Hire AWS developers: the ultimate guide

AWS offers a comprehensive Cloud migration and adoption services suite, providing enterprises with extensive options. To navigate this complex landscape effectively, many businesses partner with trusted tech vendors and hire AWS developers. These experts specialize in implementing cost-effective AWS cloud solutions, ensuring smooth integration and optimal service utilization.

But how to find AWS engineers? What characteristics describe qualified AWS cloud engineers? As a company with solid cloud expertise and dozens of successfully delivered AWS projects, we want to share some tips for finding the top experts and the real-life AWS success story in this article.

Why do you need to hire AWS developers?

Hiring AWS engineers offers a number of benefits, from enhancing infrastructure reliability to avoiding redundant cloud spending and improving performance. Now, let’s explore some additional aspects where AWS-certified engineers can provide valuable assistance:

1. Build resilient and adaptable architecture

Adhering to architectural best practices is crucial for scalability, flexibility, and reduced complexity in your cloud applications. To establish a robust foundation for your system, it is recommended to find and hire AWS engineers who are proficient in the AWS Well-Architected framework, which encompasses six pillars: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and sustainability. Measuring your system against this framework allows you to develop a unified approach to risk management that results in increased business value for your solution.

N-iX, for example, is a member of the AWS Well-Architected Program, which reflects our in-depth knowledge of AWS and allows us to provide comprehensive assessments and enhancements of cloud workloads.

2. Improve cost-effectiveness

Cost management is a major concern for businesses migrating to the cloud. By adhering to AWS best practices, AWS developers can help you identify and eliminate resource inefficiencies. These engineers possess the expertise to identify areas of resource over-provisioning and recommend cost-optimization strategies. Leveraging AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Compute Optimizer, they:

• analyze resource usage patterns;
• identify opportunities to right-size instances;
• utilize reserved instances;
• optimize storage configurations. 

Moreover, AWS engineers implement automated cost-saving measures like AWS Auto Scaling to balance resources based on actual demand, further reducing cloud expenses.

One of the practices we use at N-iX is right-sizing, which involves evaluating and adjusting computing services for the most efficient size possible. For example, AWS Compute Optimizer can optimize EC2, Amazon ECS on AWS Fargate, Amazon EBS, and Lambda and offer suggestions for Graviton migration. Clients like Gogo, Lebara, and TuneIn have already reduced their spending by adopting AWS cost optimization strategies implemented by N-iX.

3. Ensure stable system performance

Another reason to hire AWS developers is the enhanced app stability – they can help businesses set up or optimize application performance management workflows. By collaborating with such cloud computing experts, you can implement autoscaling patterns to improve system stability during peak loads and reduce cloud consumption.

Moreover, your team of AWS developers will assist you in monitoring the system’s health. With effective error detection, your cloud professionals can promptly identify and troubleshoot the root cause of app performance issues.

Our experienced AWS cloud engineers are here to help you leverage these benefits and elevate your business. But how to hire them? Let’s take a look together.

How to hire AWS developers: your step-by-step instruction

No matter what tech expertise you require, the hiring process follows a consistent pattern when collaborating with a tech vendor. What you should do is:

1. Get clear on your staffing request 

During the initial stage, you must define the number of AWS professionals handling your tech request. Qualification and experience in software development are other crucial factors to consider when hiring tech specialists.

2. Identify your technical requirements

Your next step is determining the technical skills you will need when hiring software engineers. To assist your IT vendor in selecting the most suitable candidates, compile a list of required hard skills, including professional certifications and domain expertise, to narrow down the pool of potential developers for your project. For instance, at N-iX, we can help you define the size and composition of the team during Product Discovery.

3. Ensure stable system performance

Another reason to hire AWS developers is the enhanced app stability – they can help businesses set up or optimize application performance management workflows. By collaborating with such cloud computing experts, you can implement autoscaling patterns to improve system stability during peak loads and reduce cloud consumption.

