A screenshot of AWS's free service health dashboard
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Cloud provider Amazon Web Services (www.aws.amazon.com) announced on Thursday that it has lowered pricing by 50 percent on all of its support plans and it has added two new support plans, bronze and platinum. In August 2010, it was predicted that AWS was on its way to being a heavyweight competitor to traditional Web hosting providers, and its latest move to improve service and lower costs could provide the needed support for clients hesitant of a move to the cloud.
While all plans offer predictable response times, unlimited support cases and personalized support from developer support engineers, for $49 a month the bronze plan provides business day technical support, with response times ranging from twelve hours to one business day. The new platinum plan provides customers with fifteen minute response time for critical issues and a technical account manager available to assist throughout all phases of AWS. Platinum costs $15,000 a month or 10 percent of the total monthly AWS usage.
“Your TAM will work with you to conduct reviews of your AWS usage and performance on a regular basis, and they’ll also help to ensure that you are ready for new launches. They’ll even be available to participate in meetings as you request. You’ll also get guidance on best practices and on the use of new AWS features. You will have access to our team of Solution Architects for guidance during complex implementations,” AWS wrote in a blog post outlining its new support plans.
The existing silver and gold plans range from $100 to $400 a month, or 5 percent to ten percent of the total monthly AWS usage. Silver provides business day technical support and ensures response times of four business hours for higher severity issues.The gold plan provides 24/7 phone support and response times of one hour for urgent issues. The bronze and silver contracts do not provide phone support.
“We’re committed to providing our customers access to world class technical support, and we’ve expanded our offerings to give customers of all sizes a support plan that meets their needs,” said Brent Jaye, director of developer support at AWS. “There are many ways to offer technical support, varying from charging more for the underlying technology and bundling in support costs, to decoupling support from the technology costs and offering one or multiple plans. AWS remains committed to offering developers the building blocks to succeed without unnecessary bundling or long term commitments.” All plans provide free access to a resource center, service health dashboard, technical FAQ’s and developer forums.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson writes full-time for the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto, and has been writing for the WHIR since September 2010. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
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