AWS is basically the definition of managed services. You can either go all in on AWS’s Manager Services, used dedicated hosts or stay somewhere in between.

But sometimes what you need is a managed server rather than a managed service.

Serious question what part of your server do you need managed besides the hardware? AWS would be doing that with a dedicated host.

With Rackspace you used to be able to get support with things like OS upgrades and security patches; network troubleshooting; firewall setup; filesystem issues; and the like. Systems administration, basically.

Depending on the level and type of support you need, you can either go for AWS’s business support plan (10% of your bill with $100 minimum) but they won’t do anything involving anything hosted on your actual VM besides maybe help you with one of their software agents. On the other hand, you can always pay a manager service provider to pick up the slack if you don’t have the expertise in house.

The skill and experience is not in the company anymore as such the promise they make to customers can not be met. They are currently building support teams in India