Review Detail
2.8 2
As of 2023, I think AWS is still the best option
Overall rating
4.5
Price
4.0
Features
5.0
Uptime
5.0
Customer Support
4.0
Full disclosure, I am an AWS cloud architect and consultant.
In essence, if I were to recommend just one cloud platform, it would unquestionably be AWS.
With 15 years of experience in software engineering, including 12 years dedicated to the realm of cloud computing, my journey through cloud platforms began with Windows Azure in 2011. I relied on it for five years to construct an e-commerce platform from the ground up. However, after this period, I became increasingly frustrated, particularly with Microsoft's product culture. It lacked openness, followed non-standard practices, imposed sudden and excessive price changes, exhibited poor performance, boasted terrible customer service, and was inundated with unhelpful sales representatives.
Driven by this frustration, I transitioned to Google Cloud, which boasted a gentler learning curve and elegant abstractions. It proved faster and more cost-effective. Nevertheless, my stint with Google Cloud lasted only a year, as I encountered various limitations, particularly in the areas of networking and security.
Around 2017, I made the full transition to AWS, and I haven't looked back since for those reasons:
- Logical Networking: AWS offers networking that aligns seamlessly with standard engineering practices. What you see is what you get.
- Minimal Abstraction: AWS maintains less abstraction compared to Microsoft or Google. Microsoft and Google tend to introduce new layers of abstraction to "simplify" usage for lambda users. However, this approach can be limiting. As scenarios grow in complexity, access to the underlying concepts becomes essential. Without this capability, users often find themselves trying to fit square pegs into round holes with Microsoft and Google.
- Open-Source Friendliness: AWS is notably open-source friendly, allowing for flexibility and collaboration.
- Versatility: There are no use cases that AWS cannot address. While Microsoft may claim to offer similar capabilities, it often falls short.
Rating AWS has become increasingly challenging in recent times due to intensified competition with its primary rivals, Microsoft and Google, particularly in the wake of the AI disruption. Microsoft, in particular, has gained significant momentum through its partnership with OpenAI. While OpenAI is currently the foremost AI company in the world as of September 2023, this doesn't guarantee that Microsoft will capitalize on this opportunity to deliver exceptional products.
Out of all the reviews I've posted on TrustPilot, this one may appear the most biased, as I've had a deeply unsatisfactory experience with Microsoft in general. Presently, I earn my livelihood by crafting solutions on AWS. My final argument against Microsoft (I don't hold the same reservations about Google Cloud, as I believe they offer excellent services, some even superior to AWS) centers around the DNA of companies:
- Microsoft's DNA: Primarily driven by sales. Their emphasis on sales often takes precedence over product quality. This has been ingrained in their culture, despite Satya Nadella's commendable efforts to embrace open-source, promote cloud and AI. Ultimately, Microsoft products tend to feel as if they were built by salespeople rather than engineers dedicated to solving legitimate problems.
- Google's DNA: Designed primarily to serve Google's own needs. Google Cloud's initial client is Google itself. When I use Google Cloud, I often find that a service addresses a specific Google issue, but seldom does it offer a solution to broader enterprise problems. Admittedly, enterprise problems may lack the excitement of other challenges, but they still need resolution.
- AWS: Forged by engineers, catering to engineers. AWS stands as the original cloud company, established to tackle enterprise automation at scale. While their products and services may not be as straightforward to use as those of their counterparts, I firmly believe that AWS is the sole platform capable of elegantly resolving intricate engineering and networking challenges.
In closing:
- Microsoft: Promises effortless and cost-effective cloud solutions, but in reality, they often become overly complex and prohibitively expensive.
- Google: Offers a cloud solution that appears relatively straightforward and budget-friendly, but in reality, it proves to be more challenging and costly than initially advertised.
- AWS: Presents cloud solutions for professionals at a reasonable cost, though in practice, costs may exceed initial expectations. While each of these providers may occasionally stretch the truth, AWS, in my estimation, does so the least.
In essence, if I were to recommend just one cloud platform, it would unquestionably be AWS.
With 15 years of experience in software engineering, including 12 years dedicated to the realm of cloud computing, my journey through cloud platforms began with Windows Azure in 2011. I relied on it for five years to construct an e-commerce platform from the ground up. However, after this period, I became increasingly frustrated, particularly with Microsoft's product culture. It lacked openness, followed non-standard practices, imposed sudden and excessive price changes, exhibited poor performance, boasted terrible customer service, and was inundated with unhelpful sales representatives.
Driven by this frustration, I transitioned to Google Cloud, which boasted a gentler learning curve and elegant abstractions. It proved faster and more cost-effective. Nevertheless, my stint with Google Cloud lasted only a year, as I encountered various limitations, particularly in the areas of networking and security.
Around 2017, I made the full transition to AWS, and I haven't looked back since for those reasons:
- Logical Networking: AWS offers networking that aligns seamlessly with standard engineering practices. What you see is what you get.
- Minimal Abstraction: AWS maintains less abstraction compared to Microsoft or Google. Microsoft and Google tend to introduce new layers of abstraction to "simplify" usage for lambda users. However, this approach can be limiting. As scenarios grow in complexity, access to the underlying concepts becomes essential. Without this capability, users often find themselves trying to fit square pegs into round holes with Microsoft and Google.
- Open-Source Friendliness: AWS is notably open-source friendly, allowing for flexibility and collaboration.
- Versatility: There are no use cases that AWS cannot address. While Microsoft may claim to offer similar capabilities, it often falls short.
Rating AWS has become increasingly challenging in recent times due to intensified competition with its primary rivals, Microsoft and Google, particularly in the wake of the AI disruption. Microsoft, in particular, has gained significant momentum through its partnership with OpenAI. While OpenAI is currently the foremost AI company in the world as of September 2023, this doesn't guarantee that Microsoft will capitalize on this opportunity to deliver exceptional products.
Out of all the reviews I've posted on TrustPilot, this one may appear the most biased, as I've had a deeply unsatisfactory experience with Microsoft in general. Presently, I earn my livelihood by crafting solutions on AWS. My final argument against Microsoft (I don't hold the same reservations about Google Cloud, as I believe they offer excellent services, some even superior to AWS) centers around the DNA of companies:
- Microsoft's DNA: Primarily driven by sales. Their emphasis on sales often takes precedence over product quality. This has been ingrained in their culture, despite Satya Nadella's commendable efforts to embrace open-source, promote cloud and AI. Ultimately, Microsoft products tend to feel as if they were built by salespeople rather than engineers dedicated to solving legitimate problems.
- Google's DNA: Designed primarily to serve Google's own needs. Google Cloud's initial client is Google itself. When I use Google Cloud, I often find that a service addresses a specific Google issue, but seldom does it offer a solution to broader enterprise problems. Admittedly, enterprise problems may lack the excitement of other challenges, but they still need resolution.
- AWS: Forged by engineers, catering to engineers. AWS stands as the original cloud company, established to tackle enterprise automation at scale. While their products and services may not be as straightforward to use as those of their counterparts, I firmly believe that AWS is the sole platform capable of elegantly resolving intricate engineering and networking challenges.
In closing:
- Microsoft: Promises effortless and cost-effective cloud solutions, but in reality, they often become overly complex and prohibitively expensive.
- Google: Offers a cloud solution that appears relatively straightforward and budget-friendly, but in reality, it proves to be more challenging and costly than initially advertised.
- AWS: Presents cloud solutions for professionals at a reasonable cost, though in practice, costs may exceed initial expectations. While each of these providers may occasionally stretch the truth, AWS, in my estimation, does so the least.
ND
Nicolas Dao