One of the biggest hesitant factors in the cloud adoption strategy is the support customers expect from the cloud vendors. As more and more the business is served by technology, it is natural for the customers to think long-term with the cloud before taking the first step. In the last couple of years, it is evident that the cloud vendors also realized this factor and started focussing on building a very strong support model apart from just building the cloud services. The recent hiring strategy by the big 3 cloud players attests to this trend.
Over the past decade, cloud computing has grown immensely. AWS is the pioneer in cloud computing services. To be a leader in an industry, it needs exceptional vision. Vision is a collection of roadmaps. Roadmaps come with customer journeys and milestones. With enhanced support and guidance over the past decade, cloud computing has grown immensely. AWS is the pioneer in cloud computing services. To be a leader in an industry, it needs exceptional vision. Vision is a collection of roadmaps. Roadmaps come with customer journeys and milestones. Enhanced support and guidance to the customer are needed apart from launching different services and resources. Letting the customer understand and start adapting to the cloud is very important. So when a product roadmap is being framed, the ways to take the product to the customer and also plan to support the customer should also be identified.
As big as it is today, AWS is taking various measures to address customer enablement. No matter where the customer is in the cloud journey. No matter whether the customer is big or small. No matter what is the cloud spend by the customer. AWS offers tailored customer enablement platforms to fulfill the needs of many common customers. And the good thing is, these customer enablement platforms are also completely taken care of and vetted by AWS, like any other cloud services.
AWS provides developer sites, documentation, white papers, use cases, implementation techniques, online events, AWS community support, re:Invent, and encourages individuals to take certification by providing certification path. The customer enablement platform in AWS ranges from completely free to paid services – Pay as you go & Fixed pricing models, and from fully-hosted-self-manageable enablement and support to collaborative working models.
Let us see in detail the major customer enablement offerings from AWS.
1. AWS IQ
What is it? AWS IQ helps the customers who require help with AWS to reach the experts in specific areas. The entire interaction between the expert and customer all happens within the AWS console.
Who should use this? Individuals, startups, kickstarters, and enterprises. AWS IQ can be used to undertake projects from end to end or just to supplement the skills and people in your organization today.
When to use it? When you need help getting started with AWS, kick-starting a new project, or completing an existing project.
How much does it cost? 3% AWS IQ fee + taxes on the expert fee in the agreed proposal.
2. Support center
The support center comprises 3 major areas.
A) Support plans –
What is it? Support plans provide AWS customers with the needed tools and technology, people and programs which can help move faster with AWS, automate the management of your environment, manage and mitigate risks, and more importantly highly-trained engineers, large network of subject-matter experts who stay with Support cases from the start through to resolution. This eliminates the need for customers to interface with multiple support engineers, which can slow down time-to-resolution and allow you to move faster in your cloud journey.
Who should use this? Individuals, startups, kickstarter, and enterprises. Customers who desire a deeper level of support can subscribe to AWS Support at the Developer, Business, Enterprise, or partner-led level.
When to use it? AWS classifies the severity levels into 1) general guidance, 2) system impaired, 3) production system impaired, 4) production system down, and 5) business-critical system down. The response time varies depending on the support plans. Based on the criticality and response time needed, customers can decide when and what plan to use.
How much does it cost? Pricing varies depending on the support plans.
| Basic | Developer | Business | Enterprise | Partner-led |
| Free with limited support | Greater than $29 / month*** – or – 3% of monthly AWS usage | Greater than $100 / month*** – or – 10% of monthly AWS usage for the first $0–$10K 7% of monthly AWS usage from $10K–$80K 5% of monthly AWS usage from $80K–$250K 3% of monthly AWS usage over $250K | Greater than $15,000 – or – 10% of monthly AWS usage for the first $0–$150K 7% of monthly AWS usage from $150K–$500K 5% of monthly AWS usage from $500K–$1M 3% of monthly AWS usage over $1M | Partner pricing |
B) Trusted Advisor –
What is it? A trusted advisor evaluates the account by running checks on the 5 major categories. The recommendations from the checks help to follow the AWS best practices.
Who should use this? Anyone with an AWS account should take advantage of the trusted advisor.
When to use it? We can configure the trusted advisor to send a weekly email with updated results and cost-savings estimates. The customer can take action depending on the recommendations from AWS.
How much does it cost? No additional cost. It comes free with the support plans – Business and enterprise. However, only 7 checks are free with Basic and developer plans.
C)Personal health dashboard
What is it? Personal Health Dashboard gives a personalized view into the performance and availability of the AWS services underlying your AWS resources.
Who should use this? Anyone with an AWS account should take advantage of the personal health dashboard.
When to use it? We can set the CloudWatch alerts to create rules and receive notifications for events that might affect your AWS infrastructure.
How much does it cost? No additional cost. It comes free with all the support plans.
3. Managed services
What is it? Provides infrastructure operations support on the cloud resources. There are 2 major offerings from AWS –
A) AWS Managed Services Accelerate operations plan – When you are already using AWS and would like AWS to augment operational capabilities
B) AWS Managed Services Advanced operational plan – when you are looking for a full end-to-end operational solution
Who should use this? Enterprises that do not want to manage the cloud infrastructure and operations.
When to use it? AWS Managed Services (AMS) helps the customer wherever you are in the cloud journey. Whether you are considering a move to the cloud, in the process of migrating, or have workloads running on AWS, AMS can expand your operations capabilities. AWS Managed Services Accelerate works with your existing AWS accounts and workloads and can begin helping you operate quickly.
How much does it cost? The price of AWS Managed Services is calculated based on the number of instances and the usage fees of all other AWS services within the accounts AWS manages.
4. Activate for startups
What is it? Provides the startups with AWS credits, support plan credits, training, etc to get started and keep moving.
Who should use this?
A) Self-funded and bootstrapped startups
B) Self-funded and Funded startups
When to use it? Startups who want to get the best in class AWS support and guidance.
How much does it cost? No separate cost is involved. AWS activate is a free program.
Share your thoughts on AWS customer enablement platforms and programs.
Happy learning!
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