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Scaling your business with the power of cloud computing is not always smooth sailing. You need a robust and comprehensive cloud support system to ensure you resolve all the complexities and technical challenges without impacting the user experience. This blog delves into various levels of cloud support plans offered by Amazon Web Services and how you can avail of their most comprehensive plan, AWS Enterprise Support, at a much lower cost.
By complexities and challenges, we mean unexpected downtimes, security vulnerabilities, cost overruns, compliance issues, and anything else that could quickly escalate without the right support. Cloud support personnel are your first line of defense here, saving you from disruptions that could cost your business time and money. Whether it’s a sudden spike in user traffic that could overwhelm your resources or a security breach that needs immediate attention, having skilled professionals on hand could make all the difference.
Cloud providers themselves understand these requirements and thus offer a range of support plans tailored to different needs. AWS itself has four different levels of support plans, supporting companies right from basic billing support to complex architectural recommendations.
1. AWS Developer Support: The basic level of support, ideal for individuals experimenting or testing in AWS. It provides access to AWS Trusted Advisor, basic technical support during business hours, and general guidance on best practices.
2. AWS Business Support: The minimum recommended tier for production workloads. The technical support coverage and response times are better than developer support but do not include designated account managers and priority assistance. Both these support tiers also lack any architectural guidance.
3. AWS Enterprise Support: The highest tier of support, offering comprehensive support with a dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM), 24*7 access to senior cloud support engineers, and extensive architectural reviews. This plan is designed for mission-critical workloads and requires a significant investment which is why the AWS Enterprise Support pricing is a barrier for many organizations.
4. AWS Enterprise On-ramp Support: Businesses that need comprehensive support features but do not have the budget to commit to AWS Enterprise support could opt for this support tier. It almost all supports features from the Enterprise tier, with a few exclusions in the availability of a dedicated TAM and custom architecture reviews.
What is AWS Enterprise Support?
Specifically tailored for organizations, especially enterprises, that need end-to-end support and assistance with cloud services, AWS offers the Enterprise Support program. With a comprehensive range of support and priority attention, this tier is perfect for companies that manage high-value workloads and mission-critical applications.
Businesses that sign up for AWS Enterprise Support benefit from 24*7 access to support engineers and a dedicated account manager who acts as their point of contact with the AWS support services. This ensures immediate assistance, proactive monitoring, and periodic reviews to ensure the cloud operations are not impacted.
Going beyond traditional helpdesk services, the AWS Enterprise Support program offers the following benefits:
Proactive Monitoring and Health Checks: Continuous monitoring of your AWS environment to find solutions to potential issues early.
Capacity Planning: Expert advice on optimizing resources to meet your needs efficiently, like planning for a business event.
Security and Compliance: Making necessary updates to your AWS setup to meet security and regulatory requirements.
Architecture and Migration Support: Assistance with system improvements and moving your applications to AWS.
Access to AWS Experts: Direct access to experienced AWS professionals for technical advice.
With this top-tier support, AWS enables businesses to achieve enhanced cloud performance, optimized costs, and strengthened security. AWS reports that enterprises leveraging AWS Enterprise Support see an average cost savings of over 15%, compared to those on other support tiers with similar AWS spend. Additionally, organizations benefit from early access to the latest tools, technologies, and innovations within AWS, empowering them to stay ahead of the curve and fully optimize their cloud environment.
Core Features of AWS Enterprise Support
The range of support services offered by the AWS premium support tiers is substantially bigger compared to the basic plans. Let’s explore some of the most important features of the AWS Enterprise Support program.
Access to the AWS Support Services Team
You get direct access to AWS support engineers who help resolve a wide range of technical issues. They help with troubleshooting, configuration errors, performance issues, or any service-related challenges.
With AWS Enterprise Support, you also get priority attention, with guaranteed response times depending on the urgency of the issue. Critical production outages can receive responses in as little as 15 minutes. This structured escalation ensures that high-priority issues are handled promptly to minimize downtime.
24*7 Technical Support
One of the highly desired benefits of AWS Enterprise Support is the round-the-clock access to AWS engineers. You can ensure that technical assistance is always available, whether it’s troubleshooting issues or answering service-related questions. Businesses get 24*7 access to cloud support engineers via phone, web, and chat. You also get an unlimited quota for cases.
AWS Service Guidance
With this feature, you get expert advice on how to make the most of AWS services. AWS architects and engineers offer recommendations based on your specific use cases to enhance performance, security, and cost efficiency, aligning your usage with the best practices.
Designated Technical Account Manager
Businesses get a designated Technical Account Manager (TAM) who acts as a bridge between you and AWS, ensuring you get to leverage the AWS support services to the maximum. An AWS and Cloud expert, the TAM offers proactive support for your AWS setup by monitoring your infrastructure, offering personalized recommendations for improvements, and assisting in cloud cost management. They also assist you with your AWS support services tickets ensuring smooth and efficient resolution of technical issues.
AWS also provides a designated Solution Architect as part of your cloud support team, who oversees your architecture and ensures it follows best practices. They guide you through critical decisions on infrastructure, cloud cost optimization, and architectural improvements.
TAM-Assisted Case Escalation
In critical situations, your Technical Account Manager assists in escalating support cases to ensure they receive top priority from AWS engineers. This service is designed for high-severity issues, to ensure minimal disruption to your operations. TAMs work with the AWS support services team to optimize the communication and timeline for case resolutions.
Architecture Reviews
With AWS Enterprise Support, you get regular assessments of your architecture to ensure it aligns with the best practices for performance, scalability, and security. This helps optimize your workloads, ensuring that your architecture is robust and cost-effective.
