AWS CloudFormation Reviews

We use AWS CloudFormation for any migration tasks, such as service catalog services, Amazon EC2 instances, and load balancers.

The solution can be deployed on-premise, such as in data centers, and on the cloud, such as VPNs and gateways.

The most valuable features of AWS CloudFormation are all the resources documentation is located in one location, simple resource reverting, and ease of use of the full package for new users. 

The conditions that can be added in AWS CloudFormation are not as powerful as any programming language.

I have been using AWS CloudFormation for approximately four years.

The solution has been working well.

We have approximately three people using the solutions.

My clients have used AWS CloudFormation support. 

I have used Terraform and it has similar benefits as AWS CloudFormation. We are using AWS CloudFormation mainly because all of the other services we use are from Amazon AWS.

We had a vendor that set up the solution for our company.

If you compared serverless and container-based, serverless is less expensive. If you use certain instances the price can increase and become too expensive.

I rate AWS CloudFormation a seven out of ten.

We support multiple internal developers and deploy and create new S3 buckets for them. We create new users and groups and also create the SNSQS for them. We also support multiple services like creating the Lambda function and have a principle of maintaining the correct privilege for the user. So we manage the AWS service in our organization and deploy the AWS CloudFormation templates to create that kind of AWS service.

It is easy to work from the console and deploy new database services. It is very user-friendly.

Creating the inline policies is not great, and they need to maintain it on a higher level. They create a discrepancy between multiple templates when we do the numbering of those stacks using AWS CloudFormation templates. When we created those stacks in my old organization, a bulk of stacks were automatically wrongly numbered. The filtering of those stacks was painful on the AWS CloudFormation site. I prefer Terraform to manage that.

We have been using this solution for a year at my organization, and I deploy the CloudFormation templates. I write them from scratch, and I deploy them. I extensively used it when I was working on the other cloud. We use the template format version from 2010. It is also deployed on-premises.

It is a stable solution.

It is scalable to an extent, and I rate the scalability a five out of ten. Five DevOps people use this solution.

We've used technical support, and I would rate them a seven out of ten.

I am unsure why we chose AWS CloudFormation, but we later realized that HashiCorp Terraform had more capability than the AWS CloudFormation templates. Initially, it was highly suggested by AWS to make use of CloudFormation at that time, so we started using it.

The initial setup is easy and not tough. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten.

I don't remember the exact usage cost, but it isn't that expensive.

I rate the solution a seven out of ten. It loses three points because of the disadvantage of the naming convention and the stack. Regarding advice, I would be careful when creating the stacks. There should be a proper naming convention that needs to be followed. If there isn't, the stacks will be more painful using the AWS CloudFormation.

We use CloudFormation for deploying solutions. It's tested manually and then we write a script for CloudFormation. We then copy all the configurations that are needed to automate the process of bringing it to the cloud.

Scripting does just about everything needed to accomplish the task of reinstalling something from scratch. It's the combination of features that's important.  CloudFormation allows us to get the original system up and running in a much shorter time.

I'd like to see a better GUI than we currently have which is basically a script you write. If they were to add graphical components that would enable animation of the installation procedure it would be icing on the cake. We'd be able to preview the installation and visually see what's happening, whether or not anything is missing, and whether you can run parts of the installation in parallel.

I've used this solution for six months. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution is very scalable. We have some clients with dozens of users and others with thousands of users. 

We've had some experience with technical support and they are very good. 

Positive

The number of people required for the deployment and maintenance of CloudFormation depends on the complexity of the implementation. Deployment involves thorough testing and can be a little complex.

A company can lose a lot of money if a site goes down. CloudFormation helps prevent that loss by bringing things back to working order very quickly.

We chose CloudFormation because it's native to AWS and it's easier to script than Ansible. We use Ansible for taking care of the nitty-gritty details that CloudFormation is not geared towards.

It's important to be aware of the things this solution is appropriate for. We learned the hard way that for our more detailed needs we need to use Ansible. Don't expect CloudFormation to take care of everything. It sets things initially, and then Ansible runs local scripts to take care of the details.

