Pre-Qualification Questions to ask your customer prior to adding accounts to the platform.
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Overview:
This article provides information related to working with AWS customers. AWS Customers environments can involve:
1. Single AWS Account(s)
2. Consolidated AWS accounts (parent account with linked/child accounts)
The table below lists some high-level questions, each with an explanation of why it is essential to understand the answer before linking existing AWS accounts to StreamOne Ion. The answers to these questions are used to determine the appropriate setup as well as any potential custom considerations to ensure a positive customer migration experience.
This article assumes an understanding of AWS Organization. If you want to learn more, see this link:
https://aws.amazon.com/organizations/
What should I know before starting the migration process?
Account access considerations
Migrations can be associated with a single AWS account or with AWS accounts attached to an existing AWS Organization. By accepting an invitation that TDS sends on behalf of our resellers, a single account can link their AWS account with a reseller.
Before a member account can leave the current AWS Organization (payer account), some member accounts may need to add a payment method (credit card) to view and accept the new TDS Organization invitation.
If an account is a member or master payer account of an AWS Organization, please contact your TDS Sales representative for instructions or open a support ticket in StreamOne Ion.
Reporting considerations
In an organization, billing history and billing reports for all accounts are kept with the payer account. Download any billing reports for any member accounts for which you want to keep historical billing data before moving a member account to a new organization. This could include Cost and Usage Reports, Detailed Billing Reports, or Cost Explorer reports.
When the account links to an AWS organization, the existing CUR data file will no longer be updated. The platform will overwrite any data that existed prior to the linking process if the file name is the same. A separate S3 bucket will ensure there is no gap in data and existing data remains unchanged.
Please see the article titled: "Setting Up S3 bucket for 3rd Party Tools" for detailed instructions.
Blending Rates for Billing Reconciliation
Consolidated billing aggregates usage costs for accounts in the organization. AWS treats all accounts under an AWS Organization as one account when it comes to reporting in the AWS billing console. Once the account links to our consolidated payer (AWS Organization), you see a different price in the AWS console vs the StreamOne Ion billing reports. The native console cannot be used for accurate billing information. StreamOne Ion is the tool that keeps track of the volume discounts, RI purchases and reports billing data accurately to individual linked accounts or groups of accounts belonging to a single customer. The platform aligns the benefits to the accounts that made the investment in the RI purchases or volume discounts. Usage information will be 100% aligned, but billing data is impacted in the AWS console due to volume discounts, consolidation and blended rates of all accounts aggregated.
It is important to read and understand Explanation of AWS Shared Consolidation and Blended Rates. ***
AWS Free Tier
In a shared consolidated payer, free tier products are restricted to the TDS Organization because of AWS limitations. AWS does not distribute free tier benefits among multiple accounts within shared payers. For all accounts associated with dedicated payers, the free tier will apply to the account that utilized the free tier services.
TDS does not prevent or restrict Root account owners from using AWS's native reporting tools. TDS requests that our resellers explain blended rates to all customers who are currently viewing billing data in the AWS native billing dashboard before adding/linking AWS to the platform.Before adding accounts to the platform, ask your customers these pre-qualification questions.
