diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go
index 4ca62c46e76..c81688b40da 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go
@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch/cloudwatchiface"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/metrics"
 )
 
-func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) executeRequest(ctx context.Context, client cloudWatchClient, metricDataInput *cloudwatch.GetMetricDataInput) ([]*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, error) {
+func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) executeRequest(ctx context.Context, client cloudwatchiface.CloudWatchAPI,
+	metricDataInput *cloudwatch.GetMetricDataInput) ([]*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, error) {
 	mdo := make([]*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, 0)
 
 	nextToken := ""
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor_test.go
index 090281dc334..46612e4ed43 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
+	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch/cloudwatchiface"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 var counter = 1
 
 type cloudWatchFakeClient struct {
+	cloudwatchiface.CloudWatchAPI
 }
 
 func (client *cloudWatchFakeClient) GetMetricDataWithContext(ctx aws.Context, input *cloudwatch.GetMetricDataInput, opts ...request.Option) (*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/log_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/log_query.go
index b7d3f12b05f..5a9468090f0 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/log_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/log_query.go
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ func logsResultsToDataframes(response *cloudwatchlogs.GetQueryResultsOutput) (*d
 	}
 
 	nonEmptyRows := make([][]*cloudwatchlogs.ResultField, 0)
-	// Sometimes CloudWatch can send empty rows
 	for _, row := range response.Results {
+		// Sometimes CloudWatch can send empty rows
 		if len(row) == 0 {
 			continue
 		}
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ func logsResultsToDataframes(response *cloudwatchlogs.GetQueryResultsOutput) (*d
 			if row[0].Value == nil {
 				continue
 			}
-			// Sometimes it sends row with only timestamp
+			// Sometimes it sends rows with only timestamp
 			if _, err := time.Parse(cloudWatchTSFormat, *row[0].Value); err == nil {
 				continue
 			}
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func logsResultsToDataframes(response *cloudwatchlogs.GetQueryResultsOutput) (*d
 			if _, exists := fieldValues[*resultField.Field]; !exists {
 				fieldNames = append(fieldNames, *resultField.Field)
 
-				// Check if field is time field
+				// Check if it's a time field
 				if _, err := time.Parse(cloudWatchTSFormat, *resultField.Value); err == nil {
 					fieldValues[*resultField.Field] = make([]*time.Time, rowCount)
 				} else if _, err := strconv.ParseFloat(*resultField.Value, 64); err == nil {
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func logsResultsToDataframes(response *cloudwatchlogs.GetQueryResultsOutput) (*d
 		}
 	}
 
-	newFields := make([]*data.Field, 0)
+	newFields := make([]*data.Field, 0, len(fieldNames))
 	for _, fieldName := range fieldNames {
 		newFields = append(newFields, data.NewField(fieldName, nil, fieldValues[fieldName]))
 
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go
index dc0de6e1e04..6ae46485cea 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/metric_data_query_builder_test.go
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func TestMetricDataQueryBuilder_buildSearchExpression(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 
 			res := buildSearchExpression(query, "Average")
-			assert.Equal(t, res, `REMOVE_EMPTY(SEARCH('{AWS/EC2,"LoadBalancer"} MetricName="CPUUtilization"', 'Average', 300))`)
+			assert.Equal(t, `REMOVE_EMPTY(SEARCH('{AWS/EC2,"LoadBalancer"} MetricName="CPUUtilization"', 'Average', 300))`, res)
 		})
 
 		t.Run("Query has three dimension values for two given dimension keys, and one value is a star", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go
index ca4b207aafc..8a17f7a73bb 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/data"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/simplejson"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
 )
@@ -13,7 +14,9 @@ import (
 // has more than one statistic defined, one cloudwatchQuery will be created for each statistic.
 // If the query doesn't have an Id defined by the user, we'll give it an with format `query[RefId]`. In the case
 // the incoming query had more than one stat, it will ge an id like `query[RefId]_[StatName]`, eg queryC_Average
-func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformRequestQueriesToCloudWatchQueries(requestQueries []*requestQuery) (map[string]*cloudWatchQuery, error) {
+func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformRequestQueriesToCloudWatchQueries(requestQueries []*requestQuery) (
+	map[string]*cloudWatchQuery, error) {
+	plog.Debug("Transforming CloudWatch request queries")
 	cloudwatchQueries := make(map[string]*cloudWatchQuery)
 	for _, requestQuery := range requestQueries {
 		for _, stat := range requestQuery.Statistics {
@@ -52,17 +55,22 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformRequestQueriesToCloudWatchQueries(requestQ
 
