Customer Custom Designs (AWS) | Cloudamize Support Center

Overview

Customer Custom Designs allow AWS customers to define their own named sets of sizing, architecture, and pricing preferences directly within the Cloudamize Classic UI.

Previously, assessments generated standard Cloudamize presets and OLA options (OLA 1–10). Applying alternative assumptions, such as excluding burstable instances, adding storage headroom, switching to RDS, or modifying Savings Plans, required building plans in the legacy Designer. Custom Designs streamline this process, enabling users to generate right-sizing recommendations that directly reflect their target AWS procurement and modernization strategies.

Key Capabilities

First-Class Assessment Integration: AWS customers define their initial design during the Start Assessment wizard.
Always Editable: Designs can be created, updated, or re-run at any time before, during, or after assessment processing.
Default Analysis View: Once built, the Analyze page defaults to the customer's primary design (fallback is OLA 2 while pending).
Modernization Tracking: Highlights customer interest in AWS modernizations (Graviton, AMD, Amazon RDS, FSx for NetApp ONTAP, FSx for Windows File Server) to assist Partners and Technical Account Managers (TAMs) in migration planning.

Where to Find Custom Designs

1. Assessment Page (Custom Design Card)

The Assessment overview displays a dedicated Custom Design status card showing:

Current Default Design Name
Build Status:
- Ready: The design has finished building, and its results are available in Analyze (the assessment itself may still be running).
- Building: Plan processing is underway.
- Build failed: Build could not complete; displays a Try again action.
Quick Actions: Use Edit design to modify settings. (Note: Accounts created before this release will display Create your design.

Even after the assessment has started, you can still create a Custom Design. Navigate to the Assessment tab, where you will find the Custom Design button located at the bottom of the page.

Custom Designs appear at the top of the Design selector:

Your Designs: User-created designs (tagged Your design; initial plan tagged Default).
Designer Designs: Complex or custom-filtered plans from legacy Designer.
+ Create a new design: Opens the design configuration form.
Standard Designs: Standard Cloudamize templates and OLA 1–10.

Start Assessment Wizard Workflow (AWS)

When launching an assessment with AWS selected as a target provider, the wizard includes a dedicated setup step:

Step	Step Name	Description	Status
1	Node Summary	Review discovered nodes and data collection readiness.	Standard
2	Region Settings	Select target cloud deployment regions.	Standard
3	Custom Design	Define target sizing, modernization, and pricing parameters.	New and available only for AWS.
4	Duration Settings	Select processing observation dates.	Standard
5	Review	Review summary of all setup steps with inline Edit links.	New
6	Assessment Started	Confirmation screen verifying assessment processing.	Standard

Note: The wizard keeps your design as a draft during setup and saves it when you click Start Assessment. The design is then built alongside the first results delivery, and its results will appear in the Analyze dropdown once that delivery is published.

Configuration Settings & Options

Every field must be populated to save a design.

A faint yellow star indicates the system default.
Use Apply defaults to populate all fields automatically (a confirmation appears if settings were already changed).
Once values are modified, this button switches to Reset to defaults.

Section	Setting	Available Options	Default (Matches OLA 6)	Details & Behavior
Compute	Burstable & flex instances	`Allow`, `Don't allow`	`Allow`	Toggle inclusion of T-series and burstable/flex families.
Compute	Graviton instances	`Allow`, `Don't allow`	`Don't allow`	Disabled if Preferred processor is set to Intel or AMD.
Compute	Target peak CPU	`60%`, `70%`, `80%`, `90%`	`80%`	The highest CPU utilization the recommended instance should reach during peak load (for example, an 80% target reserves 20% headroom).
Storage	Storage buffer	`None`, `+10%`, `+20%`, `+30%`, `+50%`	`None`	Adds headroom across all EBS volumes (including root). Does not apply to FSx.
Modernization	Run SQL Server on	`Amazon EC2`, `Amazon RDS for SQL Server`	`Amazon EC2`	Choosing RDS matches OLA 8 logic: discovered SQL instances move to RDS (License Included). RDS compute is priced On-Demand or using a 1-year No Upfront Database Savings Plan when a Savings Plan is selected.
Modernization	FSx interest	Checkboxes: `FSx for NetApp ONTAP (FSxN)` `FSx for Windows File Server (FSxW)`	`Unticked`	Captures modernization intent for shared storage architectures.
Pricing	Pricing plan	`On-Demand`, `1-year Savings Plan`, `3-year Savings Plan`	`3-year EC2 Instance Savings Plan, No upfront`	When selecting a Savings Plan, specify: Type: EC2 Instance or Compute Payment: No upfront, Partial upfront, or All upfront.
Pricing	SQL Server licensing	`BYOL`, `License Included`	`BYOL`	Applies to EC2 deployments.
Pricing	Negotiated AWS discount	`0%` to `50%`	`None` (0%)	Optional enterprise discount percentage.
Advanced	Preferred processor	`Any`, `Intel`, `AMD`	`Any`	Setting Intel or AMD locks out the Graviton option above.
Advanced	Sizing sensitivity	`Conservative`, `Balanced`, `Cost optimized`	`Balanced`	Governs utilization aggression when calculating instance recommendations.

Known Limitations

Design Limit: Maximum of 3 Custom Designs per customer workspace.
Deletion: Custom designs cannot be deleted once created for now.
Scope: Custom designs apply across all assessment instances. To create designs scoped to specific subsets or groups of machines, use the Designer tool.
FSx Modernization Checkboxes: Selecting FSx for NetApp ONTAP (FSxN) or FSx for Windows File Server (FSxW) does not alter the sizing or pricing output, as every design already calculates and includes FSx recommendations by default. These checkboxes serve only to record the customer's modernization interest.
Legacy Designer Compatibility: Custom designs appear as disabled rows in the legacy Designer list with instructions to manage them via the Analyze screen. You cannot open, edit, or delete them from the Designer view.

Frequently Asked Questions: Custom Designs Troubleshooting

Q: Why is my design stuck on "Building" status?

A: Under normal operation, a design typically finishes processing within an hour. If a build remains pending for longer than 1 hour, the system marks it as Build failed.

How to fix: Click Try again directly on the Custom Design card or from the Design selector dropdown to trigger a rebuild.

Q: Why can't I see my newly created design on the Analyze page right away?

A: If you create and save a custom design before the assessment's initial data delivery has completed, the calculations are automatically queued to run alongside that delivery.

Resolution: No manual action is required. Your custom design outputs will automatically appear in the Analyze page dropdown once the first data delivery is published.

Q: Why is the "+ Create a new design" button grayed out or disabled?

A: Each customer workspace allows a maximum of 3 Custom Designs. Once you reach this limit, the creation button is disabled.

How to fix:
- If you need different sizing or pricing assumptions for the entire infrastructure, select Edit design on an existing design instead of creating a new one.
- If you need tailored configurations for a specific subset or group of machines rather than the full environment, use the legacy Designer tool.

If you have any queries, please get in touch with the helpdesk via our Helpdesk Portal or by email at helpdesk@cloudamize.com.