My primary use case for Amazon EC2 is running specific Windows programs on the cloud and collecting data from them.
Head of Algorithms at Stealth Startup
Stable solution with straightforward deployment
Pros and Cons
- "I would recommend this solution to others who want to start using it."
- "I would like to see as much automation for data validation as possible in the future."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
I would like to see as much automation for data validation as possible in the future.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Amazon EC2 for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I think it's a stable solution.
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Amazon EC2
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My impression is that this solution is scalable. We currently have four people using this solution and we have plans of expanding that number.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate Amazon's tech support team a nine out of ten, with one being bad and one being excellent.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The setup was straightforward and easy. While the initial setup was simple, we had some problems with Glue scripts. We ran into some problems, but we found a way around them.
It took around 20% of our staff to do this deployment and maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think this is a very expensive solution and I would like it to be cheaper.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others who want to start using it.
I would rate Amazon EC2 a nine out of ten, with one being poor and 10 being excellent.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT and Procurement Executive at iris communications
Beneficial adaptability and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Amazon EC2 are content delivery and adaptability."
- "Amazon EC2 could improve the stability."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Amazon EC2 for computing.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Amazon EC2 are content delivery and adaptability.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon EC2 for approximately two months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon EC2 could improve the stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Amazon EC2 is good.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used technical support from Amazon EC2.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not use other solutions prior to using Amazon EC2.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am using the tier three Amazon service. I am not going to use another solution other than Amazon EC2 because here in Pakistan there are some payment issues for solutions abroad.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Amazon EC2 a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Amazon EC2
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Amazon EC2. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Systems Engineer at Dimension Data
It's easy to provision and set up
Pros and Cons
- "EC2 has the typical advantages of using the cloud. It's easy to provision and set up."
- "I would like to see more variety in the operating system images used to create test environments in EC2. There should be more versions and releases. Sometimes, you want to test an update from an old release to a higher version, but you can’t do that with the new images available. You have to use your own."
What is our primary use case?
We use EC2 for test and dev environments.
What is most valuable?
EC2 has the typical advantages of using the cloud. It's easy to provision and set up.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see more variety in the operating system images used to create test environments in EC2. There should be more versions and releases. Sometimes, you want to test an update from an old release to a higher version, but you can’t do that with the new images available. You have to use your own.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used EC2 for three or four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon EC2 is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
EC2 is scalable. There is an auto-scale setting in the configuration.
How are customer service and support?
I've never had to use tech support. I think most of the documentation is adequate.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up EC2 is straightforward. It takes a few minutes, and you can do it by yourself.
What was our ROI?
Pricing is based on consumption, so when we don't want to use it, we just turn it off. The expense is negligible.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay for a monthly license. The price is fair.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Amazon EC2 nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Systems Administrator at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Stable, scalable and simple to implement
Pros and Cons
- "Stable, scalable, and simple to implement."
- "Current inability to change the resource service levels."
What is our primary use case?
EC2 and VPC are two services that are quite interconnected. EC2 is the Amazon console that uses the host resources in the data centers to launch servers, instances and services with VPC as the networking part.
What is most valuable?
This is a great solution that's stable, scalable and simple to implement.
What needs improvement?
We sometimes need to change the resource service levels, whether it's to expand or contract. Amazon doesn't offer that option so the way things work now, changes can't be made without scheduling downtime or preventing users from using the service for a period while changes are made. I would like to see servers upgrading or downgrading on the fly without the end user even noticing the change. It would be life-changing for us.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for about four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. There are instances storage servers distributed on multiple hosts in the data centers and even if there's a failure we're unaware of the disruptions. The solution is stable 24/7, 365 days a year, and we know we can rely on it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable, we have over 1,000 users.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing costs are paid monthly for the whole package. That includes the resources that the server is utilizing, plus the operating system along with any database license, such as Microsoft SQL, that you are using. It's quite expensive.
What other advice do I have?
This is an amazing solution although it's not suitable for every company.
They lose one point because the price is quite high so I rate this product nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Application Architect - BI at IBM
Reliable, helpful support, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon EC2's most valuable feature I have heard from clients is easy provisioning. Provisioning is very quick and easy."
