Managing Amazon Web Services (AWS) isn’t easy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It requires a blend of expertise, continuous monitoring, and resource optimization, all of which can strain the limited IT resources of an SME.
The alternative of hiring a full-time team of cloud engineers skilled in AWS services like EC2, S3, and RDS can be prohibitively expensive for SMEs. This is why many SMEs are turning toward AWS consulting services or managed service providers (MSPs). They offer the same expert advice and support without the overhead costs of a full-time team.
An AWS managed service provider is a certified AWS partner organization that helps businesses plan, build, operate, manage, and optimize their AWS infrastructure, applications, and environments. These partners are part of the AWS Partner Network (APN) and have expertise in end-to-end cloud management.
AWS MSPs bring certified expertise in DevOps, architecture design, and security. They have a deep understanding of AWS-native tools, such as AWS CloudFormation (for Infrastructure as Code) and AWS Systems Manager (for operational insights). With their help, SMEs can optimize cloud management and focus on growing their business while maximizing the benefits of AWS.
AWS MSP partners assist organizations at every stage of their cloud journey. This includes:
They can also help you automate patch management, backups, incident monitoring, and user access management.
AWS MSPs simplify cloud management and optimize AWS environments for performance, cost efficiency, and security. Their proactive approach helps businesses maintain uptime and run operations smoothly.
AWS managed service providers start by creating a custom cloud adoption roadmap based on your business goals and operational needs. They evaluate existing workloads to determine which AWS services you’ll need, for example, Amazon EC2 for computing, Amazon S3 for storage, or Amazon RDS for databases.
MSPs also evaluate your company’s readiness for migration through the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP). This involves analyzing your infrastructure, estimating costs, and spotting potential challenges. They then determine the best approach for each workload: lift-and-shift, refactoring, or re-platforming.
You can rely on AWS MSPs for service configuration and data migration. They can help you with infrastructure deployment tasks like:
Managed service providers are also skilled in using tools like AWS Migration Hub and AWS Database Migration Service for secure migrations. They can use Snowball to handle the process efficiently for large-scale data transfers. MSPs help you minimize downtime through blue-green deployment strategies or canary releases.
AWS cloud managed service providers help SMEs monitor their AWS environments. They can use tools like Amazon CloudWatch to track performance metrics and AWS X-Ray to trace applications. They also use event-driven automation with AWS Lambda and AWS Systems Manager to detect and resolve issues.
You can rely on MSPs to implement backup using Amazon S3 Glacier or AWS Backup. Depending on your workloads, they can design a disaster recovery strategy using AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery. What’s more, MSPs can automate patching processes with AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager for operating systems and applications.
AWS MSP partners help SMEs adopt a multi-layered security approach and manage compliance. Here’s what they can help you with:
AWS MSPs can help you meet regulatory standards like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, or SOC 2.
MSPs have the expertise to analyze instance usage and recommend suitable tiers using AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Trusted Advisor. They provide detailed cost breakdowns and budget assistance through AWS Budgets, helping optimize your cloud expenses.
Now that you know how AWS MSPs can help, let’s understand how they’re different from AWS consulting services.
The main difference between them is in their focus and scope.
AWS MSPs offer end-to-end management and optimization of AWS environments. They serve as a long-term partner for your cloud operations. In contrast, AWS consulting services are usually project-based. They can help you with specific needs like migrations or implementations.
AWS managed service partners provide ongoing support to optimize your AWS environment. They handle everything from cloud monitoring and cost optimization to security, compliance, and scaling as your business grows.
Instead of handling one-off tasks, MSPs serve as an extension of your IT team. They’re a great fit for SMEs looking for a long-term partner to manage AWS complexities, freeing up your IT team to handle strategic priorities.
AWS consulting services are usually project-based, focusing on specific tasks. For example, consultants may help with cloud migration, setting up a new AWS service, or designing a custom architecture. Their goal is to deliver a clear outcome within a set timeline. Work with AWS consultants if you need help with a one-time project or expertise for a specific AWS solution.
| AWS MSP | AWS consulting services | |
| Focus | End-to-end AWS environment management, including operations, optimization, and scaling | Specialized expertise for specific tasks like migration or architecture design |
| Engagement | Long-term, ongoing partnership for continuous cloud management | Short-term, project-based engagements for particular tasks |
| Support | Provides 24/7 monitoring, incident management, and operational support | Provides guidance and execution for defined project deliverables |
| Ideal for | SMEs seeking a long-term partner to manage AWS complexities | Businesses looking for help with specific AWS projects or solutions |
The main difference lies in how much responsibility you handle versus what AWS takes care of. Fully managed services manage tasks like maintenance, scaling, and updates. Unmanaged services offer you more control and flexibility but need you to manage setup, scaling, and maintenance.
Partnering with an AWS MSP can help you ensure service availability, proactively monitor applications, optimize costs, and improve cloud security.
AWS MSPs are trusted, certified partners with a solid track record in delivering end-to-end AWS solutions. They help businesses at every stage of the cloud journey, including planning, design, migration, operations, and optimization. This partnership ensures you benefit from the latest AWS features and best practices without maintaining extensive in-house expertise.
AWS MSPs use over 150 managed guardrails and automated security checks to keep your cloud environment safe. They use AWS-native tools like AWS IAM for access control, AWS GuardDuty for threat detection, and AWS Security Hub for compliance monitoring.
MSPs secure infrastructure and ensure your AWS setup meets industry standards. Meeting these standards reduces the risk of breaches and helps you comply with regulatory requirements.
AWS MSPs make it easy for you to scale infrastructure as demands change. They ensure your cloud environment can effortlessly handle everything, from traffic spikes to new apps. MSPs can set up tools like AWS Auto Scaling and Elastic Load Balancing to help you handle more workloads.
