AWS Managed Services (AMS) is Amazon's own operations service: AWS staff monitor, patch, back up and secure the infrastructure in your AWS accounts, 24/7, so your team does not have to. The term is also used for fully managed AWS services such as Amazon RDS, and for AWS partners that run your environment as a managed service provider.
Key takeaways
- "AWS managed services" has three meanings: the AMS offering from AWS, AWS services that AWS operates for you (RDS, S3, Lambda), and AWS partner MSPs.
- AMS covers infrastructure up to the operating system on EC2. AWS states that AMS does not operate or configure your applications.
- AWS is ending AMS Advanced on 30 June 2027 and stopped taking new AMS Advanced customers on 30 June 2026. AMS Accelerate continues.
- AMS is priced on the number of instances plus the usage fees of the other AWS services in the managed accounts. Support is in English.
- A partner MSP can add application management, migration, multi-cloud and local-language support that AMS leaves out.
What does "AWS managed services" mean?
It depends on who is searching. The phrase covers three different things, and mixing them up leads to wrong expectations in contracts and budgets.
| Meaning | Who runs it | What you still own | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMS, the AWS offering | AWS operations staff | Applications, data, change decisions | Large enterprises with many AWS accounts |
| Fully managed AWS services (RDS, DynamoDB, S3, Lambda) | AWS runs the platform layer | Data, access rights, configuration, architecture | Any AWS customer that wants less server work |
| AWS managed service provider (partner MSP) | An AWS partner under contract | Business priorities, budget, approvals | Mid-size firms and enterprises that want one supplier for infrastructure and applications |
The rest of this article explains each one and how to choose between them.
What is AWS Managed Services (AMS)?
AMS is an enterprise service in which AWS operates your AWS infrastructure for you. The AMS user guide describes it as "ongoing management of your AWS infrastructure", covering provisioning, monitoring, patch management, security and backup, run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with IT service management practices.
On its AMS product page, AWS lists what it brings to that work:
- more than 150 managed guardrails and security checks;
- 80% of incidents detected proactively and notified to the customer;
- up to 97% of operations automated through AWS Systems Manager documents;
- 10–15% annual operational and AWS cost savings on average for its customers.
These are AWS's own figures for its own service. Treat them as vendor claims, and ask for the numbers that apply to your accounts during a proposal.
AMS Advanced and AMS Accelerate
AMS has had two operating models. AMS Advanced moved workloads into an AWS-built landing zone and ran change and access management through a request-for-change (RFC) system. AMS Accelerate works inside your existing AWS accounts and adds incident, patch and backup management plus security monitoring.
The choice is now simpler. According to the AMS Advanced end-of-support notice, AWS stopped accepting new AMS Advanced customers on 30 June 2026 and will end the service on 30 June 2027. After that date the RFC system, AMS-managed patching, monitoring, incident management and landing zone controls stop. Your workloads keep running; only the AMS management layer is removed.
AWS names four ways forward: move to AMS Accelerate, use the AWS Unified Operations support plan, hand operations to an AWS partner, or run the environment yourself with native tools such as AWS Control Tower, Systems Manager, AWS Backup and CloudWatch. Note that Accelerate does not include change management or access management, so those return to you or to a partner.
What AMS does not cover
The AMS FAQ is clear about the limits:
- Applications. AMS manages AWS infrastructure and services up to and including the operating system on EC2. It does not operate or configure your applications.
- Migration consulting. AWS says partners fill this gap in most AMS engagements.
- Language. AMS support is provided in English.
- Single supplier. AWS itself suggests that customers who want one vendor for applications and infrastructure contact an AWS Managed Service Provider partner.
How much does AMS cost?
AWS does not publish a price list. Its FAQ says the price is calculated from the number of instances and the usage fees of all other AWS services in the accounts AMS manages, and it asks you to contact sales. For a wider view of fee models, see our guide on what a managed AWS service costs.
What are fully managed AWS services?
A fully managed AWS service is one where AWS runs the servers, operating system and platform software, and you only use the service through its API or console. Amazon RDS, Amazon S3, Amazon DynamoDB and AWS Lambda are common examples.