 func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformQueryResponseToQueryResult(cloudwatchResponses []*cloudwatchResponse) map[string]*tsdb.QueryResult {
 	responsesByRefID := make(map[string][]*cloudwatchResponse)
+	refIDs := sort.StringSlice{}
 	for _, res := range cloudwatchResponses {
+		refIDs = append(refIDs, res.RefId)
 		responsesByRefID[res.RefId] = append(responsesByRefID[res.RefId], res)
 	}
+	// Ensure stable results
+	refIDs.Sort()
 
 	results := make(map[string]*tsdb.QueryResult)
-	for refID, responses := range responsesByRefID {
+	for _, refID := range refIDs {
+		responses := responsesByRefID[refID]
 		queryResult := tsdb.NewQueryResult()
 		queryResult.RefId = refID
 		queryResult.Meta = simplejson.New()
 		queryResult.Series = tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice{}
-		timeSeries := make(tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice, 0)
+		frames := make(data.Frames, 0, len(responses))
 
 		requestExceededMaxLimit := false
 		partialData := false
@@ -72,7 +80,7 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformQueryResponseToQueryResult(cloudwatchRespo
 		}{}
 
 		for _, response := range responses {
-			timeSeries = append(timeSeries, *response.series...)
+			frames = append(frames, response.DataFrames...)
 			requestExceededMaxLimit = requestExceededMaxLimit || response.RequestExceededMaxLimit
 			partialData = partialData || response.PartialData
 			queryMeta = append(queryMeta, struct {
@@ -85,8 +93,8 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformQueryResponseToQueryResult(cloudwatchRespo
 			})
 		}
 
-		sort.Slice(timeSeries, func(i, j int) bool {
-			return timeSeries[i].Name < timeSeries[j].Name
+		sort.Slice(frames, func(i, j int) bool {
+			return frames[i].Name < frames[j].Name
 		})
 
 		if requestExceededMaxLimit {
@@ -96,7 +104,7 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformQueryResponseToQueryResult(cloudwatchRespo
 			queryResult.ErrorString = "Cloudwatch GetMetricData error: Too many datapoints requested - your search has been limited. Please try to reduce the time range"
 		}
 
-		queryResult.Series = append(queryResult.Series, timeSeries...)
+		queryResult.Dataframes = tsdb.NewDecodedDataFrames(frames)
 		queryResult.Meta.Set("gmdMeta", queryMeta)
 		results[refID] = queryResult
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser.go
index f0a497c19d0..ab8980fb306 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser.go
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ import (
 // Parses the json queries and returns a requestQuery. The requestQuery has a 1 to 1 mapping to a query editor row
 func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseQueries(queryContext *tsdb.TsdbQuery, startTime time.Time, endTime time.Time) (map[string][]*requestQuery, error) {
 	requestQueries := make(map[string][]*requestQuery)
-	for i, model := range queryContext.Queries {
-		queryType := model.Model.Get("type").MustString()
+	for i, query := range queryContext.Queries {
+		queryType := query.Model.Get("type").MustString()
 		if queryType != "timeSeriesQuery" && queryType != "" {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		refID := queryContext.Queries[i].RefId
+		refID := query.RefId
 		query, err := parseRequestQuery(queryContext.Queries[i].Model, refID, startTime, endTime)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, &queryError{err: err, RefID: refID}
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseQueries(queryContext *tsdb.TsdbQuery, startTim
 }
 
 func parseRequestQuery(model *simplejson.Json, refId string, startTime time.Time, endTime time.Time) (*requestQuery, error) {
+	plog.Debug("Parsing request query", "query", model)
 	reNumber := regexp.MustCompile(`^\d+$`)
 	region, err := model.Get("region").String()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser_test.go
index b7d52ee5ded..391a5aaeb0e 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/request_parser_test.go
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ func TestRequestParser(t *testing.T) {
 
 			res, err := parseRequestQuery(query, "ref1", from, to)
 			require.Nil(t, err)
-			assert.Equal(t, res.Period, 21600)
+			assert.Equal(t, 21600, res.Period)
 		})
 
 		t.Run("Time range is 2 years", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
index c05308302d1..c798aeb1752 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/null"
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/data"
 )
 