Moreover, your team of AWS developers will assist you in monitoring the system’s health. With effective error detection, your cloud professionals can promptly identify and troubleshoot the root cause of app performance issues.

Our experienced AWS cloud engineers are here to help you leverage these benefits and elevate your business. But how to hire them? Let’s take a look together.

How to hire AWS developers: your step-by-step instruction

No matter what tech expertise you require, the hiring process follows a consistent pattern when collaborating with a tech vendor. What you should do is:

1. Get clear on your staffing request 

During the initial stage, you must define the number of AWS professionals handling your tech request. Qualification and experience in software development are other crucial factors to consider when hiring tech specialists.

2. Identify your technical requirements

Your next step is determining the technical skills you will need when hiring software engineers. To assist your IT vendor in selecting the most suitable candidates, compile a list of required hard skills, including professional certifications and domain expertise, to narrow down the pool of potential developers for your project. For instance, at N-iX, we can help you define the size and composition of the team during Product Discovery.

3. Find the right software engineering company 

When choosing a reliable vendor, review its portfolio to determine if they have experience delivering solutions similar to the one you need. It's also important to check client reviews and testimonials on their website and trustworthy review platforms such as Clutch and GoodFirms.

When evaluating a company, pay attention to the company’s size. Enterprises with over 250 tech professionals typically have greater access to tech workforce and optimized development processes.

Verify that your tech vendor adheres to international industry standards such as ISO 27001:2013, ISO 9001:2015, PCI DSS, GDPR, and HIPAA. Partnering with a tech company that complies with these regulations will ensure safe access to sensitive information and effective data protection.

4. Decide upon the type of contract

Defining the legal aspects of cooperation is crucial when formalizing a partnership. The type of contract in IT outsourcing depends on various factors, such as the vendor's initial business goals, the level of client control, and project flexibility.

For small and medium-sized projects with a predetermined budget, a Fixed Price model is often the best option. Under this agreement, you provide the tech enterprise with a fixed budget, project scope, and delivery time. The software development vendor is responsible for meeting milestones within the allocated budget and time frame.

If you want to hire AWS developers who can handle a project without initially defined requirements, opt for the time and material (T&M) model. It provides a high level of flexibility and allows for adjusting the team's size as needed during the project. T&M contracts are suitable for small—to medium-sized projects.

If you aim to find professionals for a large project with evolving requirements, consider a Dedicated Development Team model. You can count on a technical team tailored to your business requirements. Like the T&M model, this approach offers flexibility and enables you to expand the team as necessary.

5. Select the optimal engagement model

An engagement model defines how you collaborate with the chosen AWS development partner. It is crucial for project success because different engagement models cater to varying levels of desired involvement, project complexity, and specific business needs. Choosing the right model fosters a seamless collaboration.

At N-iX, we offer diverse engagement options to empower your AWS development journey:

• Team Augmentation: Integrate skilled AWS developers into your existing team, leveraging our global talent pool. This model is perfect for quickly scaling your development capacity or addressing specific skill gaps in your team.
• Managed Team: Benefit from a team of dedicated AWS experts solely focused on your project, with a designated project manager for streamlined communication and expert guidance. This model is ideal for projects demanding a dedicated team and close collaboration.
• Custom AWS Solution Development: Partner with N-iX to co-create software applications that harness the full potential of AWS. Tackle business challenges with cutting-edge solutions built on the robust AWS platform. Gain a competitive edge through custom functionalities tailored to your needs while retaining complete intellectual property ownership. This model is perfect for businesses seeking innovative solutions to their challenges and aspirations.

In addition to these engagement models, N-iX offers comprehensive AWS consulting services:

• AWS Cloud Consulting: Our experienced AWS consultants can help you confidently navigate complex cloud decisions. They can provide strategic guidance and deep insights into AWS services and solutions, optimizing your cloud strategy, mitigating risks, and fostering innovation in your organization.

