AWS Resold Support changes who bills you. AWS Partner-Led Support changes who supports you. With Resold Support, you keep a direct technical relationship with AWS Support and AWS’s TAM, and the partner handles billing. With Partner-Led Support, the partner is your first line and your TAM. At the Enterprise level, either meets a PPA’s support requirement.
Key Takeaways
- Under AWS Resold Support the partner bills you, and you keep your direct technical line to AWS Support and AWS’s Technical Account Manager (TAM).
- Under AWS Partner-Led Support the partner is your first line and your TAM, backed by AWS.
- At the Enterprise level, both meet a cross-service Private Pricing Agreement (PPA)‘s Enterprise Support requirement. Business Support+ does not, whoever delivers it.
- AWS publishes the list fee. The partner sets what it charges, so compare offers on the same gross charges and the same service.
Last verified against AWS pages on 2026-10-29. AWS changes support terms, so check the linked pages before you decide.
What AWS Resold Support is, and how it differs from a reseller
AWS Resold Support is a support route in which a partner bills you for AWS Support while you keep “a direct technical relationship with AWS Support,” according to the AWS Resold Support page. The partner “is responsible for your regular AWS billing” and handles non-technical questions. The page lists Business Support+, Enterprise Support and Unified Operations as the plans it covers. For pricing, it tells you to “contact your partner.”
A billing reseller is a partner that resells AWS usage under AWS’s Solution Provider Program and invoices you for it. Two things share the word “reseller,” and they are easy to mix up:
| Billing reseller | AWS Resold Support | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A partner that resells AWS usage under AWS’s Solution Provider Program | A support route, offered by eligible Solution Providers and Distributors |
| What you buy | AWS services, billed through the partner | AWS Support (Business Support+, Enterprise Support or Unified Operations), billed through the partner |
| Who bills you | The partner, which “directly manage[s] customer billing” | The partner |
| What to check | Console and billing access, discount basis, exit terms | The plan level, who sets the support price, exit terms |
A search for “AWS reseller” returns both ideas mixed together, along with partner directories and posts written for would-be resellers. If a partner says it will “handle your AWS,” ask which of the two it means. Partners may offer both Resold and Partner-Led Support, according to AWS’s Resold Support page.
What changes in your AWS accounts when a partner bills you
AWS publishes a Program Guide for End Customers for the Solution Provider Program (last updated 2024-11-26). It covers the accounts you buy through a billing reseller, and what it says is worth knowing before you sign:
- The accounts stay yours. Your AWS Services Agreement governs how you use the services, except for fees, payment, pricing and tax terms, which your agreement with the partner supersedes. You pay the partner’s invoice.
- Joining is a technical step. You join each account to the partner’s management account in AWS Organizations and update its tax settings to the partner’s. Or you authorize the partner in writing to create accounts for you.
- Access depends on the AWS Organizations mode. With Consolidated Billing, “only your usage and invoices” are visible to the partner, and you manage its access with IAM. With All Features, the partner has “full control over what your End Customer Accounts can do” and may be able to reach your content. AWS’s Organizations user guide says you can’t switch from All Features back to Consolidated Billing.
- Ask for root credentials. If the partner creates accounts for you, AWS says to request the root user credentials at creation, because AWS “cannot release those credentials to you.”
- Leaving is documented. You unjoin your accounts from the partner’s management account, or have the partner assign it to you, and restore your own tax settings.
- The partner doesn’t speak for AWS. The guide says a Solution Provider and its affiliates “are not agents of AWS for any purpose,” so get any promise in writing from the partner.
What AWS Partner-Led Support is, in brief
AWS Partner-Led Support is an AWS program in which a partner defines and delivers the support it sells, instead of reselling AWS Support unchanged. The partner is your first line and escalates to AWS when a case needs it. AWS gives the partner “24/7 premium access to AWS experts,” including specialist TAMs, and “a 15-minute case response time for high severity issues,” according to the AWS Partner-Led Support page. That page is written to partners, not to you, so it describes what the partner receives, not what you are promised.
Partner-led support can be delivered at the Business Support+ level or the Enterprise level, and only the Enterprise level meets a PPA requirement. For the full treatment, including a worksheet for comparing partner offers, see AWS Partner-Led Support vs AWS Enterprise Support.
