Managing AWS Organization Alternate Contacts via CSV

Managing multiple AWS accounts for different workloads, environments, and compliance requirements is a common practice that aligns with the Well-Architected Framework principles of operational excellence, security, reliability, and cost optimization. AWS allows customers to define up to three alternate contacts for each account, in addition to the primary contact from the root account. These alternate contacts can be individual email addresses or distribution lists, enabling teams responsible for billing, operations, and security to receive relevant notifications promptly. However, manually populating and maintaining these alternate contacts across numerous linked accounts can be a daunting task, leading many customers to either neglect or overlook this important aspect. Consequently, critical notifications may fail to reach the appropriate teams, potentially causing operational, financial, or security-related issues.

To address this challenge, customers could benefit from a streamlined and efficient method to manage alternate contacts for their linked accounts, utilizing a CSV file. This approach would allow customers to centrally maintain and update alternate contact information, ensuring that the right teams receive timely notifications. One solution leverages on the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) to develop a script that can download all the existing alternate contacts into a CSV file for backup purposes or update and upload new contact information from a CSV file. The proposed AWS Organizations Alternate Contacts management via CSV project is an aws-sample: we recommend to carefully read the README for this script that could be run within the Management account's CloudShell, providing a centralized and convenient way to manage alternate contacts across multiple linked accounts. By implementing such a solution, customers can simplify the process of managing alternate contacts, reducing the risk of missed notifications and improving overall operational efficiency and security within their AWS Organizations.