Moreover, N-iX prioritizes building a deep understanding of your unique needs through collaborative engagement. This ensures we can tailor our services and approach to unlock the full potential of your project.

Skills you should look for when hiring AWS cloud engineers

While the specific technical skillset needed for your AWS developers will vary depending on your project, there are some core competencies every candidate should possess:

Practical tech competencies

If you plan to collaborate with experienced cloud computing specialists, assessing their strong technical skills is necessary. We'll explore a checklist of essential expertise your AWS developers for hire should possess:

• Analytical skills that allow them to define tech requirements for an AWS-based solution and decide upon AWS services that match your business needs;
• Solid command of the AWS core services, namely, computing, networking, databases, storage, as well as cloud infrastructure deployment and management;
• A thorough comprehension of network technologies, including AWS Direct Connect, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud, DNS, and ELB services, is essential.
• Practical knowledge of the AWS security features, including encryption, key management, and threat detection;
• Hands-on experience with the Amazon Infrastructure as a Code tools, namely AWS CloudFormation;
• In-depth knowledge of the architectural best practices, such as AWS Well-Architected Framework.

AWS certifications and designations

If you want to find AWS developers with industry-recognized credentials, look for cloud specialists with the “AWS certified” status. Obtaining accreditations from AWS validates advanced technical skills and strong cloud experience. Some of the most sought-after certifications among AWS experts are AWS Certified Solutions Architect and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer.

Moreover, it is essential to research your potential partner’s AWS designations to check the desired competencies. N-iX, for instance, has an extensive partnership ecosystem, and our recognitions from AWS validate proven customer success in the field and ensure successful project outcomes.

Qualification level  

The average seniority level of your AWS engineers has a direct impact on your project’s outcome. Cloud experts with a strong background in AWS are more likely to systematically analyze the possibilities of cloud setup and provide top-notch services. A developer must have a portfolio showcasing practical experience in designing and implementing cloud architecture on AWS to obtain certain reputable professional certifications, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect.

On-premises to cloud migration with AWS developers: a success story

Our client, a Fortune 500 industrial supply company, offered over 1.6M in-stock products and technical support to more than 3M customers. The company needed to hire AWS developers to transform its existing on-premise data solution and move it to the cloud. The goal was to ensure better scalability, improve reliability, and reduce costs.

N-iX helped the client by creating a cloud-agnostic plan for cloud migration and building a unified data platform on AWS. As a result, N-iX delivered significant value by optimizing big data management and reducing costs. Besides that, we managed to:

• save infrastructure costs with cloud migration;
• improve data management efficiency thanks to the unified data platform;
• implement the platform's predictive analytics capabilities to predict inventory-related expenses, for instance;
• benefit from different cloud providers and avoid vendor lock-in by using cloud-neutral technology;
• reduce software development overhead by replacing expensive on-site contractors.

Why hire AWS developers from N-iX?

1. N-iX has partnered with AWS since 2020 and achieved Advanced Consulting Partner status in 2021. The company has earned numerous AWS designations and competencies, so we can help you migrate virtually any workload, system, or solution to the cloud.
2. N-iX, with its team of 400 cloud experts, can help you optimize costs with a wide range of AWS cost-reduction services that ensure your cloud resources are always aligned with your business needs. 
3. As an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, N-iX has proficiency in the AWS platform and consistently exceeds industry standards for technical proficiency and customer satisfaction. This recognition, combined with our extensive list of AWS designations, further validates our ability to deliver high-quality solutions across various areas of AWS technology.
4. With 21 years of market presence, N-iX has helped dozens of companies, including midsize businesses, large enterprises, and Fortune 500 leaders, achieve their goals with cloud transformation. Throughout our history, we have successfully delivered over 200 cloud projects, including more than 30 migration projects in various sectors, such as manufacturing, telecommunications, fintech, automotive, and others.