[scarface74]

I work for AWS and I get paid decent money to work with companies and help them become “cloud native”. My specialty is “application modernization” and I avoid “lift and shift” projects like the plague. Even though I realize that doing lift and shifts first is the right answer sometimes. I think I can confidently state that I know AWS pretty well.

That being said, in my personal life if someone ever came to me and said that they were starting a project from scratch or even if I were starting a hobby project from scratch where I saw Lambda + DynamoDB wasn’t the right answer, I would just use Lightsail and simple monolithic application using whatever frameworks are appropriate that I already knew.

AWS Lightsail is a simple fixed priced VPS. I’m not advocating using Lightsail over another VPS provider. It would just be my preference because I know how to transition to full fledged AWS later.

[pkos98]

Hey, coincidentally I am about to start a role in "Application Modernization" as Cloud Solution Architect at MSFT (though I only have experience with AWS). Do you mind if I ask u some further questions via the email in your profile?

[scarface74]

I’m not even sure if I have access to that email. My username is the same on Reddit as it is here. DM me there.

I come from a .Net background , so feel free to reach out.

[nicoburns]

What advantage do you see companies getting from using AWS's proprietary products over standard open source equivalents?8

[scarface74]

I’m not the sales guy. I’m not here to do sales talking points.

I’m going to speak from an on the ground hands on keyboard implementation person.

AWS offers plenty of hosted versions of open source solutions and API compatible services like DocumentDB with Mongo compatibility.

If I’m working with a customer that prefers the open source solution and there is an equivalent on AWS, I’m going to suggest that. My goal is never to introduce too much new technology to an organization unless there is a compelling need.

I’ve recommended everything from a straight lift and shift, to hybrid, to full on all in on AWS depending on the use case. I’m not dogmatic and I’ve never been told “get the customer all in on our services so we can lock them in”. I’ve implemented pure AWS CI/CD solutions, integrated with Azure DevOps, done lift and shifts with Jenkins, etc.

I’m judged completely by outcomes and whether the customer is satisfied.

But I’ve been railing against worrying about “lock-in” wat before coming to AWS. I’ve been part of numerous large scale migrations and implementations. If you’re at any scale, you’re always both technically and organizationally “locked in” to your infrastructure choices and migrating involves, dealing with CxOs, PMO, retraining, security, regressions, etc. It’s usually much easier to just have a conversation with your account manager.