One of the most common use cases is people using the solution for hosting. Many people use it to backup their on-premises solution to the cloud. This is the most common use case I know of.
Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature is the backup ability
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the backup ability. Most people are used to one type of backup solution that they're using, but most of these solutions have features that make it difficult to transfer to the cloud. I know that Veeam now gives people the opportunity to backup some on-premises solutions to the cloud. This feature is something that a lot of people are looking for."
- "At the moment, Amazon is the leader in everything."
- "I'm not an expert on the product, but if I had to suggest one improvement, I know a feature that would allow a person to backup his on-premise solution to the cloud directly with one click would be useful. This solution should be agnostic because sometimes a product that was backed up with Veeam is highly compatible with Commvault. I think it would be better if these backup features were agnostic. Viewing a build could also be improved. It's not easy to follow up on your consumption and see how much you're paying and how much you will be paying. Viewing the build could be more clear."
- "Viewing a build could also be improved. It's not easy to follow up on your consumption and see how much you're paying and how much you will be paying."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the backup ability. Most people are used to one type of backup solution that they're using, but most of these solutions have features that make it difficult to transfer to the cloud. I know that Veeam now gives people the opportunity to backup some on-premises solutions to the cloud. This feature is something that a lot of people are looking for.
What needs improvement?
I'm not an expert on the product, but if I had to suggest one improvement, I know a feature that would allow a person to back up his on-premise solution to the cloud directly with one click would be useful. This solution should be agnostic because sometimes a product that was backed up with Veeam is highly compatible with Commvault. I think it would be better if these backup features were agnostic.
Viewing a build could also be improved. It's not easy to follow up on your consumption and see how much you're paying and how much you will be paying. Viewing the build could be more clear.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Amazon AWS for three years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Two years ago, I was working on proofs of concept and I got in touch with their support. It was okay and they handled it.
How was the initial setup?
The setup process was quite simple.
What about the implementation team?
My company implemented through an in-house team. My company also provides the maintenance for this product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Amazon AWS is on the cheaper side, as their pricing is more competitive. There are no additional costs besides the license. However, Azure sells Microsoft licenses, so they have an advantage.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I was aware of Google Cloud and Microsoft Cloud, but I chose Amazon because they have better products and more features. At the moment, Amazon is the leader in everything.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend trying Amazon AWS. You have nothing to be afraid of, as long as you're clear that you can handle your build.
This product is suitable for any company, whether small, medium, or large.
I would rate Amazon AWS an eight out of ten, just because there's always room for improvement.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Founder CEO at PROZM Knowledge Services Pvt Ltd
Has good compute features and Relational Database services
Pros and Cons
- "The features that I have found most valuable are their compute and their Relational Database Service."
- "Amazon AWS is very, very stable."
- "The features that should be improved are that there should be better clarity on their invoicing. There are so many things they charge for - high line items in the invoice. I think there should be more clarity and more ease of use with their billing. I'd like to see better ease of use of with the billing console and a clear dashboard to understand the usage."
- "The features that should be improved are that there should be better clarity on their invoicing."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to host our e-learning platform.
AWS is a platform, wherein they give you a virtual instance of a server. So there is no version per se. They just give you a virtual server. The other software we use is free. We use it for conducting our exams and everything. We use a free, open source software, which is not a commercial software.
How has it helped my organization?
Remember, this is a plain vanilla platform. So we don't have to do any actual investment in servers and other things. That is the general advantage of cloud that everybody gets. You don't have to pay a lot of money. And at any point, if you feel you don't want to use it, you stop. It is as simple as that.
What is most valuable?
The features that I have found most valuable are their compute and their Relational Database Service.
What needs improvement?
The features that should be improved are that there should be better clarity on their invoicing. There are so many things they charge for - high line items in the invoice. I think there should be more clarity and more ease of use with their billing.
I'd like to see better ease of use with the billing console and a clear dashboard to understand the usage.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon AWS for almost three years. We are continually using it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon AWS is very, very stable.
No maintenance is required.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is unlimited. From one to 10, it is 10.
We use it, but our training participants access it. A lot of people access it. In a year, at different points in time, 200 people might be using it.
I don't think we will be expanding usage because we purchased a little more than what we needed. We don't need to spend any money now. We only pay our monthly charges.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good. If you raise a ticket, they're very good. Even with billing, if you have some issues they take care of it. If you are overbilled or you're not using it and then you turn one thing by mistake, and all of a sudden the bill has increased - they'll take care of it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we were using general hosting, they even call it shared hosting. But it was not scalable and it was not fast.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is all easy. It's very easy.