I use AWS CloudFormation to automate my infrastructure, especially with DevOps engineering.

The solution has helped with automation. I don't have to worry about provisioning machines and ensuring everything is set up. AWS CloudFormation takes care of the entire infrastructure for me.

The solution is free to use, and its automation capabilities are really powerful. 

There could be better error handling. It would be a good way to improve the solution.

I have been using this solution for one year. I currently use the latest version. 

I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. It never fails. 

I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten. 

The customer service and support are good. 

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. We have it as software as a service. 

We saw a hundred percent ROI. 

The pricing is not expensive. The cost depends on the resources you launch. So, you pay for the resources you use, not the other way around.

I would suggest to read the documentation first before you start. Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten.

AWS CloudFormation is being used for landing zone creation and DR purposes.

What I found most valuable in AWS CloudFormation is its configurability. The solution is easy to configure. I also like its change management configuration because that's also good.

What could be improved in AWS CloudFormation is its user interface, in terms of graphical design, I prefer WYSIWYG.

I've been working with AWS CloudFormation for several years now.

AWS CloudFormation has good stability and performance.

AWS CloudFormation is a scalable product.

The technical support for AWS CloudFormation is always good and fast. I would rate it five out of five.

The initial setup for AWS CloudFormation was easy.

We had some support from Amazon for the deployment of AWS CloudFormation. The deployment took a day to complete.

AWS CloudFormation doesn't have any cost because it's only the resources that you deploy with the solution that'll incur costs.

We didn't evaluate other options. AWS CloudFormation is our first solution.

I've been working with the latest version of AWS CloudFormation, as it's updated regularly.

My company deploys AWS CloudFormation for multiple customers, and I can't give an exact figure in terms of how many people use the solution.

My rating for AWS CloudFormation is ten out of ten.

My company is a partner of AWS CloudFormation, in particular, an advanced consulting partner.

My advice to new users of the solution is to go through the free online documentation and the video training on the AWS training site. This will help in evaluating and deploying AWS CloudFormation.

Once we build a CloudFormation template, we use it regularly. We use the solution to build the backend infrastructure of Amazon Connect.

The reusability of the solution is valuable. Once CloudFormation is built, we can reuse it as many times as we want. We can make changes and deploy it within seconds. We can deploy the whole infrastructure within minutes. If we build individual infrastructures, it would take much more time.

The solution must enable more hands-on designing of the templates. We take the backend services and design the templates. The design must be drag and drop.

I am happy with the support.

Positive

The installation was not challenging.

If someone wants to use the product for the first time, they must learn the basics of cloud infrastructure. It's not easy for a beginner to learn. We must know the basic infrastructures, our requirements, how Amazon functions, and how the cloud functions. Cloud infrastructures have their own way of functioning. We must set EC2 instances and private virtual clouds. We must be aware of such things. As a tool, AWS CloudFormation is very good. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

We are a computer consulting company and AWS CloudFormation is one of the solutions that we provide to our customers.

CloudFormation is definitely an integral part of AWS Native solutions. It is used for setting up your environment, such as your DNS structure. If something happens in your current environment, such as a disaster, then you can bring up the environment in another region by using the CloudFormation template. Essentially, it is a tool that is used for automating cloud deployment.

The templates are helpful because they can help to get a quick start on a project. You can spin up your development environment immediately, do some jobs, and get it out of the way.

There is a cost-benefit to using CloudFormation that comes about because of the automation that it provides.

One really good thing is that you don't have to be specific when it comes to sequencing.

The automatically template creation feature is good, although it needs to be made a bit more extensive.

This tool is not intuitive and there are others that are easier to understand. It is very powerful but it can be developed to make it much easier to use. The learning curve is pretty steep. Unless you have been working with it for a long time, looking at a CloudFormation template is a tough job. The aim should be usability for a person with a non-coding background.