Resold vs Partner-Led, side by side
The two routes split at the first call. Under Resold Support you call AWS Support, and under Partner-Led Support you call the partner.
| Direct Enterprise Support | AWS Resold Support | AWS Partner-Led Support | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing relationship | AWS | The partner | The partner |
| First line for technical cases | AWS Support | AWS Support | The partner |
| Who contacts AWS Support | You | You | The partner, on your behalf |
| TAM | AWS’s | AWS’s | The partner’s, backed by AWS specialist TAMs |
| Who sets the support price | AWS, at published rates | The partner | The partner |
| Who defines the SLA | AWS | AWS, through the plan (inferred) | The partner |
| Access to your accounts | Not applicable | Ask the partner (AWS’s page does not say) | Ask the partner (set by the partner) |
| Contract and exit terms | AWS terms | The partner’s terms | The partner’s terms |
| Meets a PPA’s Enterprise Support requirement | Yes | Yes, at the Enterprise level | Yes, at the Enterprise level |
The TAM row follows from the plan. AWS’s Enterprise Support page says “your designated Technical Account Manager provides strategic guidance and deep AWS knowledge.” AWS’s Resold Support page does not mention a TAM, so the Resold cell reflects ASCENDING’s understanding that Resold Support at the Enterprise level is AWS Enterprise Support billed by a partner, with AWS’s TAM. Partner-led offers differ by partner, so ask each one. ASCENDING’s AWS Partner-Led Support page lists a designated TAM. See what a TAM does under each support model.
Follow one incident through each model
Take a production database outage at 2 a.m. The walk-through below is built from AWS’s published descriptions, not from a customer case. Rows marked “inferred” follow from those descriptions and are worth confirming with any partner.
| Step | Direct | Resold | Partner-Led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who you contact | AWS Support | AWS Support | The partner |
| Who opens the AWS case | You | You (inferred from “direct technical relationship”) | The partner, escalating when needed |
| Response target | AWS says “within 15 minutes” for production-critical issues on Enterprise Support, and “every reasonable effort” to meet it | The same plan, so the same AWS target (inferred) | The partner’s committed time, set in your contract |
| Who knows your architecture | Your AWS TAM | Your AWS TAM | The partner’s TAM, with AWS specialist TAMs behind them |
| Who follows up and invoices | AWS | The partner | The partner |
The partner’s committed time in the last column is where offers differ, so get it in writing. ASCENDING’s Partner-Led Support page lists SLAs “identical to AWS Enterprise Support,” which is the kind of statement to ask any partner for the exact figures instead of accepting “enterprise-grade.”
Which one meets your PPA’s Enterprise Support requirement?
Either, at the Enterprise level. Enterprise Support is part of a cross-service PPA, the agreement formerly called the Enterprise Discount Program (EDP). In ASCENDING’s reading of AWS’s terms, it is required for the whole term. AWS does not publish PPA terms, so confirm the clause with your AWS account team.
- Partner-Led Support at the Enterprise level meets it, whether you signed the PPA with AWS directly or through a partner.
- Resold Support at the Enterprise level meets it on the same basis.
- Business Support+ does not, whether AWS provides it, a partner delivers it as partner-led support or a partner resells it.
- A managed service provider that is not authorized for either program does not meet it, however good its operations team.
For the credentials that make a partner “authorized,” how to verify them and the support fee over a three-year term, see who can provide Enterprise Support under a PPA, and what it costs over the term. AWS calculates the fee on gross monthly charges “before any discounts or credits are applied,” according to AWS Support pricing. Whether your contract discounts the support line itself is a negotiated term. The PPA negotiation guide covers that.
How to compare partner offers on price
Compare quotes on the same gross charges and the same service. AWS publishes the list fee for Enterprise Support: the greater of $5,000 a month, or 10% of monthly charges up to $150,000, 7% from $150,000 to $500,000, 5% from $500,000 to $1 million and 3% above that. The partner sets what it charges you, under either route.
That makes each percentage point of difference easy to price. Each 10% difference between a partner’s quote and AWS’s list fee is worth this much:
| Monthly gross AWS charges | AWS Enterprise Support list fee | Each 10% difference |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $10,000 | $1,000 a month, $12,000 a year |
| $250,000 | $22,000 | $2,200 a month, $26,400 a year |
| $500,000 | $39,500 | $3,950 a month, $47,400 a year |
Calculated from AWS’s published Enterprise Support rates. Your own fee depends on your gross charges, so use the Enterprise Support cost calculator.
