Item: Heroku Platform
Rating: 8
Author: Miles Porter

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Heroku is used in our organization to prototype various service and dynamic web site implementations. While I have access to other cloud based PAAS and SAAS technologies such as AWS, Azure and Rackspace, I have found that Heroku provides the only really true "Free" platform to prototype very simple ideas. I have also used Heroku for some websites in the past that were above the free level.

Pros and Cons

Works well with GIT making deployment pretty easy.
A variety of add-ons to that offer various additional features.
Multiple language support (RoR, Java, etc.)

Stability. Heroku seems to suffer from stability issues from time to time.
Logging. I know that there are a number of different options out there. I just don't want to pay extra for something that is a pretty basic requirement.
The web based UI is pretty sparse. I appreciate the simplicity (having used AWS and Azure). That said, I sometimes have trouble finding things... like how do I get to my running app?

Return on Investment

Quick prototyping is a big benefit.
Integration with GIT makes things very easy and saves tons of time
Multiple database support makes it a very flexible tool.

Alternatives Considered

Azure, AWS and Rackspace

Heroku is a much better choice for small prototyping and small to medium size sites. It is easier to use than most other services/platforms.

Other Software Used

AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Windows Azure, Rackspace

Likelihood to Recommend

Heroku is great for very small prototype apps, and can grow with them to medium sized and even larger. I think that it is really easy to get started with heroku. Just the other day, I cloned a Java starter project for heroku, and was up and running in under 10 minutes. That is really great... particulary considering the amount of time I have had to spend in Azure's configuration, and with OpsWorks in AWS in the past. It may not work for everything, but for small simple things, you just cannot go wrong with Heroku.

Heroku FTW for POC!

Overall Satisfaction with Heroku