There is a lot of syntax and components that require you to look at the documentation, whereas with the inclusion of a few drop-down menus and choices, it would be much easier to work with.

You can have CloudFormation create a template based on your existing infrastructure, but not all of the services are included. For example, if you manually set up an environment and you have put in all of the scaling information then you can extract the entire infrastructure and get back a template. CloudFormation is then capable of recreating the environment but it might not have the scaling included automatically.

We have been using AWS CloudFormation for six to seven months.

This is a stable solution. It is a bit of a challenge because the learning curve is steep and it requires a lot of expertise, but it is stable.

Our customers are a mix in terms of size. We have small, medium, and large-sized companies as clients.

We have interacted with technical support at times and from my experience, it has been pretty nice. The support is okay.

I have also used Terraform, which is a bit more user-friendly than CloudFormation. It is quite a bit more intuitive.

CloudFormation doesn't require any installation. In fact, it is part of the services provided by AWS. The length of time for deployment depends on the type of infrastructure that you're deploying. For example, a simple three-tier, without scaling, with perhaps six or seven instances, will probably take ten or fifteen minutes. Speed-wise it is pretty good, although ultimately it depends on what services you want.

When you are providing this solution to a customer there are a lot of things to consider because there are a lot of moving parts. You always have to get them validated from the AWS site. 

This solution is free to use and does not require a license.

When it comes to this solution, there are a lot of things that happen. New features can come out every week and down the line, there are a lot of new things that come very fast. Keeping up with the innovations or product services that are being introduced is a taxing job.

CloudFormation is not used on a daily basis. It is only used for specific purposes whenever there is a requirement. You use it to set up a certain environment.

My advice for anybody who is considering using this solution to implement their environment is to consider the complexity of what they want to do. If you want to bring up a simple environment and are familiar with coding using JSON or YAML then try it on your own. Importantly, however, it is not enough to be familiar with the scripting language. You need to understand AWS architecture. The combination of these things is required for the template. If you do build it on your own then I would still suggest having it validated by AWS.

If you are unfamiliar with coding or the infrastructure then I would suggest involving a third-party to assist. Not having the proper expertise internally will increase the time required for the project. I feel that it is not a bad idea to involve AWS, as well.

Overall, this solution is good but there is always room for improvement.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

I create cloud infrastructure using CloudFormation. It helps us a lot to manage or monitor the whole infrastructure.

CloudFormation gives us control of AWS and any Cloud infrastructure. It creates the whole stack for Cloud services technologies so it's easy to manage the whole system. If we are creating a platform which includes certain services of AWS, it is very difficult for us to see or manage the whole service related to that specific platform.

CloudFormation provides us with a single and easy way to handle those services of that particular application. If I want to shut down the whole system, I don't want to go to each single service related to that specific particular product. Using this solution, I just run the command to the CloudFormation to shut down the whole system. It will shut down each and every service related to that particular system.

If you are a developer or a more technical person, it's very difficult to learn the complete syntax or because CloudFormation includes a new way to write infrastructure code. There is a technology called CDK and it provides a unique way to handle the infrastructure of every Cloud technology. 

CloudFormation should include compatibility with the programming languages or latest technologies. 

I have been using this solution for three a half years. 

We have experienced some issues with stability with current incidents we are developing on a server level. 

I would rate the scalability for this solution an eight out of ten. 

I have collaborated with AWS support many times for big data but not related to CloudFormation. I would rate the support for this solution a ten out of ten. 

Positive

It is very easy to set up. We just have to create a file or the stack for the related services that we are currently working on. Deployment time depends on the stack and on the services. It takes a longer time if done manually. When setting up a simple service, I would rate the set up a ten out of ten. 

I have set up the whole CloudFormation infrastructure on my own because I'm AWS certified. 

We evaluated Terraform. It provides a single platform to manage all the Clouds. We just have to write a single stack code and it is compatible with each and every Cloud platform like AWS, GCP and Azure. The drawback of CloudFormation is that it is only compatible with AWS.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.