-func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseResponse(metricDataOutputs []*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, queries map[string]*cloudWatchQuery) ([]*cloudwatchResponse, error) {
+func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseResponse(metricDataOutputs []*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput,
+	queries map[string]*cloudWatchQuery) ([]*cloudwatchResponse, error) {
 	// Map from result ID -> label -> result
 	mdrs := make(map[string]map[string]*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult)
 	labels := map[string][]string{}
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseResponse(metricDataOutputs []*cloudwatch.GetMe
 	cloudWatchResponses := make([]*cloudwatchResponse, 0)
 	for id, lr := range mdrs {
 		query := queries[id]
-		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(lr, labels[id], query)
+		frames, partialData, err := parseMetricResults(lr, labels[id], query)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
 		response := &cloudwatchResponse{
-			series:                  series,
+			DataFrames:              frames,
 			Period:                  query.Period,
 			Expression:              query.UsedExpression,
 			RefId:                   query.RefId,
@@ -69,25 +69,25 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseResponse(metricDataOutputs []*cloudwatch.GetMe
 	return cloudWatchResponses, nil
 }
 
-func parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(metricDataResults map[string]*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult, labels []string,
-	query *cloudWatchQuery) (*tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice, bool, error) {
+func parseMetricResults(results map[string]*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult, labels []string,
+	query *cloudWatchQuery) (data.Frames, bool, error) {
 	partialData := false
-	result := tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice{}
+	frames := data.Frames{}
 	for _, label := range labels {
-		metricDataResult := metricDataResults[label]
-		if *metricDataResult.StatusCode != "Complete" {
+		result := results[label]
+		if *result.StatusCode != "Complete" {
 			partialData = true
 		}
 
-		for _, message := range metricDataResult.Messages {
+		for _, message := range result.Messages {
 			if *message.Code == "ArithmeticError" {
 				return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("ArithmeticError in query %q: %s", query.RefId, *message.Value)
 			}
 		}
 
-		// In case a multi-valued dimension is used and the cloudwatch query yields no values, create one empty time series for each dimension value.
-		// Use that dimension value to expand the alias field
-		if len(metricDataResult.Values) == 0 && query.isMultiValuedDimensionExpression() {
+		// In case a multi-valued dimension is used and the cloudwatch query yields no values, create one empty time
+		// series for each dimension value. Use that dimension value to expand the alias field
+		if len(result.Values) == 0 && query.isMultiValuedDimensionExpression() {
 			series := 0
 			multiValuedDimension := ""
 			for key, values := range query.Dimensions {
@@ -98,62 +98,88 @@ func parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(metricDataResults map[string]*cloudwatch.Metri
 			}
 
 			for _, value := range query.Dimensions[multiValuedDimension] {
-				emptySeries := tsdb.TimeSeries{
-					Tags:   map[string]string{multiValuedDimension: value},
-					Points: make([]tsdb.TimePoint, 0),
-				}
+				tags := map[string]string{multiValuedDimension: value}
 				for key, values := range query.Dimensions {
 					if key != multiValuedDimension && len(values) > 0 {
-						emptySeries.Tags[key] = values[0]
+						tags[key] = values[0]
 					}
 				}
 
-				emptySeries.Name = formatAlias(query, query.Stats, emptySeries.Tags, label)
-				result = append(result, &emptySeries)
+				timeField := data.NewField("timestamp", nil, []*time.Time{})
+				timeField.SetConfig(&data.FieldConfig{DisplayName: "Time"})
+
+				frameName := formatAlias(query, query.Stats, tags, label)
+				valueField := data.NewField("value", tags, []*float64{})
+				valueField.SetConfig(&data.FieldConfig{DisplayName: frameName})
+
+				emptyFrame := data.Frame{
+					Name: frameName,
+					Fields: []*data.Field{
+						timeField,
+						valueField,
+					},
+					RefID: query.RefId,
+				}
+				frames = append(frames, &emptyFrame)
 			}
 		} else {
-			keys := make([]string, 0)
+			dims := make([]string, 0, len(query.Dimensions))
 			for k := range query.Dimensions {
-				keys = append(keys, k)
+				dims = append(dims, k)
 			}
-			sort.Strings(keys)
+			sort.Strings(dims)
 
