AWS CloudFormation Reviews

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 usually use AWS to deploy serverless solutions. I use API Gateways, Lambda functions, and Route Fifty-three for custom domains. I use everything from AWS services, including Glue jobs for ETL and integration with Databricks.

CloudFormation is a great tool for infrastructure as code, which makes my job very easy.

I love CloudFormation as it's a great tool for infrastructure as code. This makes my job very easy.

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.

I have been using AWS services for more than ten years, maybe.

I do not remember any problems with stability, so I haven't had any issues.

The scalability of CloudFormation is very good. I have never had a problem, and the service runs perfectly.

I had contact with Amazon support when I lived in Brazil. We had a technical account manager, and the support was very helpful.

Positive

I recommend CloudFormation to friends and family because it's a great tool. Explaining CloudFormation to them is very easy, like explaining a restaurant process.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.

The solution provides the most simplified way of managing resources.

AWS CloudFormation has improved our organization because it provides quick replication of all the infrastructure, and we can automate every process on the DevOp.

The most valuable feature of AWS CloudFormation is the simple tracking of infrastructure.

The speed of the replication process could improve. It can take some time to replicate that could use a speed increase.

In a new release, they should add multiple optimization release features.

I have been using AWS CloudFormation for approximately three years.

I rate the stability of AWS CloudFormation a ten out of ten.

I plan to increase the use of the solution in the future.

I rate the scalability of AWS CloudFormation a nine out of ten.

I rate the support of AWS CloudFormation a nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup of AWS CloudFormation is straightforward.

I have seen a return on investment using this solution after three years.

The price of the solution is good because it is scalable.

This is a powerful tool and you are able to increase efficiency and return employee workloads.

I rate AWS CloudFormation a nine 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. 

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.

We use this solution for application hosting and utilize the caching mechanisms. 

The cost of licensing could be reduced. 

We have been using this solution for one year. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. 

For the cost point of this solution, the customer service and support is quite good.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward and took approximately four weeks. 

The implementation was completed by an external consultant. 

I would recommend the use of this solution. 

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

We use it for deploying all the Infrastructure: VPCs, EC2 instances, storage solutions, most managed services. Providing IAM configuration, providing group account configurations, role management within IAM.

CloudFormation is THE Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solution AWS recommends.

Almost everything should, according to AWS, be automated and managed using CloudFormation - whenever possible. 

Within our organization, mostly the DevOps engineers use AWS CloudFormation — around 42 of them.

I don't really care how my organisation is functioning; I care about the way that my client's organisation functions. That's what I'm after. We host workshops teaching people the DevOps transformation process, how to do infrastructure automation — almost everything. 

Of course we do the same internally, but our internal needs and use-cases don't, even, come close to our Clients'.

First off, It's fairly easy to work with, although a bit verbose. It is legible. You can understand what you're doing. The introduction of "nested stacks" allows a modular design and repeatable  structures. The nested stacks would be one of the more valuable features. I am waiting for them to become much better with parameters as this is not quite up there.

The one bit of a drawback is that CloudFormation is, only, available in AWS.

When I have to work on other clouds or somebody has a configuration to be done on-prem Data Center, there's no way for me to use it.

It is what it is, AWS does not apparently intend to make this available all over.

The three big players in this area are Ansible, Terraform, and CloudFormation — except CloudFormation can only be used on AWS !

I would like to see less verbosity and better isolation.

One area that may be improved would be using variables as parameters in templates. This would make it a lot more flexible.

I don't know how soon that's going to happen because I'm trying to think from a developer's point of view - the guys that actually have to write and support all these features that I dream about.

Frankly, to evolve it but also maintain compatibility with what's in place now, may be a serious challenge.

I have been using AWS CloudFormation for just over one year.

It's definitely stable. If it's not a long-running service, and this one's not, it's very easy to verify that you've got it where you want it. 

Just run a deployment, then it's very easy to look at the configuration and see exactly what came out. The easiest verification is the intuitive visual check-out.

There are ways to test around in the sense that you're not forced to use CloudFormation to see that it's correct. You can literally, visually inspect the configurations with the console and other means not using CloudFormation. There's always a way to verify, and the fact that you have a verification method available is convenient.

If you want to deploy thousands of components - not only virtual machines, but, also, users, roles and services, in any of the AWS regions — it's not a problem.

Frankly, I never had a problem, with AWS CloudFormation, per se.

Something advertised that doesn't work and to require support, that actually has never happened.

I did use another solution, which is Ansible, but I didn't switch. I'm still using Ansible as a backup for those cases where CloudFormation does not cover. Also, outside AWS, where CloudFormation is not available.

CloudFormation is setup by AWS by default. It's easy and it doesn't require you to do anything.

When you create your infrastructure, there is no need for you to deploy anything like agents; everything is already in there.

It's very convenient in the sense that you don't need to worry about updating, upgrading, patching or monitoring for liabilities. AWS takes care of all of that.

There's probably a lot of people that are trying to work around it. Or, to avoid it. My advice would be: use it when Amazon says so because it's probably the most straightforward approach to your problem. Afterwards, then you can become creative, for it's worth putting in the effort.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of seven.

That rating would, definitely, be higher if CloudFormation would be made available on other platforms, outside Amazon.

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.