Our deployment took just a few clicks. You are talking seconds.
What about the implementation team?
I had our technical team do it. But you need a technical person. It's not that anybody can do it or a person like me can do it. You need to have a technical person doing it.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return of investment with Amazon AWS.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are just a customer. We just pay monthly for the subscription cost. I mean, hardly $50. We are a very small company.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to anyone considering Amazon AWS is that they should plan properly for their spending and they should have good control over their technology team. Otherwise, if the technology team doesn't know enough and they keep on creating more services, you'll be surprised with the invoice. Technology and finance should work very, very closely in the cloud.
On a scale of one to 10, I give Amazon AWS a 10. It's a really good product.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Amazon AWS
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Amazon AWS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Managing Director at Erste Group
Good price, easy to set up and migrate, but could use some more integration
Pros and Cons
- "Setting up AWS was pretty easy. It was straightforward to set up, and it took us a year to develop and migrate our mobile banking solution to the AWS cloud. Our migration experience was quite positive."
- "Setting up AWS was pretty easy. It was straightforward to set up, and it took us a year to develop and migrate our mobile banking solution to the AWS cloud."
- "In terms of additional features we'd like to see, the one thing that comes to mind is better integration with Oracle. We have a lot of Oracle databases, and there is no other option to either migrate to PaaS, stay on-prem, or use Oracle Private Cloud."
- "In terms of additional features we'd like to see, the one thing that comes to mind is better integration with Oracle."
What is most valuable?
I'm not the developer, so I cannot judge the services provided by AWS, but we run our mobile banking application on AWS. Database-wise, it's heavily based on Elasticsearch, so this is probably one of the main features that we find most valuable. Aside from that, I'm not familiar with which AWS services we are using.
What needs improvement?
It's too early to say what needs to be improved, as we went live only at the beginning of this year. We started last year and went live at the beginning of this year, so it's still a work in progress. In terms of additional features we'd like to see, the one thing that comes to mind is better integration with Oracle. We have a lot of Oracle databases, and there is no other option to either migrate to PaaS, stay on-prem, or use Oracle Private Cloud. So better integration with Oracle is something we are looking into. It's the same story with AWS or Azure.
For how long have I used the solution?
We introduced AWS in production last year, so it's a relatively new development.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up AWS was pretty easy. It was straightforward to set up, and it took us a year to develop and migrate our mobile banking solution to the AWS cloud. Our migration experience was quite positive.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of AWS was attractive for us, so that's something that's okay at least for this transaction-based system. However, we still have some concerns about more data-driven applications or those that involve a lot of heavy uploading and downloading. So our whole data warehouse is still something that would not go into the cloud because of the pricing model. So if you stayed pretty much in the cloud, that's fine.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Amazon AWS seven out of 10. We're really satisfied.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Feature-rich, flexible, simple to install, and easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "It scales well and is flexible."
- "Amazon AWS is easy to use, scales well, is flexible, and when compared to Google Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure, it has almost all of the features."
- "As a result of the competency, I believe that most people are now leaning toward Azure rather than AWS."
- "As a result of the competency, I believe that most people are now leaning toward Azure rather than AWS."
What is our primary use case?
We use Amazon AWS for provisioning and the majority of our deployments.
We support and provide services for our clients who lean towards using AWS.
What is most valuable?
Amazon AWS is easy to use.
It scales well and is flexible.
When compared to Google Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure, it has almost all of the features.
What needs improvement?
As a result of the competency, I believe that most people are now leaning toward Azure rather than AWS. That is also according to Gartner's forecast, more people are turning to Microsoft Azure.
The price could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Amazon AWS for more than three years.
We are always using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon AWS is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable product.
When the number of users increases, the bandwidth automatically increases, and when the number of users decreases, the bandwidth decreases.
We have a large organization with over 3,500 users, and more than 60 customers.
Our organization has an AWS center of excellence that increases our usage.
How are customer service and support?
I personally have not contacted technical support.
We contact our own center of excellence team, who would then contact the AWS support team for any information we required. That is the order in which we must proceed. It's the hierarchy that we must adhere to.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I am also, familiar with Splunk.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
The installation is done through the AWS Cloud and is so simple that it only took me 15 minutes to create instances, possibly even less than 10 minutes.
We have 200 engineers who are responsible for both the development tasks and the maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
I was able to complete the installation myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When compared to GCP, Google, or Azure, the price could be lower.