-			series := tsdb.TimeSeries{
-				Tags:   make(map[string]string),
-				Points: make([]tsdb.TimePoint, 0),
-			}
-
-			for _, key := range keys {
-				values := query.Dimensions[key]
+			tags := data.Labels{}
+			for _, dim := range dims {
+				values := query.Dimensions[dim]
 				if len(values) == 1 && values[0] != "*" {
-					series.Tags[key] = values[0]
+					tags[dim] = values[0]
 				} else {
 					for _, value := range values {
 						if value == label || value == "*" {
-							series.Tags[key] = label
+							tags[dim] = label
 						} else if strings.Contains(label, value) {
-							series.Tags[key] = value
+							tags[dim] = value
 						}
 					}
 				}
 			}
 
-			series.Name = formatAlias(query, query.Stats, series.Tags, label)
-
-			for j, t := range metricDataResult.Timestamps {
+			timestamps := []*time.Time{}
+			points := []*float64{}
+			for j, t := range result.Timestamps {
 				if j > 0 {
-					expectedTimestamp := metricDataResult.Timestamps[j-1].Add(time.Duration(query.Period) * time.Second)
+					expectedTimestamp := result.Timestamps[j-1].Add(time.Duration(query.Period) * time.Second)
 					if expectedTimestamp.Before(*t) {
-						series.Points = append(series.Points, tsdb.NewTimePoint(null.FloatFromPtr(nil), float64(expectedTimestamp.Unix()*1000)))
+						timestamps = append(timestamps, &expectedTimestamp)
+						points = append(points, nil)
 					}
 				}
-				series.Points = append(series.Points, tsdb.NewTimePoint(null.FloatFrom(*metricDataResult.Values[j]),
-					float64(t.Unix())*1000))
+				val := result.Values[j]
+				timestamps = append(timestamps, t)
+				points = append(points, val)
 			}
-			result = append(result, &series)
+
+			timeField := data.NewField("timestamp", nil, timestamps)
+			timeField.SetConfig(&data.FieldConfig{DisplayName: "Time"})
+
+			frameName := formatAlias(query, query.Stats, tags, label)
+			valueField := data.NewField("value", tags, points)
+			valueField.SetConfig(&data.FieldConfig{DisplayName: frameName})
+
+			frame := data.Frame{
+				Name: frameName,
+				Fields: []*data.Field{
+					timeField,
+					valueField,
+				},
+				RefID: query.RefId,
+			}
+			frames = append(frames, &frame)
 		}
 	}
-	return &result, partialData, nil
+
+	return frames, partialData, nil
 }
 
 func formatAlias(query *cloudWatchQuery, stat string, dimensions map[string]string, label string) string {
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
index a1bbfdfd610..2ae03e80db8 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/null"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -61,17 +60,17 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 			Period: 60,
 			Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 		}
-		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+		frames, partialData, err := parseMetricResults(mdrs, labels, query)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		timeSeries := (*series)[0]
+		frame1 := frames[0]
 		assert.False(t, partialData)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded", timeSeries.Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb1", timeSeries.Tags["LoadBalancer"])
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded", frame1.Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb1", frame1.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"])
 
-		timeSeries2 := (*series)[1]
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded", timeSeries2.Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb2", timeSeries2.Tags["LoadBalancer"])
+		frame2 := frames[1]
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded", frame2.Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb2", frame2.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"])
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Expand dimension value using substring", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -123,17 +122,17 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 			Period: 60,
 			Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 		}
-		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+		frames, partialData, err := parseMetricResults(mdrs, labels, query)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		timeSeries := (*series)[0]
+		frame1 := frames[0]
 		assert.False(t, partialData)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded", timeSeries.Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb1", timeSeries.Tags["LoadBalancer"])
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded", frame1.Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb1", frame1.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"])
 
