AWS offers a number of support plans, however they need a strong internal resource.
Principal Takeaways
AWS offers four support plans which include basic developer, developer, enterprise on-ramp and enterprise
Each level offers a distinct level of support at a different cost that is dependent on the amount you pay, which can be confusing
Support services are not extensive, may not be sufficient for your business, and you may not have the IT department to assist you.
A managed service provider offers all-inclusive services and an expert team, at a fraction of the cost of forming your own team
A managed service provider helps budgeting with a fixed cost per month
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest provider of cloud-based services with over one million customers in business. While they do offer customer support, the base plan offers only whitepapers, documentation and forums for assistance. They also provide guidance on resources and health checks for services via an interactive dashboard and some other offerings but they do not offer any technical assistance.
AWS does offer premium support, including guidelines for architecture on specific cases of use however it doesn’t offer code development or custom software debugging and there is no system administration. Furthermore, support charges are set on a per-account base and the amount you’ll be charged per month is not known.
The quality of support likely to be insufficient for your business. That is why so many AWS customers are using an AWS Managed Services Provider (MSP) for one-on-one support with predictable pricing, as well as the comprehensive guidance and experience they require to help support their entirety of their business. Let’s look at what support AWS offers through their various plans, and why an MSP could be just what you need for your business.
AWS Support plans
AWS offers basic, developer, business, enterprise on-ramps, and support plans that come with different options. Each plan comes with the base plan along with their add-ons:
Basic support plan
This plan is provided free for all AWS customers. It also offers:
AWS documentation
Technical papers
Forums for support
Health checks for service access to all checks within the Service Quotas category, along with six checks in the Security category
Best practices and guides
This plan also includes questions regarding billing and accounts along with assistance with service quote increases. The basic plan doesn’t offer human technical support.
Developer support plan
The Developer Plan, which is highly recommended for those who are trying out or experimenting in AWS The Developer plan includes everything from the basic plan, along with:
Best practice tips
Diagnostic tools
Architectural guidance to blend products, features and services
This plan also gives you unlimitted support cases, but only one person is permitted, which is the root user.
Business support plan
This is when support becomes more robust, but it’s not free, and your expenses are far from predictable. The plan is billed each month, and support charges are calculated based on the total monthly AWS charges. The minimum charge per month is $100. What you will be paying is the minimum or the percentage of your AWS charges on the scale of sliding:
10% up to $10,000
7% from $10,000 to $80,000
From $80,000 up to $250,000
3% over $250,000
For the price of this plan you will get everything included in the developer and the basic plans, plus access to the AWS Trusted Advisor console and the AWS Support API. This allows your IT team to look over your environment and discover opportunities to cut costs and increase security as well as improve both efficiency and reliability.
Additionally, you’ll receive support for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud instances operating systems and configurations as well as assistance when it comes to performance issues related to the most well-known third-party AWS component software.
Enterprise On-Ramp , Enterprise Support and Enterprise Support plans
Enterprise On-Ramps and Enterprise Support plan customers get all the benefits offered to customers of the business plan as well as advice on application architecture, infrastructure event management, and a technical account manager who will be able to work on your specific needs and requirements.
Additionally, you will receive white-glove case managing business reviews and routing. These plans are offered at an expense:
Enterprise On-Ramp pricing requires at a minimum of $5,500 per month or 10% from your AWS monthly net.
Enterprise pricing has a minimum charge of $15,000 or
10 percent of up to $150,000
7 percent of $150,000 to $500,000
Five percent of $500,000 to $1,000,000
3.3% of $1,000,000 or more
Remember that when you are using AWS Support plans if you sign up for the plan only once but you’re still responsible for the monthly total in the event that you decide that the plan isn’t suitable for your mid-billing cycle and you decide to cancel, you’ll be charged for the whole month.
Not only is billing confusing, but these business plans may not provide the level of support you require without drastically boosting your IT team. It’s necessary to hire overall cloud administration, development as well as security specialists, and this can be quite costly.
In the case of many businesses it’s only logical to contract a managed services provider. Let’s talk about why.
MSPs will always be there for you
Your company doesn’t require support only in the event of an issue. You’d like to avoid issues and MSPs offer a comprehensive service that includes end-to-end control of applications and workloads. With experienced, expert Dev Ops and Sec Ops, as well as the managed service, you can concentrate on your primary concern, which is operating a profitable business.
In terms of budgeting for technical support using an MSP there’s no guesswork, or percentages of gross to worry about. Monthly costs are predictable as you’ll pay the same fee each month. Furthermore, an MSP offering AWS support plans like IG Group gives these advantages to AWS users:
24×7 availability
Efficiency in the use of resources Your internal team is focused on business projects within the company to keep you competitive and expanding.
The ability to grow your business easily
Data security The MSP Sec Ops specialists can identify and fix security holes while also providing ongoing security monitoring for weaknesses within the cloud and your company network.
Help you prepare for the future.
Peace of mind
Your AWS Managed Services Provider, as part of complete support, can help you develop and design, create and migrate, operate and operate, and optimize your cloud implementations. Dedicated managed services give you access to the cloud experts and architects you require for less than the cost to hire an employee.