As a company and a platinum sponsor, we know exactly where management will make a decision on getting the best price for us.
A monthly fee is a good option for a startup company or an individual, and it is paid yearly for larger organizations.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others because I am not familiar with Azure and only have experience with AWS.
We don't have any issues with this product. I would rate Amazon AWS a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
Secure, highly scalable, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon AWS has improved a lot on security and is very good. Additionally, You can integrate your own security into their AWS platform."
- "The pricing model of Amazon AWS is very good because there is an option to pay for what you use only, you do not have to give any money upfront to use it."
What is our primary use case?
Amazon AWS can be used for storage, networking, and for many of the services they have available, such as databases, new site launches, and quick deployments.
What is most valuable?
Amazon AWS has improved a lot on security and is very good. Additionally, You can integrate your own security into their AWS platform.
The reporting and analytics monitoring are very good features and we are using them extensively.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon AWS for approximately seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found Amazon AWS to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Amazon AWS is highly scalable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have previously used older servers solutions from Dell, HP, and IBM.
How was the initial setup?
The installation of this solution is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The amount of people we need for the deployment depends on the use case and what type of business operations you are running. You can start with one resource based on the requirements and you can add the people as you need them. The majority of the people you will need will be for DevOps and you can scale your team as per your requirements. You can start with one at the beginning stage but you could end up needing a hundred thousand people but this depends on the business growth and many factors.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing model of Amazon AWS is very good because there is an option to pay for what you use only, you do not have to give any money upfront to use it. However, we have some instances where we are on a monthly plan.
When you compare Amazon AWS to Microsoft Azure, the pricing of both is almost the same. There are some instances when one is cheaper than the other in one area but it is difficult to pinpoint which one is cheaper because it depends upon a lot of factors, such as the use case. However, the overall price of both solutions could be reduced.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated Microsoft Azure.
What other advice do I have?
A lot of organizations are moving from on-premise solutions to the cloud. There are a lot of case studies already in the marketplace which you can go there and find case study solutions to your business requirements.
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Amazon AWS a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
CTO at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Plenty of connectors, high performance, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon is a really good solution with high performance. They offer more connectors than some of their competitors, such as Microsoft Azure."
- "Amazon is a really good solution with high performance."
- "Amazon AWS could improve by being more secure and adding more features."
- "Amazon AWS could improve by being more secure and adding more features."
What is our primary use case?
I was using Amazon AWS in the medical market in my previous employment.
What is most valuable?
Amazon is a really good solution with high performance. They offer more connectors than some of their competitors, such as Microsoft Azure.
What needs improvement?
Amazon AWS could improve by being more secure and adding more features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon AWS for approximately six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon AWS in my experience has been more stable than Microsoft Azure.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
We have approximately 50 customers that are using the solution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have moved from Amazon AWS to Microsoft Azure. I have found that both solutions perform very well. The main reason we switched was to allow us to manage where the data was to be stored. We wanted a data storage solution in France which most of our customers were requesting. Two years ago, Amazon did not have any solution to provide any storage in France.
How was the initial setup?
The level of difficulty for the installation of Amazon AWS is similar to Microsoft Azure. They are very difficult.
What about the implementation team?
We have a five-person team of DevOps and architects that do the implementation and maintenance of the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If I was going to compare the cost of Amazon AWS to Microsoft Azure, they are approximately the same.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Amazon AWS an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Good in terms of deployment and user experience
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon AWS is good in terms of deployment and user experience. Their certificate management and load balancer are also good features."
- "Amazon AWS is good in terms of deployment and user experience."
- "The sorting model in AWS is a little bit complicated. When you are going through any component, you can get some surprising results."
- "The sorting model in AWS is a little bit complicated. When you are going through any component, you can get some surprising results."
What is most valuable?
Amazon AWS is good in terms of deployment and user experience. Their certificate management and load balancer are also good features.
What needs improvement?
The sorting model in AWS is a little bit complicated. When you are going through any component, you can get some surprising results.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using AWS for more than two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is something that people are looking for when they choose Amazon AWS. I like that it integrates well with IBM Resilient, which is like a serverless map. We have more than 5,000 employees in our organization.
How are customer service and support?
