diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go
index c81688b40da..4ca62c46e76 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor.go
@@ -5,12 +5,10 @@ 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 cloudwatchiface.CloudWatchAPI,
-	metricDataInput *cloudwatch.GetMetricDataInput) ([]*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, error) {
+func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) executeRequest(ctx context.Context, client cloudWatchClient, 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 46612e4ed43..090281dc334 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/get_metric_data_executor_test.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ 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"
 )
@@ -15,7 +14,6 @@ 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 10d02b84661..3f8941184d0 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 rows with only timestamp
+			// Sometimes it sends row 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 it's a time field
+				// Check if field is 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, len(fieldNames))
+	newFields := make([]*data.Field, 0)
 	for _, fieldName := range fieldNames {
 		newFields = append(newFields, data.NewField(fieldName, nil, fieldValues[fieldName]))
 
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go
index 8a17f7a73bb..ca4b207aafc 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/query_transformer.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/data"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/simplejson"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
 )
@@ -14,9 +13,7 @@ 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) {
-	plog.Debug("Transforming CloudWatch request queries")
+func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformRequestQueriesToCloudWatchQueries(requestQueries []*requestQuery) (map[string]*cloudWatchQuery, error) {
 	cloudwatchQueries := make(map[string]*cloudWatchQuery)
 	for _, requestQuery := range requestQueries {
 		for _, stat := range requestQuery.Statistics {
@@ -55,22 +52,17 @@ 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 := range refIDs {
-		responses := responsesByRefID[refID]
+	for refID, responses := range responsesByRefID {
 		queryResult := tsdb.NewQueryResult()
 		queryResult.RefId = refID
 		queryResult.Meta = simplejson.New()
 		queryResult.Series = tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice{}
-		frames := make(data.Frames, 0, len(responses))
+		timeSeries := make(tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice, 0)
 
 		requestExceededMaxLimit := false
 		partialData := false
@@ -80,7 +72,7 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformQueryResponseToQueryResult(cloudwatchRespo
 		}{}
 
 		for _, response := range responses {
-			frames = append(frames, response.DataFrames...)
+			timeSeries = append(timeSeries, *response.series...)
 			requestExceededMaxLimit = requestExceededMaxLimit || response.RequestExceededMaxLimit
 			partialData = partialData || response.PartialData
 			queryMeta = append(queryMeta, struct {
@@ -93,8 +85,8 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) transformQueryResponseToQueryResult(cloudwatchRespo
 			})
 		}
 
-		sort.Slice(frames, func(i, j int) bool {
-			return frames[i].Name < frames[j].Name
+		sort.Slice(timeSeries, func(i, j int) bool {
+			return timeSeries[i].Name < timeSeries[j].Name
 		})
 
 		if requestExceededMaxLimit {
@@ -104,7 +96,7 @@ 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.Dataframes = tsdb.NewDecodedDataFrames(frames)
+		queryResult.Series = append(queryResult.Series, timeSeries...)
 		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 ab8980fb306..f0a497c19d0 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, query := range queryContext.Queries {
-		queryType := query.Model.Get("type").MustString()
+	for i, model := range queryContext.Queries {
+		queryType := model.Model.Get("type").MustString()
 		if queryType != "timeSeriesQuery" && queryType != "" {
 			continue
 		}
 
-		refID := query.RefId
+		refID := queryContext.Queries[i].RefId
 		query, err := parseRequestQuery(queryContext.Queries[i].Model, refID, startTime, endTime)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, &queryError{err: err, RefID: refID}
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ 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/response_parser.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
index 9977b03e8a7..c05308302d1 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser.go
@@ -8,12 +8,11 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/cloudwatch"
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/data"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/components/null"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/tsdb"
 )
 
