Concepts
AWS offers various levels of support for its cloud services to accommodate different customer needs. As an aspiring AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, understanding these support plans is critical to both managing AWS infrastructure and advising stakeholders on the appropriate level of support. Let’s explore the available AWS customer support services and the considerations for choosing the most suitable one.
AWS Support Plans Overview
AWS provides four primary support plans: Basic, Developer, Business, and Enterprise. The primary differences between these plans relate to the breadth of support, response times, and additional benefits. Below is a comparison of the support plans:
| Feature | Basic | Developer | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Customer Service | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Technical Support | – | Business hours | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| API/CLI Support | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Response Times | – | <24 hours | <1 hour | <15 minutes |
| Infrastructure Event Mgmt | – | – | ✓ | ✓ (with higher priority) |
| Third-party software support | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Training | Basic resources | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Technical Account Manager | – | – | – | ✓ |
| Architectural Guidance | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cost Optimization | – | – | ✓ | ✓ |
Now, let’s delve into each support plan in detail.
Basic Support
The Basic support plan is free and provides access to customer service, documentation, whitepapers, support forums, and the AWS Personal Health Dashboard. This level of support is suitable for individuals or businesses just starting with AWS or those running non-critical workloads that don’t require immediate assistance.
Developer Support
The Developer plan is a paid tier that includes everything in Basic, plus email support during local business hours, and a less than 24-hour target response time for non-critical issues. Shorter response times are available for higher-severity issues — down to business-day response for system impaired. This plan is designed for developers or small teams in the early stages of development and testing within AWS.
Business Support
With Business support, you get everything in the Developer plan, in addition to 24/7 phone, chat, and email support. The maximum response time for critical issues is <1 hour, making it suitable for businesses with production workloads on AWS that need quick responses to ensure high availability and performance. There is also support for third-party software, and you have access to Infrastructure Event Management for additional guidance during planned events, and access to Trusted Advisor for a broader range of checks.
Enterprise Support
As the most comprehensive plan, Enterprise support includes all Business plan features, with the fastest response times of <15 minutes for critical issues. Enterprise-grade support brings the added benefit of a Technical Account Manager (TAM) and an assigned Support Concierge. This level of support is designed for large enterprises running mission-critical workloads on AWS. Support includes proactive guidance and review with your TAM to optimize your AWS environment.
Choosing the Right Plan
The choice of a support plan should be based on your organization’s specific needs, taking into account the following aspects:
- Criticality of Workloads: If you’re running business-critical applications on AWS, a higher level of support is advisable.
- Operational Requirements: Consider the level of internal expertise and the operational support you need for your environment (e.g., 24/7 support, third-party software support, guided event management).
- Budget Constraints: Weigh the cost of the support plan against the potential risks and costs of downtime or slower issue resolution. Invest in what makes sense for your budget and required level of operational confidence.
- Growth and Scaling: As your business and AWS footprint grow, you may need to consider upgrading your support plan to match the complexity and criticality of your deployment.
Remember, AWS also offers a range of other resources for learning and troubleshooting, such as AWS documentation, Knowledge Center, whitepapers, and online forums. These can complement your chosen support plan and help prepare you for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam by deepening your understanding of AWS best practices and operations.
Answer the Questions in Comment Section
True/False: AWS provides a single tier of customer support for all users, regardless of their needs.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B) False
Explanation: AWS offers a range of customer support plans to meet different requirements, including Basic, Developer, Business, and Enterprise support plans.
Which of the following AWS support plans offers a 15-minute response time for critical case issues?
- (A) Basic
- (B) Developer
- (C) Business
- (D) Enterprise
Answer: D) Enterprise
Explanation: The Enterprise support plan offers the fastest response time of 15 minutes for critical case issues.
Multiple Select: What benefits do all AWS customers have access to as part of the Basic Support plan? (Select TWO)
- (A) 24/7 customer service
- (B) Access to AWS documentation, whitepapers, and support forums
- (C) Web-based support
- (D) Unlimited cases with email support
Answer: A) 24/7 customer service, B) Access to AWS documentation, whitepapers, and support forums
Explanation: All AWS customers have access to 24/7 customer service, AWS documentation, whitepapers, and support forums as part of the Basic Support plan.
True/False: The AWS Business Support plan is only intended for medium-large businesses, not for small businesses or startups.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B) False
Explanation: The AWS Business Support plan can be beneficial for businesses of all sizes, including small businesses and startups that require certain support features such as 24/7 phone and chat access, and Infrastructure Event Management.
Which AWS support plan provides access to an assigned Technical Account Manager (TAM)?
- (A) Basic
- (B) Developer
- (C) Business
- (D) Enterprise
Answer: D) Enterprise
Explanation: The Enterprise support plan is the only one that offers access to a Technical Account Manager (TAM).
True/False: AWS customers with the Developer support plan have access to 24/7 phone and chat support for all severity levels.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B) False
Explanation: The Developer support plan offers business hours access via email for non-critical support issues and 24/7 phone and chat support for critical issues only.
What AWS service provides a range of assistance options to help customers deploy, run, and manage applications in the cloud?
- (A) AWS Trusted Advisor
- (B) AWS Support (Customer Service)
- (C) AWS Professional Services
- (D) AWS Partner Network
Answer: B) AWS Support (Customer Service)
Explanation: AWS Support offers a range of assistance options for customers to help deploy, run, and manage their applications in the cloud.
Multiple Select: Which of the following features are included in the AWS Enterprise Support Plan? (Select TWO)
- (A) Infrastructure Event Management
- (B) Well-Architected Reviews
- (C) Personalized account assistance
- (D) Third-party software support
Answer: A) Infrastructure Event Management, C) Personalized account assistance
Explanation: The AWS Enterprise Support Plan includes Infrastructure Event Management and personalized account assistance, along with many other features.
True/False: With AWS Basic Support, you receive architectural guidance from cloud support engineers.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B) False
Explanation: AWS Basic Support does not include architectural guidance from cloud support engineers. That level of support comes with higher-tier plans like Business and Enterprise.
True/False: The Developer Support plan is recommended for production environments with business-critical operations.
- (A) True
- (B) False
Answer: B) False
Explanation: The Developer Support plan is more suited for developers in a testing or development environment. Production environments with business-critical operations should consider Business or Enterprise support plans for higher levels of service.
Which AWS support plan includes a full set of Trusted Advisor checks?
- (A) Basic
- (B) Developer
- (C) Business
- (D) Enterprise
Answer: D) Enterprise
Explanation: The Enterprise support plan includes a full set of Trusted Advisor checks, while the Business plan includes limited checks.
What option does AWS provide for free to all account holders that helps you monitor and manage your services with recommendations for saving costs and improving system performance?
- (A) AWS Cost Explorer
- (B) AWS Support Concierge
- (C) AWS Trusted Advisor Basic
- (D) AWS Support API
Answer: C) AWS Trusted Advisor Basic
Explanation: AWS Trusted Advisor Basic is provided for free to all AWS customers, giving them fundamental recommendations for saving costs and improving system performance.
Great post! It really helped me get a clearer understanding of AWS customer support options for the CLF-C02 exam.
I think AWS Trusted Advisor is crucial. Anyone else finding it invaluable for cost optimization?
Can anyone explain the differences between AWS Business Support and AWS Enterprise Support?
Thanks for the detailed breakdown!
Just to add, AWS Developer Support might be underrated. It’s quite helpful for individual developers.
Don’t forget to mention the AWS Support API. It’s very powerful for integrating with custom monitoring solutions.
The post covers most points well but it missed talking about AWS Support Concierge for account and billing-related queries.
Appreciate the blog post! It was very informative!