BlueMix is starting to be able to give AWS a run for their money.
August 23, 2016
BlueMix is starting to be able to give AWS a run for their money.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with IBM Cloud Foundry
IBM Bluemix is being used as my primary cloud computing service, having recently replaced AWS as my preferred service. I work with an IT consulting firm, and specialize in designing IT infrastructure for businesses, usually start-ups. My company has changed over the years as technology changes, originally setting servers up at the clients location, then moving to hosting them myself, and now I utilize cloud services with IBM as my primary source of server environments since software development is the focus of 75% of the start-ups I have been encountering, which is where BlueMix shines. Instead of detailing out how I use these services, I am going to explain the differences between IAAS (AWS/Google/Azure) vs PAAS (BlueMix, Redhat). The main difference is what level of control the system focuses on, when it comes to IAAS, the system is focused on infrastructure, such as building a server with x processors, x amount of ram, a storage system with X Gb of data. PAAS on the other hand, is focused on the whole platform that will run your software rather than just the simulated hardware specifications. AWS (IAAS) lets me build a virtual server with 2 processors, 1 gb of ram, 15 Gb of drive space, and 2 network adapters, which I then need to install an OS on, BlueMix (PAAS) lets me setup a geographically clustered environment that can serve HTML, PHP, and MySQL, while also being able to pull Microsoft SQL, while running a version tracking system, such as GIT. So from the start, I specify what I need my system to do to run my software, rather than what I need my server to have to run my OS, to run my server software that I can add additional functionality to in order to allow my custom software to operate best
- Bluemix is great at providing a custom environment that offers everything I need to develop and run my software, rather than just providing a blank virtual server that I need to configure
- Bluemix is very good at getting a "ready to use" environment deployed very quickly
- Offers a wide variety of very unique, and cutting edge services. For example, I recently came across a Bluemix service that analyses any documents I want, such as email, and can tell me what emotions I am conveying. Is it a hateful sounding email, or a happy sounding one.
- Documentation is lacking unfortunately, and while the new version of BlueMix is very quick and easy to use, it still requires a heavy development background to get features out of it that would end up rivaling AWS.
- Stability isn't where AWS is, and while being a perfect development system, it isn't where you want to run a production site where downtime causes financial losses.
- It is very hard to move your app off of BlueMix to another cloud service, as you just can't get the same level of platform customization, and you are going to absolutely be stuck to other PAAS providers.
- Bluemix has allowed me to effectively serve the App industry more recently, especially with the new visual design implemented recently.
- BlueMix offers a lot more customization of the Platform, rather than Infrastructure, giving me a big edge over other companies offering only AWS or Azure cloud services, and brings a lot more apparent value to my business.
- The additional features, especially the Watson service subset offers a HUGE range of new and innovative technologies, especially in the realm of AI, that encourages my clients to test out new potential features, which leads to more sales as they increase there platform size and capability.
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
IBM was making very slow moves, and almost appeared to be shrinking compared to the explosion of AWS, until the new visual overhaul made the service very, very easy to use, and honestly, is my current go-to service for cloud services. Lets be honest here also, one of the BIG reasons for using the cloud is to have an environment capable of rapidly and dynamically adjusting to handle any user influx, so why should I put time and energy, let alone base my entire cloud solution on configuring and deploying something to exact specifications, which I will then want to have change dynamically? I would personally rather focus just on what I need to make "my" software work. IBM does have downsides, such as a possibility of vendor lock-in, and needing to learn new technologies, but once invested, those are the areas that will pay off, and now that BlueMix is easy to use, I think it is going to put a lot of fear into AWS and Microsoft Azure.