-func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseResponse(metricDataOutputs []*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput,
-	queries map[string]*cloudWatchQuery) ([]*cloudwatchResponse, error) {
-	plog.Debug("Parsing metric data output", "queries", queries)
+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{}
@@ -49,15 +48,14 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseResponse(metricDataOutputs []*cloudwatch.GetMe
 
 	cloudWatchResponses := make([]*cloudwatchResponse, 0)
 	for id, lr := range mdrs {
-		plog.Debug("Handling metric data results", "id", id, "lr", lr)
 		query := queries[id]
-		frames, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(lr, labels[id], query)
+		series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(lr, labels[id], query)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
 		response := &cloudwatchResponse{
-			DataFrames:              frames,
+			series:                  series,
 			Period:                  query.Period,
 			Expression:              query.UsedExpression,
 			RefId:                   query.RefId,
@@ -72,15 +70,12 @@ func (e *cloudWatchExecutor) parseResponse(metricDataOutputs []*cloudwatch.GetMe
 }
 
 func parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(metricDataResults map[string]*cloudwatch.MetricDataResult, labels []string,
-	query *cloudWatchQuery) (data.Frames, bool, error) {
-	plog.Debug("Parsing metric data results", "results", metricDataResults)
+	query *cloudWatchQuery) (*tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice, bool, error) {
 	partialData := false
-	frames := data.Frames{}
+	result := tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice{}
 	for _, label := range labels {
 		metricDataResult := metricDataResults[label]
-		plog.Debug("Processing metric data result", "label", label, "statusCode", metricDataResult.StatusCode)
 		if *metricDataResult.StatusCode != "Complete" {
-			plog.Debug("Handling a partial result")
 			partialData = true
 		}
 
@@ -90,8 +85,8 @@ func parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(metricDataResults map[string]*cloudwatch.Metri
 			}
 		}
 
-		// 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
+		// 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() {
 			series := 0
 			multiValuedDimension := ""
@@ -103,78 +98,62 @@ func parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(metricDataResults map[string]*cloudwatch.Metri
 			}
 
 			for _, value := range query.Dimensions[multiValuedDimension] {
-				tags := map[string]string{multiValuedDimension: value}
+				emptySeries := tsdb.TimeSeries{
+					Tags:   map[string]string{multiValuedDimension: value},
+					Points: make([]tsdb.TimePoint, 0),
+				}
 				for key, values := range query.Dimensions {
 					if key != multiValuedDimension && len(values) > 0 {
-						tags[key] = values[0]
+						emptySeries.Tags[key] = values[0]
 					}
 				}
 
-				emptyFrame := data.Frame{
-					Name: formatAlias(query, query.Stats, tags, label),
-					Fields: []*data.Field{
-						data.NewField("timestamp", nil, []float64{}),
-						data.NewField("value", tags, []*float64{}),
-					},
-				}
-				frames = append(frames, &emptyFrame)
+				emptySeries.Name = formatAlias(query, query.Stats, emptySeries.Tags, label)
+				result = append(result, &emptySeries)
 			}
 		} else {
-			dims := make([]string, 0, len(query.Dimensions))
+			keys := make([]string, 0)
 			for k := range query.Dimensions {
-				dims = append(dims, k)
+				keys = append(keys, k)
 			}
-			sort.Strings(dims)
+			sort.Strings(keys)
 
-			tags := data.Labels{}
-			for _, dim := range dims {
-				plog.Debug("Handling dimension", "dimension", dim)
-				values := query.Dimensions[dim]
+			series := tsdb.TimeSeries{
+				Tags:   make(map[string]string),
+				Points: make([]tsdb.TimePoint, 0),
+			}
+
+			for _, key := range keys {
+				values := query.Dimensions[key]
 				if len(values) == 1 && values[0] != "*" {
-					plog.Debug("Got a tag value", "tag", dim, "value", values[0])
-					tags[dim] = values[0]
+					series.Tags[key] = values[0]
 				} else {
 					for _, value := range values {
 						if value == label || value == "*" {
-							plog.Debug("Got a tag value", "tag", dim, "value", value, "label", label)
-							tags[dim] = label
+							series.Tags[key] = label
 						} else if strings.Contains(label, value) {
-							plog.Debug("Got a tag value", "tag", dim, "value", value, "label", label)
-							tags[dim] = value
+							series.Tags[key] = value
 						}
 					}
 				}
 			}
 
