Re: [tlug] hosting in Japan

[Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com>]

On 13 February 2017 at 04:55, Jason Frisch <jfrisch@example.com> wrote:

> We see many instances where customers move to us (and our non-big 4 competitors), because
> AWS was just the “easy” choice when they get started, but once they need real performance and stability, and cost-performance, AWS doesn’t tick any boxes so they search for alternatives.

"Doesn't tick any boxes"? That's quite a statement.

> A common saying in the industyy is “no one every got fired for choosing Amazon”.

Is it? Is this saying common only amongst Amazon's competitors? I've
yet to hear it in the wild, though it's a catchy spin on the old
"nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" saw, which
not-so-coincidentally appears in the very definition of FUD on
Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt#Definition

> The 1% of companies that require mega-scale and all the 101 services they have may benefit, but the other 99% will not.

I have found the 101 services extremely useful in allowing a tiny dev
team get a software startup off the ground quickly without having to
fiddle with operating a RDBMS, a NoSQL database, a distributed queue
system, cloud storage, a website, DNS, authentication and identity
management, etc.

I've yet to work for one of those companies that needs mega-scale and
*all* the 101 services; the point is that AWS has most of the doodads
and widgets that you commonly need for modern software development.

If you don't know what you'll need, AWS is a fantastic choice, because
you can quickly experiment with the services they provide to prove an
architecture without having to make a major investment of time. When
you have a mature system, you know enough to evaluate other solutions,
be they self-hosting or using another cloud provider.

AWS is not the only choice, and not always the best choice, but
dismissing it out of hand as you've done here is doing a disservice to
your readers, in my opinion.

> My (biased) 2c.

I used to work for Amazon, so my 2c is biased as well, though I've
spent more years as an AWS user outside Amazon than I have as an
Amazon employee.

Cheers,
Josh