# Hire AWS Consultant — Evaluation Scorecard (July 2026)

Score 0–2 each. Prefer partners for prod/compliance; freelancers for narrow spikes.

| Criterion | Score |
|-----------|-------|
| Named people on SOW match interview (certs + years) | |
| Relevant vertical (HIPAA/PCI/etc.) evidence | |
| IaC + runbooks samples (not slideware only) | |
| References from similar scope (last 18 months) | |
| Clear deliverables, RACI, knowledge transfer | |
| Access model (RO first) + change control | |
| Post-engagement support terms | |
| Partner tier appropriate to risk | |

## Red flags

Resume-only certs; no named engineers; “we’ll figure scope later”; write access day one; no references.

## Link

Pair with business-trigger scorecard when deciding *whether* to hire.