AWS CloudFormation Reviews

Name: AWS CloudFormation
Brand: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Rating: 4 (34 reviews)

4.2 out of 5

34 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 34 most recent AWS CloudFormation reviews, the overall sentiment is positive, with a sentiment score of 7.3. (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 69% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 21% of all views.

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

Configuration Management

Key learnings from peers

Last updated Oct 28, 2024

Valuable Features

AWS CloudFormation offers valuable features like infrastructure as code, facilitating automation and reproducibility. It simplifies deployment with predefined templates and supports JSON/YAML for ease of use. Users appreciate versioning, change management, and nested stacks for modular design. Reusability and scalability enhance efficiency. Integration with AWS accelerates time to market. Users benefit from flexible provisioning across regions, control through code, and detailed resource management. Extensive documentation and support ease the process for beginners.

"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."
"The most valuable features of AWS CloudFormation include the import and export functionality, and pseudo parameters, which reduce our coding efforts by managing parameterization at the account level."

Room for Improvement

AWS CloudFormation's interface could be more intuitive and user-friendly, especially for non-coders. The platform's verbosity and reliance on complex syntax hinder ease of use. Improvements are needed in cross-account references and error handling. Users find customization limited and desire broader support for programming languages like Python. Expanding to other cloud environments and enhancing multi-cloud capabilities would be beneficial. Documentation and template generation features also need refinement. Mobile support for new AWS services is often delayed.

"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."
"There is room for improvement in the optimization of AWS CloudFormation."

ROI

Organizations highlight AWS CloudFormation's effectiveness in rapidly restoring functionality, minimizing potential monetary losses from site downtimes. Some acknowledge a return on investment materializing after three years, while others report achieving a complete return.

Pricing

AWS CloudFormation itself is free, with costs arising from the AWS resources you deploy. Enterprises note the pricing is neither cheap nor expensive, rated around two to eight out of ten based on deployed services. Cost optimizations are possible, as serverless options tend to be less expensive. AWS is considered relatively affordable with varying costs based on resource usage, such as EC2 and FSx differing in expense. Enterprises value the scalable and pay-as-you-go pricing model.

"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

AWS CloudFormation is used by organizations for automating cloud deployment, managing infrastructure, and creating environments. It supports infrastructure as code, enabling automated provisioning of AWS resources like EC2, S3, and Lambda. Businesses leverage it to set up environments, manage IAM configurations, and implement disaster recovery. DevOps teams use it to streamline deployments, reduce creation time, and facilitate repeatable environments. It is also employed for mapping resources and optimizing cost strategies through automation.

Service and Support

AWS CloudFormation's customer service and support are consistently rated highly for responsiveness and effectiveness. Users appreciate its technical support, noting it is fast and helpful, with some giving it a ten out of ten. Support quality may vary slightly with the type of subscription or environment, but generally, it is good and efficient, particularly in production environments. Enterprises often experience prompt responses and valuable guidance, highlighting positive interactions with technical account managers and dedicated support teams.

Deployment

Initial setup for AWS CloudFormation is generally fast and uncomplicated, requiring no installation. Setup time can vary based on infrastructure complexity, ranging from minutes to several hours. Users find the process accessible, especially when utilizing predefined templates. Setup familiarity impacts ease, as basic coding knowledge or experience can help navigate challenges. While minimal maintenance is needed, integration with existing pipelines and AWS Control Tower can introduce complexity.

Scalability

AWS CloudFormation is praised for its strong scalability, supporting diverse company sizes and enabling deployment of thousands of components across multiple AWS regions. Users appreciate its speed, user-friendliness, and ability to enhance security. Though not cloud agnostic, it efficiently manages infrastructure and resources with templates and parameters. CloudFormation is highly valued for its capability to scale effectively, with ratings typically between eight and ten out of ten, indicating widespread satisfaction among organizations.

Stability

AWS CloudFormation is widely regarded as stable with many users rating its stability eight to ten out of ten. Challenges include a steep learning curve and occasional edge-case conditions, but stability and reliability are generally not issues. Users appreciate the ability to verify configurations visually. Some experience server-level issues, but these are offset by the stability's strong performance. Transitions between versions may introduce minor changes, but most users report no significant stability problems.

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

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