Amazon support is good.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up AWS was straightforward. It only took around 20 minutes. We used about five to 10 team members for deployment. For maintenance, we have an architect and some RDS specialists.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Amazon AWS could have more options and transparency in its pricing model. You need in-depth knowledge to adopt AWS. So someone without that knowledge base might not understand all of the costs associated with AWS.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Amazon AWS nine out of 10. I would definitely recommend it to others.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager, Technology at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Extremely cost-efficient, easy to upgrade and expand storage with greatly improved interfaces
Pros and Cons
- "Easy to upgrade, easy to expand storage and change your EC2 types."
- "The benefit to the company is immense financial savings and the fact that you're able to see your monthly costs before buying anything."
- "IAM only gives you one chance to capture your key."
- "While the IAM security key is very secure, they only give you one chance to capture your key."
What is our primary use case?
General use cases of AWS are for those needing a managed cloud instance without the bulk costs for a legacy server. We are customers of Amazon and I'm the technology manager.
How has it helped my organization?
The benefit to the company is immense financial savings and the fact that you're able to see your monthly costs before buying anything. The AWS monthly calculator enables you to select your database, servers, volumes, and see how much everything will cost on a monthly basis. You can figure out what you'll be paying, so it enables a comparison; it's usually a third to half the cost of using an on-prem system.
What is most valuable?
Amazon is easy to upgrade, easy to expand storage and change your EC2 types. Each of those things usually takes at most five minutes to do, whereas on a legacy system you have to actually buy a new system or new hardware and have downtime for installation. Even then it may not be configured the same way and you might end up with a widespread outage. The advantage of using AWS is that all the testing's been done so you have proof that it works. We still do a cursory check, but they don't put anything out there that hasn't been vetted. Plus all the Atlassian tools are on AWS as well. The cloud instances they provide have a very robust network because there are over 160,000 companies that use the tools. Backups are really easy to access as are the automated backups of the VMs and the volumes. We're able to create a new volume from a backup in about two minutes, attach it to the server and view the data side by side to compare the old to the new. It takes 10 minutes total to get all the access needed.
I've had very positive experiences with AWS and it's gotten a lot better over time with their improved interfaces. Everything's all interconnected now and within its own framework. We pull in other tools to the OS such as Docker but AWS provides tools like Yum that enable quick installation of things. It's typically part of the OS.
What needs improvement?
While the IAM security key is very secure, they only give you one chance to capture your key. If I'm already logged in and have an email address online, it would be better if it were sent in an encrypted manner to email so that you don't lose the key. I might create the IAM and then perhaps forget to capture it off the screen and then when I do need it, I realize I don't have it and have to create another profile.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for about 12 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't had any problem with stability. We do multiple zone backups and multiple zone data and we haven't had any problems or slowdowns. We've had dealings with countries like India, where things are generally slower but with AWS there haven't been any issues. There's no wait time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is good. I like the EFS expandable storage because it expands and contracts, you don't have to do anything with it and it's really inexpensive. Somebody may use it for temporary storage where they drop a terabyte of data that they need to give to a customer and then it shrinks back down when they're done with it. It expands and contracts as needed and that's also reflected in the cost.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is very fast, very efficient and very knowledgeable. Even when I've asked questions and they didn't know the answers, they were able to find someone within 15 minutes that was able to help.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty straightforward. The main thing is getting the security protocols set up in the proper order, otherwise it won't work. You have to go in and set up the main group and make sure to share it to your database. They've improved their documentation and it's a lot better but still lacks a little in some areas. If you've deployed before, setup takes a couple of hours, otherwise it might take up to a day. It's a lot faster on cloud; if you're working on-prem you have to jump through a lot of hoops because each team has its own security.
They have scripting tools on AWS which allow you to set up your framework and you can use it as a template. We use an AWS architect for implementation and to make sure all the security is set up. And then we have a DevOps team that manages the OS updates. That's a team of three handling over 100 servers, VMs basically. Once a month they do the non-production patching with the production patching the following week.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing fees are only applicable if you're using Red Hat or an Oracle database. You have to pay for both of those. If you're using Postgres or MySQL, there are no costs for the actual database application. There are no fees for individuals using Oracle Java, but businesses pay a license. We use an OpenJDK that is vetted by Atlassian so if you don't want to buy Java you can use the OpenJDK.
What other advice do I have?
My advice would be to do some homework, read as much as you can about the setup before you dive in. If you take an hour to review the setup and then put together your own process so you know all the steps required and you use a checklist, it simplifies things. Have some kind of system, whether it's a spreadsheet or a Confluence page where you're documenting the steps and keeping track of where you're at.
Whenever I'm asked to do something, I can find a tool on AWS that I can vet for our customers, and for that reason, I rate Amazon AWS 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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