Implementation Methods

Partner Revenue Measurement supports the following implementation methods. Choose the method that best fits your product type and architecture.

Methods Overview

Method	Description	Best For
AWS Marketplace Metering	Zero-touch revenue attribution through AWS Marketplace product metadata	Amazon Machine Image (AMI) and Machine Learning (ML) products listed on AWS Marketplace
Resource Tagging	Tag AWS resources with your product code using the aws-apn-id tag key	SaaS, Professional Services, and any product type where you can tag AWS resources
User Agent String	Include a User Agent string in regular AWS API/CLI calls with your product code	Products with direct regular AWS API/CLI access; AMI/ML products seeking attribution beyond EC2/SageMaker

Note

You can implement multiple methods simultaneously. For example, an AMI product can benefit from AWS Marketplace Metering for EC2 attribution and User Agent String for attribution on additional AWS services used by the product.

Choosing the Right Method

The following table provides guidance on choosing the right method based on your scenario:

Scenario	Use Resource Tagging when...	Use User Agent String when...	Marketplace Metering
Marketplace AMI/ML	—	—	Automatic
Partner Account (SaaS)	Static infrastructure, deploy once and runs long-term	Partner solution makes frequent regular AWS API/CLI calls	—
Customer Account (deploy/manage)	Deploy via IaC (CloudFormation, Terraform), customer allows tags	Partner solution makes ongoing regular AWS API/CLI calls, or customer has strict tag policies	—
Customer Account (read/access only)	Customer willing to tag their resources	Your solution makes read API calls	—
Hybrid (Partner + Customer)	Taggable resources in either account	Partner solution makes regular AWS API/CLI calls in either account	—

Decision Tree

The following decision tree helps you determine the right implementation method:

Special Scenarios

Scenario	Use Resource Tagging when...	Use User Agent String when...	Marketplace Metering
Managed Services Provider (MSP) or Systems Integrator (SI/GSI) with limited access	Where write access allows. Provide IaC templates with tags embedded for customer to run	In management regular AWS API/CLI calls. Modify agents or installers to include UA strings	—
Multi-partner on same AWS resource	Single aws-apn-id tag limit per resource — may conflict with other partners	Each partner uses own UA string in their respective regular AWS API/CLI calls, no conflicts	—
Backfill existing resources	Bulk tag via Tag Editor or scripted bulk tagging for large-scale backfill. Revenue attribution will only be moving forward from the time tags are applied	Add UA to existing regular AWS API/CLI calls — often the lowest-effort path. Revenue attribution will only be moving forward from the time User Agent strings are implemented	—

Key Considerations

• Resource Tagging: Tags are key-value pairs applied to a resource to hold metadata about that resource, in this case a partner identifier. The tag type is a user-defined tag, and can be managed (updated or removed), and counts against the 50-tag-per-resource limit. Only one partner identifier is allowed per resource. Attribution is continuous while the tag is present.

• User Agent String: Ephemeral, specific to the regular AWS API/CLI operation carried out on a specific AWS resource, and is read-only. Allows multiple partners to independently use their identifier within their respective regular AWS API/CLI calls. Visible in CloudTrail, enabling customers to govern partner-solution interactions within their AWS resources. Requires at least one regular AWS API/CLI call per resource per month for attribution.

• Multi-partner: User Agent String avoids the single aws-apn-id tag-per-resource limitation when multiple partners operate on the same AWS resource.

• Production only: Partner Revenue Measurement is intended to measure production workloads. Dev/test/staging environments can be used for validating your implementation before rolling out to production.