AWS Systems Manager

What differentiates AWS Systems Manager from other similar products?

Parameter Store - It acts as a secure repository for configuration data and secrets management. It allows users to manage parameters hierarchically, enabling better organization and retrieval of sensitive information like passwords and database strings. This feature helps segregate code from configuration data, enhancing security practices. Incident Management - With features like OpsCenter and Incident Manager, AWS Systems Manager helps organizations manage operational incidents more effectively by providing a centralized location for tracking, investigating, and remediating issues. This is crucial for maintaining high service availability.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

Automation Capabilities: The automation features are highly regarded for enabling users to automate routine tasks such as patch management, configuration changes, and operational workflows. This reduces manual effort and minimizes the risk of human error, enhancing overall operational efficiency Compliance and Patch Management: The ability to automate compliance checks and patch management is crucial for many organizations. Users find it beneficial to maintain compliance with security policies and ensure that systems are up-to-date with minimal manual intervention

What do you dislike most about this product?

AWS Systems Manager does not support third-party extensions, which can limit its flexibility and integration capabilities with other too People complaint about the lack of clarity in error messages. For instance, when the system fails to connect to a machine, it does not adequately explain the reason for the error, complicating troubleshooting efforts

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

Before deploying in production, test your configurations in a staging environment. This helps identify potential issues without impacting live operations. Set up fine-grained access controls using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). Ensure only authorized users can access sensitive operations, and regularly review permissions Utilize AWS CloudTrail to monitor all API calls made through Systems Manager. This provides an audit trail that can help in troubleshooting and compliance verification

What differentiates AWS Systems Manager from other similar products?

AWS Systems Manager stands out from other similar products by offering a unified interface to manage and automate operations across various AWS services, providing a centralized view of your infrastructure with deep integration into other AWS services, making it particularly efficient for managing complex cloud environments within AWS itself; unlike some competitors that might focus on more generic system management across different cloud providers or on-premises systems.

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

Native AWS integration: Seamless integration with other AWS services like EC2, S3, CloudWatch, allowing for streamlined management of your entire cloud infrastructure within a single console. Comprehensive operational visibility: Provides a unified view of operational data across different AWS services, enabling easier identification and resolution of issues. Extensive automation capabilities: Powerful automation features like run commands, state manager, and document creation for managing configurations and performing tasks across your fleet of instances.

What do you dislike most about this product?

Complexity: AWS's billing system can be complex, leading to unexpected costs. Learning curve: AWS can have a steep learning curve. Vendor lock-in: There can be vendor lock-in with AWS. Compliance and data privacy: There can be compliance and data privacy concerns with AWS.

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

costly and if you were using can be coupled with AWS cloud

What differentiates AWS Systems Manager from other similar products?

other products doesn't provide such a wide range of options for using

What is your favorite aspect of this product?

good to use with multiple service integration

What do you dislike most about this product?

1. difficult to write custom run commands 2. patch manager doesn't notify for critical vuls

What recommendations would you give to someone considering this product?

1. write your own customized runbooks 2. never click on copy to new for running the same run command for other instances, it gives error as instances don't become healthy