-			timestamps := []float64{}
-			points := []*float64{}
+			series.Name = formatAlias(query, query.Stats, series.Tags, label)
+
 			for j, t := range metricDataResult.Timestamps {
 				if j > 0 {
 					expectedTimestamp := metricDataResult.Timestamps[j-1].Add(time.Duration(query.Period) * time.Second)
 					if expectedTimestamp.Before(*t) {
-						timestamps = append(timestamps, float64(expectedTimestamp.Unix()*1000))
-						points = append(points, nil)
+						series.Points = append(series.Points, tsdb.NewTimePoint(null.FloatFromPtr(nil), float64(expectedTimestamp.Unix()*1000)))
 					}
 				}
-				val := metricDataResult.Values[j]
-				plog.Debug("Handling timestamp", "timestamp", t, "value", *val)
-				timestamps = append(timestamps, float64(t.Unix()*1000))
-				points = append(points, val)
+				series.Points = append(series.Points, tsdb.NewTimePoint(null.FloatFrom(*metricDataResult.Values[j]),
+					float64(t.Unix())*1000))
 			}
-
-			fields := []*data.Field{
-				data.NewField("timestamp", nil, timestamps),
-				data.NewField("value", tags, points),
-			}
-			frame := data.Frame{
-				Name:   formatAlias(query, query.Stats, tags, label),
-				Fields: fields,
-			}
-			frames = append(frames, &frame)
+			result = append(result, &series)
 		}
 	}
-
-	return frames, partialData, nil
+	return &result, 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 7c1c1c3072d..5d8f1471889 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/response_parser_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ 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/smartystreets/goconvey/convey"
 )
 
@@ -60,17 +61,17 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 				Period: 60,
 				Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 			}
-			frames, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+			series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+			timeSeries := (*series)[0]
+
 			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-
-			frame1 := frames[0]
 			So(partialData, ShouldBeFalse)
-			So(frame1.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded")
-			So(frame1.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb1")
+			So(timeSeries.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded")
+			So(timeSeries.Tags["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb1")
 
-			frame2 := frames[1]
-			So(frame2.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded")
-			So(frame2.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb2")
+			timeSeries2 := (*series)[1]
+			So(timeSeries2.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded")
+			So(timeSeries2.Tags["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb2")
 		})
 
 		Convey("can expand dimension value using substring", func() {
@@ -122,17 +123,16 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 				Period: 60,
 				Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 			}
-			frames, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+			series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+			timeSeries := (*series)[0]
 			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-
-			frame1 := frames[0]
 			So(partialData, ShouldBeFalse)
-			So(frame1.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded")
-			So(frame1.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb1")
+			So(timeSeries.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded")
+			So(timeSeries.Tags["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb1")
 
-			frame2 := frames[1]
-			So(frame2.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded")
-			So(frame2.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb2")
+			timeSeries2 := (*series)[1]
+			So(timeSeries2.Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded")
+			So(timeSeries2.Tags["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb2")
 		})
 
 		Convey("can expand dimension value using wildcard", func() {
@@ -184,12 +184,12 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 				Period: 60,
 				Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 			}
-			frames, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
-			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+			series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
 
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 			So(partialData, ShouldBeFalse)
-			So(frames[0].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb3 Expanded")
-			So(frames[1].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb4 Expanded")
+			So((*series)[0].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb3 Expanded")
+			So((*series)[1].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb4 Expanded")
 		})
 
 		Convey("can expand dimension value when no values are returned and a multi-valued template variable is used", func() {
@@ -221,13 +221,13 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 				Period: 60,
 				Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded",
 			}
-			frames, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
-			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+			series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
 
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 			So(partialData, ShouldBeFalse)
-			So(len(frames), ShouldEqual, 2)
-			So(frames[0].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded")
-			So(frames[1].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded")
+			So(len(*series), ShouldEqual, 2)
+			So((*series)[0].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded")
+			So((*series)[1].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded")
 		})
 