-		timeSeries2 := (*series)[1]
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded", timeSeries2.Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb2", timeSeries2.Tags["LoadBalancer"])
+		frame2 := frames[1]
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded", frame2.Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb2", frame2.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"])
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Expand dimension value using wildcard", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -185,11 +184,12 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 			Period: 60,
 			Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 		}
-		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+		frames, partialData, err := parseMetricResults(mdrs, labels, query)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
+
 		assert.False(t, partialData)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb3 Expanded", (*series)[0].Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb4 Expanded", (*series)[1].Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb3 Expanded", frames[0].Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb4 Expanded", frames[1].Name)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Expand dimension value when no values are returned and a multi-valued template variable is used", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -221,12 +221,13 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 			Period: 60,
 			Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 		}
-		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+		frames, partialData, err := parseMetricResults(mdrs, labels, query)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
+
 		assert.False(t, partialData)
-		assert.Len(t, *series, 2)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded", (*series)[0].Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded", (*series)[1].Name)
+		assert.Len(t, frames, 2)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded", frames[0].Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded", frames[1].Name)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Expand dimension value when no values are returned and a multi-valued template variable and two single-valued dimensions are used", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -260,12 +261,13 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 			Period: 60,
 			Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded {{InstanceType}} - {{Resource}}",
 		}
-		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+		frames, partialData, err := parseMetricResults(mdrs, labels, query)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
+
 		assert.False(t, partialData)
-		assert.Len(t, *series, 2)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded micro - res", (*series)[0].Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded micro - res", (*series)[1].Name)
+		assert.Len(t, frames, 2)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb1 Expanded micro - res", frames[0].Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb2 Expanded micro - res", frames[1].Name)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("Parse cloudwatch response", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -302,15 +304,16 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 			Period: 60,
 			Alias:  "{{namespace}}_{{metric}}_{{stat}}",
 		}
-		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
-		timeSeries := (*series)[0]
+		frames, partialData, err := parseMetricResults(mdrs, labels, query)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		frame := frames[0]
 		assert.False(t, partialData)
-		assert.Equal(t, "AWS/ApplicationELB_TargetResponseTime_Average", timeSeries.Name)
-		assert.Equal(t, "lb", timeSeries.Tags["LoadBalancer"])
-		assert.Equal(t, null.FloatFrom(10.0).String(), timeSeries.Points[0][0].String())
-		assert.Equal(t, null.FloatFrom(20.0).String(), timeSeries.Points[1][0].String())
-		assert.Equal(t, null.FloatFromPtr(nil).String(), timeSeries.Points[2][0].String())
-		assert.Equal(t, null.FloatFrom(30.0).String(), timeSeries.Points[3][0].String())
+		assert.Equal(t, "AWS/ApplicationELB_TargetResponseTime_Average", frame.Name)
+		assert.Equal(t, "lb", frame.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"])
+		assert.Equal(t, 10.0, *frame.Fields[1].At(0).(*float64))
+		assert.Equal(t, 20.0, *frame.Fields[1].At(1).(*float64))
+		assert.Nil(t, frame.Fields[1].At(2))
+		assert.Equal(t, 30.0, *frame.Fields[1].At(3).(*float64))
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
index 58fe7f2e37b..2fd1852bcbd 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
@@ -6,17 +6,19 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/log"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util/errutil"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 )
 
 func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) executeTimeSeriesQuery(ctx context.Context, queryContext *tsdb.TsdbQuery) (*tsdb.Response, error) {
+	plog.Debug("Executing time series query")
 	startTime, err := queryContext.TimeRange.ParseFrom()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errutil.Wrap("failed to parse start time", err)
 	}
 	endTime, err := queryContext.TimeRange.ParseTo()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errutil.Wrap("failed to parse end time", err)
 	}
 	if !startTime.Before(endTime) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid time range: start time must be before end time")
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/types.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/types.go
index c269571a5d6..fb360c52bb8 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/types.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/types.go
@@ -3,16 +3,9 @@ package cloudwatch
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
-	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/request"
-	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/data"
 )
 
-type cloudWatchClient interface {
-	GetMetricDataWithContext(ctx aws.Context, input *cloudwatch.GetMetricDataInput, opts ...request.Option) (*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, error)
-}
-
 type requestQuery struct {
 	RefId              string
 	Region             string
@@ -31,7 +24,7 @@ type requestQuery struct {
 }
 
 type cloudwatchResponse struct {
-	series                  *tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice
+	DataFrames              data.Frames
 	Id                      string
 	RefId                   string
 	Expression              string
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/models.go b/pkg/tsdb/models.go
index 618ad0083cc..78c3cb7718c 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/models.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/models.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func NewTimeSeries(name string, points TimeSeriesPoints) *TimeSeries {
 	}
 }
 
-// DataFrames interface for retrieving encoded and decoded data frames.
+// DataFrames is an interface for retrieving encoded and decoded data frames.
 //
 // See NewDecodedDataFrames and NewEncodedDataFrames for more information.
 type DataFrames interface {
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts
index a83239cbacb..3f617902a6c 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import {
   LogRowModel,
   ScopedVars,
   TimeRange,
-  toDataFrame,
   rangeUtil,
   DataQueryErrorType,
 } from '@grafana/data';
@@ -497,75 +496,70 @@ export class CloudWatchDatasource extends DataSourceApi<CloudWatchQuery, CloudWa
     )}`;
   }
 
