Which AWS service best supports the Prepare best practice in operational excellence?

The best choice for supporting the Prepare best practice in operational excellence is AWS Config. AWS Config is designed to enable AWS customers to assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of their AWS resources. It helps in ensuring compliance over time by continuously monitoring resource configurations and tracking changes, which is vital for operational excellence.

In the context of the Prepare best practice, which emphasizes building well-architected infrastructures that are capable of running efficiently, having visibility into your configurations and their historical changes is crucial. With AWS Config, teams can set rules for compliance and ensure that they're prepared for operational tasks, such as audits or assessments, while keeping systems aligned with organizational policies.

AWS CloudTrail, while important for logging and tracking API calls across AWS services, focuses predominantly on security and auditing rather than operational readiness in the configurations of resources. AWS Trusted Advisor offers best practices and recommendations regarding cost optimization, performance, security, and fault tolerance but does not focus specifically on preparation and continuous compliance checks. AWS Organizations allows for management of multiple AWS accounts but does not directly contribute to tracking configurations or fostering an operational excellence mindset in the same way AWS Config does.