One-line summary
Let applications send registration, password-reset, order, notification, and marketing email at scale through an API or SMTP.
Core role
- Manage email delivery, domain or address verification, templates, and sending metrics.
- Process bounces, complaints, suppression lists, and delivery events.
- Support a serverless contact form such as S3 → API Gateway → Lambda → SES.
Exam focus and pitfalls
- Application email points to SES; publishing notifications to subscribers points to SNS; a contact center points to Connect.
- Lambda can invoke SES, but Lambda is not an email-delivery system.
- Production designs must consider sandbox status, quotas, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, reputation, abuse prevention, and least privilege.
Key takeaway
Application email means Amazon SES.