Calculating and reducing AWS support costs for your business

AWS support can be a little hard to pin down and understand. What does AWS support include? How much does AWS support cost?

In this blog post, we will break down the main business costs for supporting an AWS cloud environment and how you can then rationalise them.

This should not be confused with AWS cost optimisation, which we have written another article on if that's what you are looking for read that article here.

What does my AWS support cost include?

When reviewing your support costs, you should include anything that relates to supporting your cloud deployments, so for most businesses this includes:

• Any AWS support plans you have e.g. developer etc...
• Any add on AWS services which you have from the marketplace or direct from AWS
• Any team member that their role related to supporting / maintaining the cloud
• Any third-party costs for consultants, support contracts etc...
• Any third-party software tools and the time to implement them and support them

External costs are usually quite easy to get a handle on, but internal team roles / time can be underestimated easily. Especially if you use a set of third-party tools to manage your cloud.

How do I reduce my AWS support plan costs?

The AWS support team provides a great service, but it can be expensive for business who are not on an enterprise scale.

Here are some tips to help reduce your direct AWS support costs:

1. Review which AWS support plan you are on and consider if you can downgrade to the Basic plan. If you don't need 24/7 support and can wait a little longer for responses to issues, then this could be a good option for you.

2. If you are using AWS services from the marketplace, check to see if there is a cheaper option available direct from AWS. Sometimes service providers will add their own costs on top of the AWS charges.

3. Use AWS support credits wisely. If you have AWS support credits included in your AWS account, make sure you use them before they expire. Credits can be used for AWS support cases, but they don't cover third party services or tools.

4. Make sure you are using all the features of the AWS console and AWS CLI. The AWS console provides a lot of information and monitoring for free. The AWS CLI can be used to automate tasks, which can save you time in the long run.

For a more complete picture of the available AWS support plans and a comparison of them against the market read our article on the subject or have a look at our AWS support services.

How do I reduce AWS support third party, internal team and tool costs across the business?

We strongly believe that our CloudOps does this for businesses. Mainly by providing unified cloud management and moving your business towards a NoOps approach for your cloud infrastructure.

Also consider reading our article on why cloud management software should be part of your management strategy for AWS & Azure.

This allows you to consolidate and optimise your cloud management with software instead of headcount or external contractors. Professional services can be bolted-on as an optional addition to the service as needed.

To get CloudOps starter free which give you cost visualization for AWS & Azure and is plug and play sign up here.

Or to take a test drive and find out how we can help with your AWS support and speak to a member of the team get in touch here.