When you weigh “discount options through resellers,” separate four things the quote may bundle:
- What is discounted. Usage, support, or both.
- The basis. Gross charges, net charges or a flat fee.
- What is bundled. Tools, reviews, hours of TAM time or hands-on help.
- The exit terms. Minimum term, notice period and what happens to your data and access when you leave.
A lower quote can be a smaller offer, so price the service before you price the discount. The worksheet in the partner-led comparison turns this into ten questions.
Which should you choose?
Choose on who you want answering first and whose TAM you want. Qualifying is not the deciding factor.
| Your situation | Lean toward | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want AWS Support as your direct contact and only want billing to change | Resold Support | You keep a direct technical relationship with AWS Support and AWS’s TAM |
| You want one team that answers first and can do hands-on work | Partner-Led Support | The partner is your first line and your TAM, and can do hands-on work if the partner offers it. ASCENDING says its hands-on work happens only with your approval, case by case |
| You hold a PPA | Either, at the Enterprise level | Both meet the requirement. Ask the partner to confirm in writing |
| Cost is the lead factor | Neither by default | Price each on the same gross charges and the same SLA |
| Small, simple workloads | Business Support+ | Enterprise Support starts at $5,000 a month |
Put these questions to any partner before you sign:
- Is this Resold Support or Partner-Led Support, and at which plan level?
- Who opens cases with AWS, and can I open them myself?
- Which AWS Organizations mode will you use, Consolidated Billing or All Features, and who holds the root credentials?
- Who is my TAM, and what hours do they cover?
- Will you confirm in writing that this satisfies my PPA’s Enterprise Support requirement?
- Does support spend count toward my commitment? ASCENDING’s understanding is yes, but AWS does not publish PPA terms, so get it in writing.
- What are the minimum term, the notice period and the exit terms?
ASCENDING sells both AWS Resold Support and AWS Partner-Led Support. To run a quote through these questions, get an estimate on the AWS Partner-Led Support page.
References
- AWS Resold Support, AWS, retrieved 2026-10-28.
- AWS Solution Provider Program, AWS, retrieved 2026-10-28.
- AWS Partner-Led Support, AWS, retrieved 2026-10-28.
- AWS Support pricing, AWS, retrieved 2026-10-28.
- AWS Enterprise Support, AWS, retrieved 2026-10-29.
- AWS Solution Provider Program: Program Guide for End Customers, AWS, last updated 2024-11-26, retrieved 2026-10-29.
- Enabling all features for an organization, AWS Organizations User Guide, retrieved 2026-10-29.
- AWS Partner-Led Enterprise Support, ASCENDING, retrieved 2026-10-29.
FAQ — Resold vs Partner-Led AWS Support
Should I choose partner-led support or AWS Resold Support for my PPA?
Either meets a cross-service PPA's Enterprise Support requirement at the Enterprise level, so choose on who answers first, whose TAM you get and how you want to be billed. Ask the partner to confirm in writing that its offer satisfies your agreement. See who can provide Enterprise Support under a PPA.
Should I buy AWS through a reseller or directly?
A billing reseller changes who invoices you and may add services. Which AWS support route you use is a separate decision. Before you move, ask what you keep: console and billing access, the ability to open cases with AWS, and the exit terms.
How do I choose an AWS reseller or support partner?
Check the partner's tier, Managed Service Provider (MSP) status and competencies in the AWS Partner Solutions Finder, then get the offer in writing: program, plan level, price basis, TAM, coverage hours and exit terms. The PPA support guide lists the credentials to check.
Who is my TAM under AWS Resold Support?
AWS's. Resold Support sits on top of AWS's own plan, so under the Enterprise plan you get AWS's designated Technical Account Manager. Under Partner-Led Support, your TAM works for the partner, backed by AWS specialist TAMs. See what an AWS TAM does.
Can I switch from AWS Resold Support to partner-led support without moving my accounts?
Support is a separate line from your AWS accounts, so the accounts stay where they are. AWS Support subscriptions carry a 30-day minimum commitment, according to AWS Support pricing, so check your current notice terms and agree the start date with the new partner before you switch.
