective entities and offers a true multi-hierarchy approach using AWS Organizations service. It’s another way we try to stay on the cutting edge of the managed service provider (MSP) and managed intelligence provider (MIP) business and simplify operations for our partners.
Security:
- Account Ownership – Partners, end customers and Pax8 each own their respective AWS account(s)/organization(s), along with all accounts, data and IP that reside within it. This maintains full separation between entities and what they own.
- Account Security and Compliance — No external parties are allowed access into the organization(s)/account(s) without the consent of the AWS administrator.
Billing:
- Billing Visibility – Cost Explorer allows for all AWS program accounts under your billing transfer to be visible from one account.
- Financial Incentives – There are also incentive structures exclusive to end customers running their environments through billing transfers (terms and conditions apply).
Operations:
- Onboarding – Moving partners and end customers into billing transfer takes just a few minutes and a couple of clicks — no more complex AWS Account migration steps.
- End Customer Contracts – If partners desire, they can enable enforcement of an end customer AWS Organizations deal to a dated term limit. Those customers then could not unilaterally remove their AWS Organization without the partner’s approval.
Fun fact: AWS selected Pax8 as an AWS Billing Transfer Beta partner because of our small- and medium-sized business (SMB) credentials and deep technical AWS expertise.
What Are the Pre-Requisites for Billing Transfer?
To utilize AWS Billing Transfer, an AWS Organization is required per Partner and End Customer. AWS Organizations are a centralized AWS management system that lets you create accounts and allocate resources, group accounts to organize workflows, apply policies for governance and simplify billing with a single payment method.
Becoming an AWS Organization is a very simple, two-click process. After creating an AWS account, go to the AWS Organizations service and enable it.
AWS best practices and financial policies now require separate AWS Organizations per end customer to support security, compliance, and modern billing constructs such as Savings Plans and Reserved Instances.
What Our Partners Say
We’re already underway with AWS Billing Transfer and our partner Cloud Capital, a cloud financial management platform that helps organizations forecast, control and optimize cloud spend while reducing the risk and complexity associated with long-term cloud commitments. As an AWS Distribution Program partner, Pax8 recognized the significant operational and commercial benefits AWS Billing Transfer could unlock for Cloud Capital and their clients, so we partnered together on the pilot.
“Working with Pax8 has been fantastic in bringing AWS Billing Transfer into our business,” said Ed Barrow, CEO at Cloud Capital. “Historically, operating as an AWS reseller often introduced additional onboarding complexity around security reviews, AWS Organization migration activities and operational setup — particularly for customers with mature AWS environments.”
“Since joining the pilot with Pax8, AWS Billing Transfer has removed these barriers entirely, dramatically simplifying onboarding while preserving customer flexibility and control. The result has been a materially smoother customer experience and significant quarter-over-quarter growth for Cloud Capital.”
How to Get Started with AWS Billing Transfer
This is another significant step in our AWS journey with our partners, helping to reduce risk, create efficiency and grow their AWS practice. To learn more about this AWS opportunity, please schedule a call with your AWS Solution Consultant today.
