AWS Managed Services

Utilizing AWS Managed Services in the cloud is the smartest way to save money and tap into unlimited scaling potential. Proper setup and configuration are critical to reducing costs and maximizing performance. But what are AWS managed services? Put simply, AWS Managed Services are a set of products and support services that allow for hosting websites or software applications in the cloud. Before AWS, managed services would have referred to hardware and supporting services, commonly referred to as "hosting".

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What makes this term a little confusing is the terms "managed" and "services" can refer to different things.

  • AWS provides many different "managed services" like S3 (data storage), EC2 (compute), etc. From the AWS perspective, they are managing the underlying physical equipment and architecture. You never have to swap a new hard drive or plug in a power cable. It's managed!
  • From an AWS services provider —someone who sets up and maintains services like EC2 or S3 for their customers—, they - the service provider - are also managing the services. If an EC2 instance stops working, they are the ones who check on it and fix it. Therefore they are providing managed services.

Confused yet?

What is a managed service provider?

Perhaps a metaphor will be helpful. What AWS provides could be thought of as a car that will never break down. Any underlying hardware that does fail, is automatically replaced. However, cars aren't meant to sit around, they are meant to go places! Within this metaphor, an AWS cloud managed services provider serves as the driver: checking the map, filling up the gas tank, and keeping their eyes on the road. Activities like monitoring, cost management, and performance tuning are all activities that AWS won't provide and need someone else (an AWS service provider) to take care of.

How is AWS organized?

AWS services (there's over 240 of them) are accessible from the AWS Console. When you login in there, you'll find the services organized in the following major categories:

  • Compute
  • Containers
  • Storage
  • Database
  • Migration & Transfer
  • Networking & Content Delivery
  • Developer Tools
  • Customer Enablement
  • Robotics
  • Blockchain
  • Satellite
  • Quantum Technologies
  • Management & Governance
  • Media Services
  • Machine Learning
  • Analytics
  • Security, Identity, & Compliance
  • Cloud Financial Management
  • Front-end Web & Mobile
  • Application Integration
  • Business Applications
  • End User Computing
  • Internet of Things
  • Game Development

Underneath each of these major categories, there are from 1 to 26 services, each with their own dashboard. This, for example, is the view of the EC2 (a compute service) dashboard:

EC2 dashboard

 

Do I need a managed services provider?

Extending the metaphor, you might ask yourself: "do I need a driver?" The answer is no. There is no license requirement to start an AWS service, no policeman on the road to stop you, and it's easy to get started. However, it's also easy to get in trouble! While you won't crash into anyone, many things can happen when you go it alone on AWS:

  • Your website or application can simply stop working
  • You can have performance/speed issues
  • Data can go missing
  • You can end up spending your time when you should be working on other things
  • You can end up paying a lot more than you intended

Perhaps you've already run into one of the issues mentioned above, or you'd like to prevent it from happening. That's where AWS managed services from a certified AWS Consulting Partner, like Metal Toad, can have tremendous value.

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Why work with a professional managed services provider?

Whether you are currently in the cloud or looking to migrate one or more workloads to the cloud, most companies can benefit from working with a professional managed services provider in one of the following areas:

  1. Picking the right services
  2. Optimizing costs via architecture
  3. Reducing costs via reseller agreements

The AWS Shared Responsibility Model

Customer only

The AWS shared responsibility diagram

With managed services providerAWS+MetalToad-shared-responsibility-model

Metal Toad helps our customers with ALL or some of the customers' shared responsibilities in the AWS Shared Responsibility Model.

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  • Picking the right AWS services

  • Optimizing costs via architecture

  • Reducing costs via reseller agreements

1. Picking the right AWS services

Not all AWS services are created equal, and whether you are looking at compute (AWS EC2 vs. AWS Lambda), file storage (S3 vs. Glacier) options have different price points and use cases. Glacier is great for long-term storage, for example, but would be terrible for workloads that require rapid response times. When architecting an AWS Cloud workload picking the right service is critical - end we can help.

2. Optimizing costs via architecture

Beyond improving performance, architecting things in the right way is critical to cost control. AWS - and all the major cloud providers - allow for infinite scalability, which also means potentially infinite costs. Pick the wrong storage or architect a workload so things are moving in and out of the Cloud and egress fees alone may set you up to spend much more money than you need to. Get a second pair of eyes or delegate the architecture entirely. Metal Toad can help!

3. Reducing costs via reseller agreements

Do you have everything architected properly, but are still wishing you could save money on your cloud costs? The answer might be as simple as reaching out to a professional managed services partner like Metal Toad. With our existing relationship with AWS, we can get the exact same services for less via our scale. Find out today how much money you can save!

 

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AWS Manged Services FAQ

How much does managed AWS with you cost?

The price of managed AWS depends on the number of instances and other AWS services used. This is not inclusive of virtual server costs that vary based on their respective sizes and feature sets. Savings can be realized in virtual infrastructure costs (AWS, Azure, etc.) with long-term commitments. A free consultation will help decide the best fit for your business.

What is the difference between the standard service and the enterprise monthly?

Standard managed services include 24/7 monitoring, but a slower response time on the SLA. Additionally, Enterprise Managed Services can include geographically redundant data storage, autoscaling, and other advanced features.

How long do I have to sign up for?

All of our contracts are written with a no obligation 30 days cancellation notice. With the cloud there are no servers to buy, so why get locked into long term contracts?

What's your support like?

Our support commitments are some of the best in the business and our cloud team is available via phone or email 27/7/365. Specific details can be found via our Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Can you help me with architecture and migration?

Yes. Our certified cloud engineers have architected environments to handle some of the toughest traffic patterns out there (the Emmys, Golden Globes, etc.). We can help you with your environment too!

Who owns our AWS account?

We provide all the AWS managed services, but you own everything. We can operate either on your AWS account, or manage it completely. Anytime you'd like to transfer it we're happy to make the switch.

Why AWS?

We have worked with all the major cloud providers and found that in most cases AWS makes the most sense. Feel free to reach out or read more if you are still considering how to pick the right cloud provider.

How good is your security?

In addition to rigorous technical standards, all of our employees are subject to background checks and bound by non-disclosure agreements. In over 15 years we have never been a party to a breach of customer data. Our history notwhistanding, we also carry insurance that meets the legal and IT standards of some of the largest, most high profile companies on the planet.

I'm already setup in AWS - can you help me optimize?

Yes. No matter where you are in your cloud journey there are often things that can be optimized. Best practices in AWS are evolving and improving as more features and services are launched around the globe.

Learn more about AWS Managed Services from our blog

AWS Managed Services

Managed Services for AWS

Explore the nuances of AWS Managed Services and their implications for IT infrastructure and DevOps in this comprehensive guide.

Nathan Wilkerson, VP of Engineering