-  performTimeSeriesQuery(request: MetricRequest, { from, to }: TimeRange): Promise<any> {
-    return this.awsRequest(TSDB_QUERY_ENDPOINT, request)
-      .then((res: TSDBResponse) => {
-        if (!res.results) {
-          return { data: [] };
-        }
-        return Object.values(request.queries).reduce(
-          ({ data, error }: any, queryRequest: any) => {
-            const queryResult = res.results[queryRequest.refId];
-            if (!queryResult) {
-              return { data, error };
-            }
+  async performTimeSeriesQuery(request: MetricRequest, { from, to }: TimeRange): Promise<any> {
+    try {
+      const res: TSDBResponse = await this.awsRequest(TSDB_QUERY_ENDPOINT, request);
+      const dataframes: DataFrame[] = toDataQueryResponse({ data: res }).data;
+      if (!dataframes || dataframes.length <= 0) {
+        return { data: [] };
+      }
 
-            const link = this.buildCloudwatchConsoleUrl(
-              queryRequest,
-              from.toISOString(),
-              to.toISOString(),
-              queryRequest.refId,
-              queryResult.meta.gmdMeta
-            );
+      return Object.values(request.queries).reduce(
+        ({ data, error }: any, queryRequest: any) => {
+          const queryResult = res.results[queryRequest.refId];
+          if (!queryResult) {
+            return { data, error };
+          }
 
-            return {
-              error: error || queryResult.error ? { message: queryResult.error } : null,
-              data: [
-                ...data,
-                ...queryResult.series.map(({ name, points }: any) => {
-                  const dataFrame = toDataFrame({
-                    target: name,
-                    datapoints: points,
-                    refId: queryRequest.refId,
-                    meta: queryResult.meta,
-                  });
-                  if (link) {
-                    for (const field of dataFrame.fields) {
-                      field.config.links = [
-                        {
-                          url: link,
-                          title: 'View in CloudWatch console',
-                          targetBlank: true,
-                        },
-                      ];
-                    }
+          const link = this.buildCloudwatchConsoleUrl(
+            queryRequest,
+            from.toISOString(),
+            to.toISOString(),
+            queryRequest.refId,
+            queryResult.meta.gmdMeta
+          );
+
+          return {
+            error: error || queryResult.error ? { message: queryResult.error } : null,
+            data: [
+              ...data,
+              ...dataframes.map(frame => {
+                if (link) {
+                  for (const field of frame.fields) {
+                    field.config.links = [
+                      {
+                        url: link,
+                        title: 'View in CloudWatch console',
+                        targetBlank: true,
+                      },
+                    ];
                   }
-                  return dataFrame;
-                }),
-              ],
-            };
-          },
-          { data: [], error: null }
-        );
-      })
-      .catch((err: any = { data: { error: '' } }) => {
-        if (/^Throttling:.*/.test(err.data.message)) {
-          const failedRedIds = Object.keys(err.data.results);
-          const regionsAffected = Object.values(request.queries).reduce(
-            (res: string[], { refId, region }) =>
-              (refId && !failedRedIds.includes(refId)) || res.includes(region) ? res : [...res, region],
-            []
-          ) as string[];
+                }
+                return frame;
+              }),
+            ],
+          };
+        },
+        { data: [], error: null }
+      );
+    } catch (err) {
+      if (/^Throttling:.*/.test(err.data.message)) {
+        const failedRedIds = Object.keys(err.data.results);
+        const regionsAffected = Object.values(request.queries).reduce(
+          (res: string[], { refId, region }) =>
+            (refId && !failedRedIds.includes(refId)) || res.includes(region) ? res : [...res, region],
+          []
+        ) as string[];
 
-          regionsAffected.forEach(region => this.debouncedAlert(this.datasourceName, this.getActualRegion(region)));
-        }
+        regionsAffected.forEach(region => this.debouncedAlert(this.datasourceName, this.getActualRegion(region)));
+      }
 
-        if (err.data && err.data.message === 'Metric request error' && err.data.error) {
-          err.data.message = err.data.error;
-        }
+      if (err.data && err.data.message === 'Metric request error' && err.data.error) {
+        err.data.message = err.data.error;
+      }
 
-        throw err;
-      });
+      throw err;
+    }
   }
 
   transformSuggestDataFromTable(suggestData: TSDBResponse) {