 		Convey("can expand dimension value when no values are returned and a multi-valued template variable and two single-valued dimensions are used", func() {
@@ -261,13 +261,13 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 				Period: 60,
 				Alias:  "{{LoadBalancer}} Expanded {{InstanceType}} - {{Resource}}",
 			}
-			frames, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
-			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+			series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
 
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 			So(partialData, ShouldBeFalse)
-			So(len(frames), ShouldEqual, 2)
-			So(frames[0].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded micro - res")
-			So(frames[1].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded micro - res")
+			So(len(*series), ShouldEqual, 2)
+			So((*series)[0].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb1 Expanded micro - res")
+			So((*series)[1].Name, ShouldEqual, "lb2 Expanded micro - res")
 		})
 
 		Convey("can parse cloudwatch response", func() {
@@ -304,18 +304,17 @@ func TestCloudWatchResponseParser(t *testing.T) {
 				Period: 60,
 				Alias:  "{{namespace}}_{{metric}}_{{stat}}",
 			}
-			frames, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
-			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+			series, partialData, err := parseGetMetricDataTimeSeries(mdrs, labels, query)
+			timeSeries := (*series)[0]
 
-			frame := frames[0]
+			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 			So(partialData, ShouldBeFalse)
-			So(frame.Name, ShouldEqual, "AWS/ApplicationELB_TargetResponseTime_Average")
-			So(frame.Fields[1].Labels["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb")
-			So(frame.Fields[1].Len(), ShouldEqual, 4)
-			So(*frame.Fields[1].At(0).(*float64), ShouldEqual, 10.0)
-			So(*frame.Fields[1].At(1).(*float64), ShouldEqual, 20.0)
-			So(frame.Fields[1].At(2).(*float64), ShouldBeNil)
-			So(*frame.Fields[1].At(3).(*float64), ShouldEqual, 30.0)
+			So(timeSeries.Name, ShouldEqual, "AWS/ApplicationELB_TargetResponseTime_Average")
+			So(timeSeries.Tags["LoadBalancer"], ShouldEqual, "lb")
+			So(timeSeries.Points[0][0].String(), ShouldEqual, null.FloatFrom(10.0).String())
+			So(timeSeries.Points[1][0].String(), ShouldEqual, null.FloatFrom(20.0).String())
+			So(timeSeries.Points[2][0].String(), ShouldEqual, null.FloatFromPtr(nil).String())
+			So(timeSeries.Points[3][0].String(), ShouldEqual, null.FloatFrom(30.0).String())
 		})
 	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
index 2fd1852bcbd..58fe7f2e37b 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/time_series_query.go
@@ -6,19 +6,17 @@ 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, errutil.Wrap("failed to parse start time", err)
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	endTime, err := queryContext.TimeRange.ParseTo()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, errutil.Wrap("failed to parse end time", err)
+		return nil, 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 fb360c52bb8..c269571a5d6 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/types.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/cloudwatch/types.go
@@ -3,9 +3,16 @@ package cloudwatch
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/data"
+	"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"
 )
 
+type cloudWatchClient interface {
+	GetMetricDataWithContext(ctx aws.Context, input *cloudwatch.GetMetricDataInput, opts ...request.Option) (*cloudwatch.GetMetricDataOutput, error)
+}
+
 type requestQuery struct {
 	RefId              string
 	Region             string
@@ -24,7 +31,7 @@ type requestQuery struct {
 }
 
 type cloudwatchResponse struct {
-	DataFrames              data.Frames
+	series                  *tsdb.TimeSeriesSlice
 	Id                      string
 	RefId                   string
 	Expression              string
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/models.go b/pkg/tsdb/models.go
index 78c3cb7718c..618ad0083cc 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/models.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/models.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func NewTimeSeries(name string, points TimeSeriesPoints) *TimeSeries {
 	}
 }
 
-// DataFrames is an interface for retrieving encoded and decoded data frames.
+// DataFrames interface for retrieving encoded and decoded data frames.
 //
 // See NewDecodedDataFrames and NewEncodedDataFrames for more information.
 type DataFrames interface {