Business Reviews
Experts from the AWS support services team conduct regular business reviews to assess your cloud usage, identify areas for improvement, and align your cloud strategy with your business objectives. By aligning AWS solutions with your business objectives, they ensure you’re continuously gaining the most value from your AWS investments while driving innovation.
Application Guidance
With top-tier cloud support, AWS goes one level up and provides support for specific application workloads, fine-tuning them to run efficiently on the cloud. The guidance covers best practices for deployment, configuration, and scaling on AWS infrastructure.
Infrastructure Event Management
This includes proactive support for major infrastructure events such as large-scale migrations, product launches, or business campaigns that could have peak traffic periods. This service includes detailed planning and technical assistance to ensure smooth operations. AWS experts collaborate closely with your technical team to mitigate risks and ensure success.
AWS Trusted Advisor Priority
AWS Trusted Advisor is a service by AWS that analyzes your accounts and provides recommendations to help you optimize your AWS environment: With AWS Enterprise Support, you get access to AWS Trusted Advisory Priority that helps you focus on the most important recommendations for optimizing your cloud deployments. It provides context-driven suggestions based on insights from both your AWS account team and machine-generated checks.
Programmatic Case Management with AWS Support API
This feature helps you create, monitor and manage support tickets through automated means, by integrating AWS Support API with existing workflows. It helps streamline repetitive tasks such as updating case statuses, escalating issues, or retrieving historical case information, to improve efficiency.
Training and Workshops
AWS Enterprise Support offers 500 free training credits and access to workshops. Additional credits are available at a 30% discount. These resources help your team build cloud expertise and stay current with AWS best practices, enhancing your skills and ensuring effective use of AWS services.
AWS Enterprise Support also has certain features like access to AWS re: Private, AWS Managed Services, and AWS Countdown Premium, which are available at an additional fee.
Comparison of AWS Support Services Plans
Although there is some overlap in standard support features, the higher-tier plans offer a significantly broader range of services compared to the basic plans. Here's a detailed comparison of all AWS support tiers:
AWS Enterprise Support Pricing
AWS Enterprise Support uses a tiered pricing model, with the cost being the greater of a fixed fee or a percentage of your AWS usage charges, although it has a minimum monthly fee of $15,000. Beyond this, the pricing structure is as follows:
10% of the first $150,000 of monthly AWS charges
7% of charges from $150,000 to $500,000
5% of charges from $500,000 to $1 million
3% of charges exceeding $1 million.
Example: If your monthly AWS charges total $700,000, your support cost would be calculated as:
10% of $150,000 = $15,000
7% of $350,000 ($500,000 - $150,000) = $24,500
5% of $200,000 ($700,000 - $500,000) = $10,000
Total support cost = $15,000 + $24,500 + $10,000 = $49,500
Thus, you would pay $49,500 per month for AWS Enterprise Support.
As you would have noticed, the AWS Enterprise Support pricing is substantial and is most suitable for large organizations with significant AWS usage and complex environments.
AWS Enterprise Support at a Fraction of the Cost
Many organizations stand to benefit from the comprehensive range of features offered by AWS Enterprise Support, especially the availability of a dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM) and priority assistance. However, they could be limited by budget constraints. To address this, AWS offers a workaround through the AWS Partner-Led Enterprise Support Program, allowing organizations to access the same level of support at a significantly lower cost.
Who Provides AWS Partner-Led Enterprise Support?
AWS partners who are part of the AWS Solution Provider Program can offer Partner-Led Enterprise Support to their customers. These partners undergo rigorous certification processes and must establish a Support Agreement with AWS, outlining the services, SLAs, and responsibilities they will adhere to. This ensures that customers receive top-tier support that aligns with AWS standards while benefiting from a personalized approach.
AWS Partner-Led Enterprise Support Program by CloudKeeper
CloudKeeper, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, offers the Partner-Led Enterprise Support model, delivering all the benefits of AWS Enterprise Support at a custom discounted pricing. Through CloudKeeper, businesses can access high-quality cloud support services, with added flexibility and cost savings that make it easier for organizations with tighter budgets to benefit from AWS’s premium offerings.
Here’s a snapshot of how CloudKeeper’s Partner-led Support compares with AWS Enterprise Support.
Advantages of Partner-Led Support
While Partner-Led Enterprise Support closely mirrors AWS Enterprise Support, it also provides several unique benefits:
Cost Savings: Partner-led Support generally comes at a lower cost than AWS Enterprise Support, making it accessible for organizations with tighter budgets.
Flexible Pricing: Partners offer customized pricing models based on the business's specific cloud support needs, allowing for better cost management.
Lower Costs for Partner Programs: Customers who sign up for programs like the AWS Enterprise Discount Program need to avail of AWS Enterprise Support as a mandate. They could make use of the Partner-led Support as a low-cost alternative.
Personalized Service: With a focus on customer relationships, Partner-led Support often includes tailored advice and solutions specifically aligned with the business’s unique requirements.
Extended Expertise: Partners bring additional expertise in cloud-native technologies and DevOps, which can be beneficial for more specialized cloud support needs.
We’d recommend reading this article to learn about Partner-led Enterprise Support in detail.
Conclusion
Cloud support is important for all kinds of businesses and while hyperscalers themselves offer support plans, cost considerations can limit access to AWS premium support services like AWS Enterprise Support. With programs like the AWS Partner-Led Enterprise Support programs, organizations can now access nearly all the benefits of AWS’s top-tier support at a fraction of the cost.
Working with an expert cloud support partner helps organizations access a comprehensive range of services personalized to their specific needs. Additionally, experienced partners like CloudKeeper also offer a host of extended services like DevOps Support, Workload Modernization, and Cloud Cost Optimization, with no additional costs, making it a really attractive choice.
With a robust cloud support framework to streamline your operations, you can make the most of your cloud infrastructure efficiently while not compromising on innovation and your business goals.