The AWS shared responsibility model explains the split. With Amazon EC2, you manage the guest operating system, patches, installed software and security groups. With abstracted services such as S3 and DynamoDB, AWS operates the infrastructure, the operating system and the platform. You remain responsible for your data, encryption choices, asset classification and IAM permissions.
Choosing managed services cuts patching and server work, but it does not remove operations. Someone still has to watch costs, tune alarms, review access, test restores and respond when a dependency fails at 03:00.
What is an AWS managed service provider?
An AWS managed service provider is a partner company that takes contractual responsibility for running your AWS environment. AWS runs a validation programme for this through the AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner Program, which audits partners against a validation checklist.
A partner MSP usually covers the same infrastructure work as AMS: monitoring, incident response, patching, backup, security and cost control. The difference is scope. Partners commonly add application support, migration projects, Azure or Google Cloud next to AWS, local data-protection advice (GDPR, NIS2, India's DPDP Act) and support in your own language and time zone. For a general explanation of the model, see what a managed service provider is.
AMS or a partner MSP: how to choose
Use these questions to decide:
- Do you need application management? If yes, AMS alone will not cover it.
- Are you on AMS Advanced today? You have until 30 June 2027 to move to Accelerate, a partner or self-managed operations. Start the transition plan early, because change and access management do not carry over to Accelerate.
- How many accounts and instances do you run? AMS pricing scales with instances and usage. Compare it with fixed-fee or per-resource partner offers on the same scope.
- Do you need multi-cloud? AMS manages AWS. A partner can run AWS and Azure under one contract.
- What language and time zone does your team work in? Escalations to an English-only global desk work for some teams and not for others.
- What must the contract prove? For NIS2 or ISO 27001 audits you need incident logs, change records and named contacts. Check who produces them.
How Opsio helps
Opsio is an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner with the AWS Migration Competency, with offices in Karlstad, Sweden and Bangalore, India. Our AWS managed service covers 24/7 monitoring, incident response, patching, backup and cost control, with application support where you need it. We also help AMS Advanced customers plan the move before the June 2027 deadline, and run AWS migrations for teams that are not on AWS yet.
For example, Opus Bilprovning, which runs around 100 vehicle inspection stations in Sweden and performs more than 2 million inspections a year, uses Opsio for 24/7 managed operations on AWS across CloudOps, DevOps and SecOps.
Frequently asked questions
Is AWS Managed Services the same as AWS Support?
No. AWS Support answers questions and helps resolve issues that you raise. AMS operates the infrastructure for you, including monitoring, patching, backup and incident management. Many AMS customers also have an AWS support plan.
Is AMS being discontinued?
Only AMS Advanced. AWS ends it on 30 June 2027 and stopped accepting new Advanced customers on 30 June 2026. AMS Accelerate remains available as of October 2026.
Does AMS manage my applications?
No. AWS states that AMS manages infrastructure up to the operating system on EC2 and does not operate or configure applications. Application management comes from your own team or a partner.
What is an example of a fully managed AWS service?
Amazon RDS is a common example. AWS runs the database servers, operating system and engine patching, while you manage the data, users, parameters and backups policy that fits your recovery goals.
How is AMS priced?
AWS prices AMS on the number of instances plus the usage fees of the other AWS services in the managed accounts, and quotes through sales. Partner MSPs typically charge a fixed monthly fee, a per-resource fee or a percentage of the cloud bill.
Related reading: How much do AWS managed services cost in 2026.
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Written By
Country Manager, Sweden
Johan leads Opsio's Sweden operations, driving AI adoption, DevOps transformation, security strategy, and cloud solutioning for Nordic enterprises. With 12+ years in enterprise cloud infrastructure, he has delivered 200+ projects across AWS, Azure, and GCP — specialising in Well-Architected reviews, landing zone design, and multi-cloud strategy.
Editorial standards: This article was written by the cloud practitioner named in the byline above. We revise it when the technology or regulation it covers changes; the dates on this page show the latest update. Opsio maintains editorial independence.