Question | Why Is This Important? |
| Are you migrating a single account(s) or is the account linked to an AWS organization? | Single Account(s) A single account can link to an AWS organization at any time. Linked to an AWS Organization AWS only allows one level of parent-child account relationships. If the account is a subordinate account under a consolidated master payer or AWS organization, the subordinate account must be unlinked or removed from the current organization before joining the TD SYNNEX organization (consolidated payer). The AWS account or group of accounts needs to be free-standing/individual accounts before the linking process is completed. |
| Are you migrating a customer with multiple accounts currently under a consolidated AWS Organization which the customer owns? If yes, what features of AWS organizations are enabled? | Customer-owned AWS Organization If the customer has consolidated their AWS accounts under a master payer, we need to understand what features of AWS Organization they are leveraging. Consolidated billing is by default enabled when an AWS Organization is created. Organizational Service Control Policies (SPCs) govern permissions. SCPs apply only to organization-managed principals. Resource-based regulations are unaffected by SCPs. They don't effect external users or roles. |
| If the customer is working with another reseller or distributor, are their accounts currently organized into a dedicated payer? | Dedicated Payer Distributor/Reseller Owned Payer with member accounts belonging to single customer (or company). This would require the AWS consent-to-assign process, with AWS managing the change of ownership of the billing (payer account) to TD SYNNEX. |
| If there is an existing AWS Organization, are there any production workloads in the Master account? | If the answer to this question is yes, please consult with your TD SYNNEX sales representative to review the best migration strategy. |
| Is the account an MPA account of an AWS organization? | MPA account with created AWS Organization Before you can migrate an account with an AWS organization, you must delete the organization. The former master account becomes a standalone AWS account. This action does not affect any workloads running in the account. The account is now able to accept the invitation to a new AWS organization. |
| What are the customers' support requirements? | Single Accounts The account owner can select the support option that best suits their needs. TD SYNNEX assumes AWS Business Level support is applicable to most single accounts attached to our payers. To manage your billing expectations, it is important to notify TD SYNNEX of any exception. Otherwise, you could see a variance in the Ion AWS billing reports between seller cost and customer cost. See article: How to Assign Support Plan Charges to Cloud Accounts for more information. Dedicated AWS Organizations: Mixed Support selection TD SYNNEX requires AWS Business Level support for all payers. Child accounts under the organization may elect the support option that best suits the needs of the customer. Dedicated AWS Organizations: Business Level Support (All Account) This option provides partners margin benefits based on the discount structure associated with aggregation.TD SYNNEX |
| Is the customer using any native AWS reports or other third-party programs? | Some analytic tools require access to the cost and usage (CUR) report(s). In the shared consolidation model, we must create a separate file for third-party tools to work for specific customers. There is a specific setting in the platform to accommodate for third-party tools. For the native AWS report, please gather data around the information required so we can align with the reports available on the Ion platform. |
| Is the customer currently under any private pricing contracts directly with AWS? | If the customer has a private pricing agreement, please gather as much information as they are willing to share regarding the agreement, and then contact your TD SYNNEX Sales Representative to review options and next steps for migrating the customer. Private pricing agreements typically do not transfer. Private pricing agreements are typically re-negotiated when moving from direct to the channel. |
| Does the customer have a direct AWS Enterprise Customer Agreement (EA)? | TD SYNNEX operates under the end-customer model of AWS's channel program. This means that the legal owner of the child accounts remains with the end customer. There is no issue with working with this customer. If we are migrating as a master payer, please consult with your TD SYNNEX sales representative to review the best migration strategy. |
| Is there any single account considered for migration (standalone or a child of payer) that has a monthly billing value of $50k or more? | Please contact your TD SYNNEX Cloud Sales Rep to provide the details. Under the AWS channel program, any account billing over $50k in the month prior to migration is subject to approval for migration and may be subject to reduced discount. AWS considers this a "share-shift" business. |
| Is this a public-sector AWS account? Are you a public sector authorized reseller with AWS and TD SYNNEX Government Solution (TDGS)? | Public Sector: Federal Government, City, State, County, Education, and Nonprofit Organizations are considered to be part of the public sector. If your public sector status is unknown, contact your cloud sales representative to verify that your company is public sector authorized with AWS and to confirm the counter-signed agreements with TD SYNNEX Government Solutions and AWS. The Ion Cloud Support Ops team will need to create a separate SIE for your company's public sector accounts |
| Is the AWS account part of Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL)? (AWS India) | If an AWS account was opened with an address located in India, you will not be able to link that account to a US or other regional payer. *For more information, please read: What are the differences between AWS accounts and AWS India accounts? |
| Is this account from from AWS China—Ningxia/Beijing Region? | Because of legal and billing constraints, we cannot add/link accounts registered in the AWS China—Ningxia/Beijing Regions in our Organization. *For more information, please read: Amazon Web Services in China |
Highly recommended TDS training class: Setting Up and Managing your AWS Business on StreamOne Ion. This training will assist you in understanding how StreamOne Ion handles AWS business complexities, setting up your AWS business, understanding reports, and reconciling billing data. (This is partner-facing training.)
To submit a support request, in StreamOne Ion, click the "?" icon in the upper right menu bar or click Submit a ticket in the Knowledge Base. Fill out all mandatory fields or read How to Use StreamOne Freshdesk to Submit and View Support Tickets for more information.