- "Amazon EC2 could improve by reducing the price."
What is our primary use case?
We had a client which has a legacy application that wanted to move to the cloud without a cloud-native solution. What they did was they moved to Amazon EC2 and asked for virtual machines. They had an Oracle database and licenses, they were all provided by the client, and then they all moved to the Amazon EC2 environment.
What is most valuable?
Amazon EC2's most valuable feature I have heard from clients is easy provisioning. Provisioning is very quick and easy.
What needs improvement?
Amazon EC2 could improve by reducing the price.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon EC2 for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon EC2 is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Amazon EC2 is good.
Our client was a large company with approximately 1,000 using the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Amazon EC2 is good.
What was our ROI?
The ROI is similar to an on-premise version of my client's operations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The clients have found the billing of Amazon EC2 good, but the price could be less high. There is a monthly subscription to use the solution.
We have difficulty convincing potential clients of the benefits of using Amazon EC2, from their on-premise setup, when the cost is similar. They don't see the benefits. We face a lot of issues convincing them
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate Amazon EC2 an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Enterprise Solutions Architect at OORWIN LABS INC
Excellent support, scalable, and straightforward implementation
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon EC2 has plenty of scalability options to decrease or increase the number we need. Based on our bandwidth usage we may go for a higher or downgrade level. We can do it ourselves."
- "We're expecting to have Graviton instances. Graviton means it's not internal, it's a low-cost instance. At present time, Graviton is not supported for a few packages."
What is our primary use case?
We are running all of our application services on Amazon EC2.
What needs improvement?
We're expecting to have Graviton instances. Graviton means it's not internal, it's a low-cost instance. At present time, Graviton is not supported for a few packages.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon EC2 for approximately five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Amazon EC2 has plenty of scalability options to decrease or increase the number we need. Based on our bandwidth usage we may go for a higher or downgrade level. We can do it ourselves.
Our applications are running on Amazon EC2 instances only, we have approximately 15,000 that can use on a daily basis.
We have been receiving a lot of customer sign-ups. There are user licenses with the application, based on users' usage count we may increase or decrease the server instances types if needed.
How are customer service and support?
Amazon's support is the best because the agents can react faster than competitors. They provide a very good service.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have previously used many other services.
How was the initial setup?
The initial installation was straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
I have done the implementation of Amazon EC2 and I handle the maintenance and support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license required to use this solution and we pay on a monthly basis.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Amazon EC2 a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Software developer at TAIGLE LLC
Easy to deploy, scalable, and stable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is autoscaling."
- "Currently in the autoscaling process if we have multiple issues we are not able to connect some of the VPC through the SMS."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to host our backend servers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is autoscaling.
What needs improvement?
I would like the ability to connect SMS to EC2 using the VPC endpoint. Currently in the autoscaling process if we have multiple issues we are not able to connect some of the VPC through the SMS.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution has an autoscaling feature making it very scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. We follow an internal document for deployment and it takes around 15 minutes to implement.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was completed in-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using a pay-as-you-go model.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution a nine out of ten.
We require two people for deployment and maintenance.
I recommend the solution to others.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Solution Manager - WebSphere SWG Services at IBM
A stable and scalable solution that is easy to manage
Pros and Cons
- "The most important aspects are that the solution is scalable and easy to manage."
- "The initial setup could be easier because many keys are required for access."
What is our primary use case?
Our company provides customers with business solutions for APIs, data warehousing, and process automation.
We have many clients and a hybrid model. Certain customers prefer on-premises and the rest run the solution from the cloud.
What is most valuable?
The most important aspects are that the solution is scalable and easy to manage.
Amazon provides great services.
What needs improvement?
The initial setup could be easier because many keys are required for access. A more concise or shorter cycle for setup is desired.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is definitely stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is definitely scalable because it is in the cloud. That is the benefit of moving to cloud-based solutions.
How are customer service and support?
We have not needed technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is definitely complex.
What about the implementation team?
We implement the solution for customers. We have a skilled team so deployments are pretty fast with no challenges.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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