Lesson 06
Support Resources & AWS Partners
Support plans, AWS Health Dashboard, and the AWS Partner Network (APN)
AWS Support Plans
AWS offers four support plans designed for different stages of cloud adoption. The plan you select determines response times, available checks, and access to AWS experts.
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Who It's For | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | All AWS customers | 24/7 customer service, documentation, whitepapers, support forums; 6 core Trusted Advisor checks; Personal Health Dashboard |
| Developer | Starts at $29/month (or 3% of monthly usage) | Testing/early development; non-production workloads | All Basic features + email support with 12-24 hour response (business hours); general guidance; 1 primary contact |
| Business | Starts at $100/month (or tiered by usage) | Production workloads | All Developer features + full Trusted Advisor checks; 24/7 phone/email/chat; <1 hour response for urgent issues; unlimited contacts; AWS Support API; third-party software support |
| Enterprise | Starts at $15,000/month (or tiered by usage) | Business & mission-critical workloads | All Business features + Technical Account Manager (TAM); <15 minutes response for critical issues; architectural guidance; infrastructure event management; proactive reviews; operations support; Support Concierge |
Case Severity & Response Times
The severity you assign to a support case determines the target response time:
| Severity | Meaning | Enterprise | Business | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Business at risk — app unavailable | <15 min | <1 hour | N/A |
| Urgent | Significant impact — important functions unavailable | <1 hour | <4 hours | N/A |
| High | Important functions impaired/degraded | <4 hours | <8 hours | <12-24 hours* |
| Normal | Non-critical issues / time-sensitive dev question | <8 hours | <24 hours | <24 hours* |
| Low | General dev questions / feature requests | <24 hours | <24 hours | <24 hours* |
*Developer Support response times are during business hours only. Basic Support has no case support. Severity tiers above High are unavailable on the Developer plan.
Technical Account Manager (TAM)
A TAM is available only with the Enterprise Support plan. The TAM:
- Serves as your primary point of contact for ongoing support
- Provides proactive guidance — architectural review, planning, deployment optimization
- Maintains continuous ongoing communication about your AWS environment
- Provides technical expertise for the full range of AWS services
- Develops a detailed understanding of your use case and technology architecture
Support Concierge
Available with Enterprise Support. A billing and account expert who:
- Provides quick analysis on billing and account issues
- Addresses all non-technical billing and account-level inquiries
- Acts as a dedicated billing advocate for the organization
AWS Health Dashboard
Provides personalized information about AWS service health that affects your specific resources. Alerts and remediation guidance when AWS experiences events that may impact you.
Personal Health Dashboard vs. Service Health Dashboard
| Dashboard | Scope | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Health Dashboard | Events that affect your specific resources; proactive notifications; remediation guidance | All support plans (including Basic) |
| Service Health Dashboard | General availability of all AWS services across all Regions; public-facing page | Public — no AWS account needed |
Exam Tip: "Personal" = affects YOUR account/resources. "Service" = general service health for everyone. The Personal Health Dashboard is where you see events that impact your infrastructure.
AWS Partner Network (APN)
A global partner program for companies that build solutions, provide services, or resell AWS. Key partner types:
| Partner Type | Role |
|---|---|
| Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) | Build software that runs on or integrates with AWS. Sell on AWS Marketplace. |
| System Integrators (SIs) | Consulting partners that design, migrate, build, and manage customer workloads on AWS. |
Ask your teacher: Note from module files: Module-2.txt covers Support Plans (Basic, Developer, Business, Enterprise), TAM, Support Concierge, and case severity/response times. The exam guide lists Personal Health Dashboard, Service Health Dashboard, and the AWS Partner Network as in-scope; their descriptions above draw from the CLF-C02 exam guide task statements. AWS IQ (expert consultations) and AWS re:Post (community Q&A) are also exam-relevant but not covered extensively in module files.
Support Resources Quiz
Select one answer per question. You will receive immediate feedback.
1. A company runs mission-critical workloads and needs a dedicated AWS expert as a primary point of contact with architectural guidance. Which support plan should they choose?
2. An AWS customer is experiencing an outage in their EC2 instances in a specific Availability Zone. Which dashboard should they check for information about events affecting their specific resources?
Progress: 0/2 correct (0%). Answer all questions to see the final recommendation.
Primary Source: AWS Academy Module 2: Cloud Economics and Billing (module-2.txt) — Section 5: Technical Support. CLF-C02 Exam Guide for Health Dashboard and Partner Network details.