MSPs also offer you the flexibility to innovate by integrating new services like AWS Lambda for serverless computing or Amazon ECS/EKS for containerized workloads.
AWS MSPs continuously monitor your cloud environments to help you get the most out of their cloud budgets.
They review your AWS setup to spot underused resources, like idle EC2 instances or oversized databases. Then, they can suggest cost-saving options like spot instances, savings plans, or reserved instances.
Moreover, they use tools like AWS Cost Explorer to provide insights into spending. These actionable tips help you increase savings significantly without compromising scalability.
AWS MSPs use monitoring and incident management tools to proactively spot and fix issues before they cause downtime. As a result, you experience fewer disruptions and more time for your team to focus on your core business.
Curious to explore how AWS MSPs can make a difference for your business? Check out the case studies below.
Here are some success stories for you to explore.
Aston Martin Lagonda (AML)
AML, known for its luxury sports cars and SUVs, wanted to improve customer engagement and provide dealers with better insights. However, their customer data was spread across Salesforce, surveys, and after-sales interactions.
To fix this, AML teamed up with Data Reply, an AWS MSP, to clean and unify their data and migrate to a new Salesforce instance. Data Reply used AWS services to combine the data into a single, global view.
This unified view helped AML create an AI-powered propensity-to-buy model, improving predictive accuracy by an impressive 85%.
Marriott International
Marriott International, which operates over 8,700 properties globally, wanted to strengthen its cybersecurity posture.
To do this, it partnered with AWS, Deloitte, and Palo Alto Networks to introduce advanced generative AI and machine learning models into its security framework.
The solution automated threat detection, analysis, and response using AWS-native services.
While AWS Managed Service Providers offer a wealth of benefits, they’re not without trade-offs. Understanding the potential drawbacks of outsourcing your AWS operations is critical for making an informed, strategic decision.
Hiring an AWS MSP can reduce costs tied to hiring and training internal staff, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the most cost-effective option in the long run. If your workloads are relatively stable, predictable, and well-understood internally, managing them in-house with a lean DevOps team might be more economical than paying ongoing MSP fees.
By outsourcing AWS management, you hand over control of critical infrastructure components. This can limit your ability to make immediate changes or customize configurations as quickly as an internal team would. SMEs with agile development cycles or rapidly evolving product needs may find MSP engagement a bit too rigid unless they have clearly defined service-level agreements (SLAs) in place.
Some MSPs use proprietary tools, scripts, or management layers on top of your AWS stack. This can make it difficult to transition away from them in the future without incurring additional costs or facing knowledge gaps. Before committing, it’s important to ask about handoff processes, documentation policies, and how reusable their work is in a non-MSP context.
Not all AWS MSPs are created equal. While AWS's MSP Partner Program requires providers to meet strict standards, the real-world service quality can still vary. Some MSPs excel in compliance-heavy industries, while others might be better suited for performance-focused startups. Choosing the wrong partner can lead to misaligned priorities, missed SLAs, and general inefficiencies.
If your organization operates in a highly regulated industry, outsourcing compliance responsibilities to an external MSP may complicate audits or certifications. You'll need to ensure the MSP is familiar with relevant standards and willing to provide transparent reporting and audit support.
The best way to evaluate AWS MSPs is to look for the following qualities:
Yes, AWS migration can be challenging, regardless of the size of your organization.
Ideally, you should start by assessing your company’s migration readiness. This assessment must consider factors like your IT environment, resources, and budget. Also, reflect on the benefits you expect from AWS migration.
Start the ‘mobilize’ phase by creating a comprehensive migration plan. Consider using the AWS Application Discovery Service to collect usage and configuration data from on-premise servers and plan cloud migration.
Got more questions? We have the answers.
The AWS MSP Program certification is awarded to partners who meet rigorous technical, operational, and customer success standards. Certified MSPs must pass a third-party audit, demonstrating expertise in automation, monitoring, security, and cost optimization for AWS environments.
A business should consider hiring an AWS MSP when it lacks in-house AWS expertise, needs 24/7 support, operates in a compliance-heavy industry, or wants to optimize cloud costs and performance without building a full internal cloud team.
A qualified AWS MSP should hold certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect: Professional or AWS Certified DevOps Engineer. They should also be part of the AWS Partner Network and ideally certified through the AWS MSP Program.
Costs vary widely based on the provider, the complexity of your infrastructure, and service levels. Some MSPs charge a monthly retainer, while others offer usage-based or tiered pricing models. Most providers will customize pricing based on your cloud environment and support needs.
AWS MSPs use AWS-native tools to enforce identity management, encryption, threat detection, and compliance monitoring. They help businesses meet regulatory standards like HIPAA, PCI DSS, or GDPR through automated checks, audit readiness, and secure configuration management.
For startups or small teams with limited cloud expertise, using an AWS MSP can be a cost-effective way to access enterprise-grade cloud management. It frees internal teams to focus on product and growth while ensuring the AWS environment is secure, scalable, and optimized.
Dealing with cloud migration, security, cost optimization, and scaling can be tough.
AWS MSPs help you take care of the heavy lifting so you can focus on growing your business. They save you money with AWS Cost Explorer and keep your environment secure with AWS GuardDuty. Moreover, they offer real-time monitoring and proactive incident management using Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager.
Ultimately, they ensure your applications run seamlessly, so you don’t have to stress about downtime.
Looking to boost security and meet compliance standards? Check out the best security and compliance software to find the right tools for your stack.
This article was originally published in 2024. It has been updated with new information.
Sagar Joshi is a former content marketing specialist at G2 in India. He is an engineer with a keen interest in data analytics and cybersecurity. He writes about topics related to them. You can find him reading books, learning a new language, or playing pool in his free time.
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