Amazon Web Services vs PowerApps

• AWS (Amazon Web Services) is not the easiest virtual service to set up but once you get the hang of it, it's fairly easy to install new instances (servers) and stop them. This is good for multiple reasons e.g we run multiple tests and live production servers for our different services. When we are done with one we can easily turn it off. The cost of the specifications on our virtual servers is only a fraction of the cost of what we would get locally or even on most traditional web services companies.
• Amazon Web Services can be relatively cost efficient depending on where you are coming from. For our smaller organization, we felt the cost was worth it as other alternatives were not as affordable. The good thing with AWS is you only pay for what you use. If you want S3 (Simple Storage Service), you can pay for that. If you want to run a compute engine, EC2 can be paid for. At the end of the month, you get one bill based on your usage.
• Because of our size as a company, AWS was easier to deploy compared to local dedicated solutions. All we had to do was take our development team through a simple 2-day course to get them on board. The ease of deployment means that we do not have to hire a specialist to deploy servers for us.

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• Easy to create new apps.
• Integration with cloud data sources (Azure, Sharepoint).
• GUI for creators is excellent.
• Mobile and Desktop apps are created simultaneously.

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• Better user support would be nice. It seems hard to find help when you need something specific from an Amazon employee.
• Even though the prices are set up for enterprise they do seem high for small to mid level businesses, compared to other alternatives.
• It would be nice to be able to have some type of DB security built in to the EC2s or as a default.

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• I feel that although it is possible to adapt the tablet view to desktop it can be cumbersome and the screen ratio is not right. There should be an option for making a desktop or browser based application specifically; or at least more screen ratio choices.
• "PowerApps Desktop" is only available via windows store; for some enterprise users(specifically LTSB users) that makes it unavailable as windows store cannot be used with this version of Windows. A stand alone download or an explanation in the documentation would be nice to have.
• I have spent a ton of time changing the formating over to the standard that I am using throughout the application on each data card or places where copy paste isn't an option. A format painter or a place to provide typical formating options such as font type and color would be a HUGE time saver for those of us trying to brand our applications.

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• We are able to test new ideas quickly using AWS hosting.
• We are able to move from conceptual POC to fully hosted/architected cloud solution in minimal time.
• We are able to build solutions that are 100% cloud as well as cloud-hybrid that orchestrate between our datacenters and the AWS cloud.

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• My budget calculator enabled our sales team to provide a high-level quote in minutes compared to hours or even days if we had to draw it out.
• My time tracker was used by a department to estimate the time taken on projects and therefore they could quote the billable hours up front.
• There has been nothing but positive impacts from my use of PowerApps.

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