Executive Summary
This document outlines our comprehensive strategy for handling AWS infrastructure issues that would typically require AWS Business Support. Our approach leverages our team's AWS expertise, established processes, and community resources to ensure timely resolution of technical challenges while maintaining operational excellence.
Internal AWS Expertise
Our organization maintains a team of AWS-certified professionals with extensive experience in AWS infrastructure management:
Certified AWS Solutions Architects (Associate and Professional levels) Certified AWS DevOps Engineers Certified AWS SysOps Administrators Our AWS experts have deep knowledge in the following domains:
EC2, ECS, and container orchestration VPC configuration and network troubleshooting S3, CloudFront, and content delivery optimization RDS, DynamoDB, and database performance tuning CloudWatch monitoring and alerting IAM and security best practices CloudFormation and Infrastructure as Code Lambda and serverless architecture Tiered Issue Resolution Framework
Level 1: Self-Service Resolution
Our first line of defense involves leveraging AWS documentation, our internal knowledge base, and automated tools:
Internal Wiki and Runbooks: Comprehensive documentation of our AWS architecture, common issues, and resolution steps AWS Service Health Dashboard Monitoring: Automated alerts for AWS service disruptions CloudWatch Alarms and Dashboards: Proactive monitoring of infrastructure health metrics AWS Trusted Advisor: Weekly reviews of Trusted Advisor recommendations (available on the basic tier) Personal Health Dashboard: Regular checks of account-specific health notifications Level 2: Internal Escalation
For issues that cannot be resolved through self-service approaches:
On-Call Rotation System: 24/7 coverage by AWS specialists Severity Classification Protocol: Critical (P1): Service outage, data loss risk (Response time: 30 minutes) High (P2): Degraded service performance (Response time: 2 hours) Medium (P3): Non-critical feature issues (Response time: 8 hours) Low (P4): General questions, optimization requests (Response time: 24 hours) Technical War Room Process: Established protocol for assembling cross-functional teams during critical incidents Level 3: External Resources
For complex issues requiring additional expertise:
AWS Community Engagement: Active participation in AWS forums, Stack Overflow, and Reddit communities AWS User Groups: Membership in local and online AWS user groups for peer assistance AWS Partner Network: Relationships with AWS Consulting Partners who can provide expedited assistance Independent AWS Consultants: Vetted network of contractors with specialized AWS expertise Proactive Measures
Infrastructure Resilience
Multi-AZ Deployments: Critical services deployed across multiple Availability Zones Disaster Recovery Testing: Quarterly DR drills with documented recovery procedures Chaos Engineering: Controlled failure injection to identify resilience gaps Knowledge Management
AWS Training Program: Continuous education for all team members Knowledge Sharing Sessions: Weekly technical deep-dives on AWS services Post-Incident Reviews: Documented lessons learned after each incident Preventative Monitoring
Infrastructure as Code: Version-controlled CloudFormation/Terraform templates CI/CD Pipeline Checks: Automated validation of infrastructure changes Cost and Resource Anomaly Detection: Alerting for unusual resource consumption Security Scanning: Regular assessments using AWS Inspector and third-party tools Communication Plan
Internal Communications
Incident Response Channel: Dedicated Slack channel for real-time incident coordination Status Page: Internal dashboard showing current status of all AWS resources Escalation Tree: Clearly defined escalation paths based on issue severity External Communications
Stakeholder Notifications: Templated communications for different severity levels Service Status Updates: Regular cadence of updates during ongoing incidents Resolution Summaries: Post-incident reports with root cause analysis Continuous Improvement
Metrics and KPIs
Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR): Target of <4 hours for P1 issues First-Response Time: Targets aligned with severity classification Recurring Issue Rate: Tracking frequency of similar incidents Feedback Loop
Quarterly Process Review: Regular assessment of this action plan's effectiveness AWS Architecture Reviews: Periodic reviews to implement AWS best practices Trend Analysis: Identification of common issue patterns and systemic solutions Conclusion
Our organization has implemented a robust framework for managing AWS infrastructure issues without relying on AWS Business Support. By combining our internal AWS expertise, tiered resolution approach, proactive measures, and continuous improvement processes, we maintain high standards of operational excellence while effectively addressing any technical challenges that may arise.
This document fulfills the AWS Foundational Technical Review (FTR) requirement for having "an action plan to handle issues which require help from AWS Support" without subscribing to the AWS Business Support tier.
