What should my managed AWS service include?

When you're considering a managed AWS service, there are a few key features that you should look for:

• Security - 24/7 monitoring and threat detection
• Incident management - Proactive monitoring for incident early warning and detection and fault recovery
• Automation - Automated processes such as scalable architecture based on demand
• Cost savings - Cost monitoring, alerts, analysis and recommendations to drive savings while maintaining performance
• AWS experts available - Access to AWS support and advisory services when needed

This should be the baseline for any managed AWS service and from reading the list it's pretty obvious that the first 4 points really need a software approach. A consultancy alone will not get you where you need to be with a robust AWS platform underpinning your business.

All of this points to cloud management software as a core part of your cloud management strategy, for more on that topic read our article on the subject.

What should each of these service areas give your team?

• Security / Compliance - With a managed AWS service in place the security of your AWS deployment should be covered. This should no longer be a concern for your team, alerts and security audits should be included. Your AWS infrastructure should be security hardened to the level you need for your business operations
• Operational Efficiency - Elements such as auto-scaling should make your AWS deployment more cost-efficient and take advantage of the core benefits of cloud services to provide an on-demand approach
• Availability / Resilience - Often the network monitoring element of any managed AWS service is underestimated, this often gives you insights into your AWS deployments that improve availability and resilience or allow you to tweak these areas as needed
• Best practice - Your team should have confidence that the service will perform checks based on the well-architected framework (Best practices) and make recommendations to improve these areas if they are deficient. Risks or recommendations for action should also be recorded and actions to remediate recorded as well
• AWS Support - Access to a team of AWS-certified experts when needed, mainly for advice and support for changes/expansion of your AWS footprint acting as a cloud service delivery manager. Often you will find with cloud management software that your need for run-of-the-mill support will diminish
• Time - All of the above should free up your team to concentrate on your roadmap instead of firefighting your cloud infrastructure

All of these elements should collectively change the way your in-house team works with the cloud and the overhead/cost of running AWS infrastructure within your business.