AWS CloudFormation Reviews

Name: AWS CloudFormation
Brand: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Rating: 4 (35 reviews)

4.2 out of 5

35 reviews
97% willing to recommend

What is AWS CloudFormation?

AWS CloudFormation provides a common language for you to model and provision AWS and third party application resources in your cloud environment. AWS CloudFormation allows you to use programming languages or a simple text file to model and provision, in an automated and secure manner, all the resources needed for your applications across all regions and accounts. This gives you a single source of truth for your AWS and third party resources.

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AWS CloudFormation is the #9 ranked solution in top Configuration Management solutions. PeerSpot users give AWS CloudFormation an average rating of 8.4 out of 10. Based on the analysis of the 35 most recent AWS CloudFormation reviews, the overall sentiment is positive, with a sentiment score of 7.6. (Among the highest in the category). AWS CloudFormation is most commonly compared to Microsoft Configuration Manager: AWS CloudFormation vs Microsoft Configuration Manager. AWS CloudFormation is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 70% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 20% of all views.

Helped 814,763 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

Subash Banala

Senior Manager at Capgemini

Our primary use case involves using numerous AWS services, including EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, and all databases. We are focused on migrating our Oracle on-premises systems to AWS cloud to optimize costs. A dditionally, we are leveraging automation infrastructure as code practices using AWS…

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Udhay Prakash Pethakamsetty

Data Engineer Manager at Capgemini

Versioning makes our work easy. Everything has a version. If we use a specific version, we can use the features available for that particular version. It is really helpful. We can write it in JSON or YAML. It gives us a lot of flexibility. We can model and provision the third-party resources in the CloudFormation registry. We can also publish them to the AWS Partner Network. We can also work with the SAM templates. It is the most important thing I use when I work with Lambda functions. I can build the serverless application faster with the SAM templates. It’s an open-source framework. We also have a template builder. It is a command line tool. We can generate the templates. We can perform drag-and-drop actions on the builder. We can also create codes automatically.

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Bireshwar Adhikary

Senior Consultant at ATOS

There are three environments or microservices for support. The first is the sandbox which is like a playground where cloud engineers develop or deploy. The second is the UAT which is for clusters and other things. The third is the E2E environment for testing. These levels provide good support and a high level of availability. Support is very good for cloud hardening and resource tagging. In the non-pro environment, support is comparably less. It takes much more time to follow up or solve issues. On the weekends, you cannot get test study or dev team support because they are not working.

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AWS CloudFormation mindshare

As of November 2024, the mindshare of AWS CloudFormation in the Configuration Management category stands at 1.5%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management

Key learnings from peers

Last updated Nov 1, 2024

Valuable Features

AWS CloudFormation offers valuable features like reusable templates enabling quick environment setup and deployment. Automation reduces time and cost. Users appreciate its infrastructure as code capability, simplicity, and versioning. The console and graphical interface enhance user experience. Nested stacks allow modular design. JSON and YAML provide flexibility. Integration with AWS facilitates deployment. Import/export functionality, template validation, and parameter handling are also crucial. Scalability and change management improve resource control.

"CloudFormation has helped automate the infrastructure in AWS, making the process more efficient."
"I love CloudFormation as it's a great tool for infrastructure as code. This makes my job very easy."
"It is really easy to make changes to your template and update it."

Room for Improvement

AWS CloudFormation needs to improve its user interface and documentation. Users find it non-intuitive with a steep learning curve. There is a lack of multi-cloud support and limited programming language compatibility. Error handling and auto-generation features require enhancements. The tool's verbosity and slow cloud service integration are issues. Reducing licensing costs and adding a library or dashboard for easier design would be beneficial. More cross-account dynamic referencing and improved template customization are desired.

"It's not that easy to use, but I can learn very fast."
"There could be more tools for conditional outputs in CloudFormation. Although YAML syntax is structured and AWS has CDK, perhaps more validations could be added to make the work easier."
"Everything in AWS has room for improvement."

ROI

Companies report that AWS CloudFormation helps prevent financial losses by quickly restoring operations when sites go down. Multiple organizations observed a hundred percent ROI over a three-year period, with consistent declarations of strong investment recovery.

Pricing

AWS CloudFormation is free to use with no licensing fees. Costs arise from resources deployed through the service, making pricing scalable and dependent on the customer-defined resources. Users consistently find it affordable, especially compared to other providers, with costs primarily associated with the specific AWS services utilized. Resource type and configuration drive total expenses, with serverless options often proving less costly. Free tier availability offers initial savings, enhancing cost-effectiveness for new users.

"The tool's pricing depends on the page model."
"In general, pricing within AWS is relatively affordable."
"AWS CloudFormation's pricing is cheaper than that of other cloud providers."

Popular Use Cases

Companies primarily use AWS CloudFormation for automating cloud deployment, managing infrastructure as code, and facilitating disaster recovery. It supports infrastructure services like EC2, S3, and Lambda. DevOps engineers implement it to automate configurations, track changes, and replicate environments across AWS regions. Businesses utilize CloudFormation templates for provisioning customer environments, deploying serverless solutions, and managing AWS resources efficiently. By codifying infrastructure, it aids in faster deployments, resource management, and cost optimization in multi-cloud environments.

Service and Support

AWS CloudFormation customer service and support receive positive feedback. Users find the support timely and efficient, rating it highly for addressing failures. Technical support varies from five to ten out of ten. Communication and problem resolution are praised, with faster response times in production environments compared to non-production ones. Users appreciate direct communication with account managers and dedicated partner development managers, enhancing the support experience. Some mention specific issues resolved quickly, with helpful guidance provided.

Deployment

AWS CloudFormation's initial setup is easy and fast, requiring no installation as it integrates directly with AWS services. Setup timing varies based on infrastructure size and complexity but typically takes less than 20 minutes for simpler projects. Users find it straightforward, especially with AWS templates and resources available. Initial configurations and infrastructure deployments are seamless, supported by CloudFormation's ability to integrate with existing CI/CD pipelines and manage permissions effectively. Experience and knowledge enhance ease of use.

Scalability

AWS CloudFormation is highly scalable, performing well in large and varied organizational setups. It efficiently handles thousands of components across AWS regions. Users appreciate its flexibility, speed, and security enhancements. CloudFormation aids in the scaling of resources, even though it might not be inherently scalable itself. Ratings for scalability typically range between eight and ten out of ten, showing strong user satisfaction. It's widely used across various sectors and supports easy modifications to infrastructure.

Stability

Users find AWS CloudFormation to be stable, with many rating its reliability between eight and ten out of ten. It is commended for not failing frequently and possessing robust verification methods. Some users mention a steep learning curve but appreciate its performance stability. Minor issues with server-level incidents arise occasionally, yet it generally maintains good performance. Users have encountered some challenges but predominantly report a positive stabilization experience with AWS CloudFormation.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

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