What is an AWS TAM?

In the modern world of Cloud Computing, there are a number of different roles, which are suited to a number of different skill sets, and therefore obviously lend themselves to a range of different people.

The way Cloud Computing is exploding as an industry demands that there are new and different types of roles popping up every day, with different responsibilities, actions and different ways to get the job done. With every new role, a qualified candidate is needed to fulfill the exact demands the role entails. With the cloud skills gap increasing more than ever, companies who have adopted a cloud first strategy need more support than ever in increasing ways.

We have all heard of the most popular Cloud roles in our time, and are all familiar with the responsibilities of a Solutions Architect, Cloud Engineer etc, but there is little known (but equally important) role which is key to any company looking to manage a successful cloud deployment strategy.

AWS TAM

An AWS TAM (acronym for AWS Technical Account Manager) is a specific role within AWS in which quite simply, the customer is everything. Abiding closely to the vision of Amazon to be ‘earth’s most customer centric company’ an AWS TAM will be obsessing over their customers, and will become a close partner from within AWS. The value of this is immeasurable.

AWS Technical Account Manager are not lone wolves aiding AWS’ customers. They are connected tightly to a wider team of AWS Solutions Architects, SMEs (Subject-Matter Experts) as well as many other cloud professionals. As a Technical Account manager, AWS enables the TAM to be the centerpiece in enterprise support, something that AWS is famous for.

There are many benefits for enterprise customers when it comes to having an AWS TAM on hand. An AWS TAM can provide a much needed impartial voice to ensure that an organization is getting the most out of their cloud deployments, and TAMs are the designated point of contact, so will be involved with and work closely with enterprise support customers to:

• Provide impartial advocacy
• Providing ongoing support for existing workloads
• Bring new technologies to customers
• Optimize cost and efficiency for customer workloads

It goes without saying that this is not a boring job! As you can see a TAM is involved in many different areas of a customers business on a daily basis, allowing a customer to benefit from a well-rounded approach to understanding Cloud Deployments.The goal of any AWS TAM is to help customers to meet their strategic outcomes through their ability to provide a close level of ongoing support.

AWS TAM Job Description

So what does a day in the life look like for an AWS TAM?

As you can probably tell by the point above, no two days will look the same, therefore an AWS TAM Job description will always be vague to some degree.

TAMs will be involved in every stage of application development on the AWS cloud – from inception, through to providing support for preexisting workloads. This will involve meeting with customers on a consistent basis, so a lot of the day will involve positive and meaningful customer interaction.

This may involve helping customers onboard to AWS, integrating solutions with AWS, and being the intermediary between the customer and any additional resources inside AWS which the customer may need access to.

TAMs (like any role in AWS) involves continual training and development. It is the job of an AWS TAM to be as knowledgeable as possible about a wide range of the services and offerings AWS can provide, to ensure that you are delivering real value to your customers, so that they are in turn doing the same for their customers.

Depending on where the role may be located, and depending on the state of the ability to travel globally, a TAM may also be traveling to see customers regularly in person, or if not simply conducting their job remotely.

This opportunity for potential travel is an exciting option for some, as in person interaction with the customer can be a valuable part of ensuring close connection and support with the customer.

Who should go for a TAM role?

There are three key attributes which would establish someone as a good AWS TAM:

1. Ability to communicate passionately and knowledgeably
2. Desire to learn constantly
3. Obsession with technology and AWS

There are a number of other desirable characteristics for a TAM role of course, but these attributes are a must have for the position, and are a good barometer for measuring how likely you are to fit the role of an AWS TAM.

Whilst a TAM role is not a sales role, any previous experience in sales, or customer support are fantastic transferable skills for anyone looking to transition into a Cloud role with limited experience.

For more information about how to transfer into a TAM role with no experience, check out our recent blog post “How I got a job as an AWS Technical Account Manager with No Experience ”

AWS TAM Interview

As with other AWS interviews, they are a multi-stage process which will normally involve multiple telephone interviews, and one or two on-site interviews, so preparation is key to success. Check out our article on?Preparing For AWS Interview Questions.

It will involve a series of technical and leadership based questions, with the depth of technical questions related to how senior the TAM role is.

The key point to take away for how to prepare for an AWS TAM interview (other than being knowledgeable about AWS services and technology) is to know the?AWS leadership principles ?like the back of your hand! This cannot be stressed enough.

You will be asked a number of AWS TAM Interview questions which will refer to your experience in previous roles, and you are expected to align your answers with the leadership principles. It’s highly recommended to prepare real life scenario based questions for each principle, so you can easily recall them.

The reason Amazon Technical Account Manager interview questions are framed this way, is that they want to make sure you are not just a technical fit, but a cultural fit.

Culture is something that is taken very seriously at Amazon, and if you are to be onboarded with AWS it is important that you imbibe the principles yourself, and use them as guiding principles in your daily responsibilities.

AWS Technical Account Manager Salary

Though of course an AWS TAM is not able to publicly reveal their salary, according to?Glassdoor ?the average national Amazon Technical Account Manager salary is around $117,445 USD. The table below shoes how an AWS TAM salary compares to other popular AWS job roles:

What else can I do to score my dream?cloud job?

Check out other articles that will help you advance your cloud career goals:

• 10 Tips on How to Enter the Cloud Computing Industry
• Top-Paying Cloud Certifications and Jobs
• 5 Cloud Skills you (may) already have
• Preparing For AWS Interview Questions
• How to Create a CV Website on Amazon S3
• How I got a job as an AWS Technical Account Manager with No Experience

Get AWS Certified

Check out our?catalog ?of courses to get started with your?AWS certification journey .

This post originally appeared on?https://digitalcloud.training/what-is-an-aws-tam/