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We live in a day and age where many of the software engineering operations we perform depend on cloud solutions.

From Infrastructure provisioning, to all the other cloud and DevOps chores like deployments and integration(CI/CD), logging and monitoring, containerization and container orchestration, and a lot more, it's simply obvious that software engineering cannot survive without the cloud.

Whether you're self-hosting a private cloud(on premises), or using a service provider, it all falls back to the cloud somehow.

While there are simpler and more easy-to-use cloud solutions, we tend to prefer AWS(Amazon Web Services) as our core cloud service provider at Zed Labs. I believe you should as well.

Read on to discover the reasons why - in this beautiful article that unveils a piece of our internals at Zed Labs.

Of Course We'll Use Other Cloud Options When Necessary.

One of our core at Zed Labs, is providing software services to clients. To do this effectively and professionally, it simply makes sense that we won't just push our tech preferences on every client project. We must do well to understand the scope of every project we're embarking on, and make the right technology choices based on the uniqueness of such.

This fact keeps us open to using other technologies(other cloud options in this case) whenever necessary.

For instance, a Firebase or Supabase backend will be a better option for a mobile app MVP over a traditional backend with virtual machines(VMs) and all the other complexity headaches. Similarly, a front-end deployment on Vercel might be preferred over a similar deployment on an AWS service like Amplify - especially thanks to Vercel's easy-to-use frontend monitoring and analytics.

Addressing the benefit of speed that comes with using less-complex cloud options over AWS, it makes sense to understand and agree that speed is very much relative. Due to mastery and repetitive use, going through the drills of making AWS deployments might still be so fast that the time difference gained by using an easier cloud service will become very negligible.

Away from the issues of speed demands and the need to use less complex cloud services, AWS might still not be the most preferred, for certain chores that we perform. A good example is how(at the moment), Docker is our preferred containerization option over an AWS service like ECR(Elastic Container Registry).

I could go on and on, but the gist is simple - It all depends!!! And we're open and professional enough to make the switch whenever necessary.

Reasons Why AWS Remains Our Preferred Choice.

Having made clear the points discussed in the above subtitle, Here are some beautiful reasons why we prefer AWS as cloud service provider at Zed Labs, and why you should.

1. AWS is Startup-Launch Friendly.

This reason might be the most important reason why we'll still stick with AWS even when other less complex cloud services appear to be better options.

AWS has a number of impressive free and discounted service offerings that makes building and launching a startup cost almost as good as nothing.

I mean every word when I say '...as good as nothing'.

- AWS Free-tier Services.

Firstly, AWS has a number of it's services that are free-tier eligible.

Free tier Eligible services, are AWS services that give you access to free usage until you hit some certain limits. For these services, you only starts getting charged after maxing out the free limits.

The best part being that, some of these free-tier services, come with usage/access that last up to 12 months for new users - a whole year!!!

Image: a screenshot showing the free-tier section on the AWS website.

To learn more about AWS free-tier services, simply head to the free tier section on the AWS website, and explore all the available free-tier offerings.

P.S: A knowledge of what each service does will be necessary. E.g. AWS S3 for file storage, and AWS EC2 for creating and managing VMs in the cloud.

Image: a screenshot showing the free-tier section on the AWS website.

These free-tier services are so good to points where(if your product is still in development phase), you might end up paying less than one dollar($1) as your monthly AWS cloud bill. I don't mean the bill for using a single service, I mean the bill you pay AWS for all services for that month.

Image: a screenshot showing the bill for the previous month, on of the project AWS accounts I manage. This is precisely how low AWS bills can be on new in-progress/in-development projects for some months.

Free-tier AWS services, are key reasons why it's currently very possible to get started on AWS at zero cost. All you need to do, is to create an account.

P.S: You'll need to connect an active debit/credit card, that won't be charged of course, until your first cloud cost is incurred.

- AWS Free Credits.

The Next super-amazing free offering from AWS, is their free $300 credit package.

While this free $300 credit does not come out of the box, AWS gives it on application. The $300 credits last for 3 months.

Once your project is in progress, AWS will send a message(an email) recommending that you apply for the $300 credits.

The credits will then be applied to your AWS account once your request is approved.

From my experience so far, the credit approval terms are not strict. As long as your project makes enough sense. You'll easily pass to get the $300 credit for free.

Image: a screenshot showing an invitation email, inviting an AWS user account to apply for the free $300 AWS credit.

Image: a screenshot showing the success status of an application for the free $300 AWS credit.

Image: a screenshot showing the successful approval and grant of the free $300 AWS credit.

With all of these, you get to end-up building and launching a complete product for almost zero cost.

To prove all of these, we launched a client project recently, and till today(from scratch, all through the development phase and after over a month in production, more than 2500 registered users and about 2 million Nigerian Naira(probably more) in total generated revenue), the total cloud bill as charged by AWS is still less than $5(five US Dollars) - $4.93(four Dollars and 93 Cents) to be precise. Unbelievable right?

A Little Comparison.

Now, let's make a comparison with Vercel(a more developer friendly cloud service provider), for only the front-end deployment of the said client project(which of course consist of a massive backend which will not be considered).

As much as I know, For new users on it's Pro plan(which is what you should use for production workloads to avoid issues), Vercel gives you one month(14 days * 2) of free hosting and more benefits like advanced monitoring and analytics. But here's the catch, Vercel begins charging $20(base fee) per month afterwards. Remember that this only accounts for the frontend deployment.

While vercel also offers a generous non-expiring free-tier and some other special offerings, it does not seem to match the benefits of using a core cloud service like AWS.

Even though I must admit that both platforms have their advantages and disadvantages, When the benefits of being able to build, launch, validate your startup idea, and even generate massive revenue, for almost zero cloud cost is brought on the table, you might as well want to ignore using simpler cloud services that will likely cost you quite a lot, and simply get AWS cloud professionals who will get the job done with relatively similar speed - on a more robust, scalable, and future-proof platform.

2. AWS Is What's Hottest In The Current Core Cloud Services Provider Market.

Talking core/top cloud service providers, three names readily come to mind - AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform(GCP). But among the three, AWS is obviously the most popular, and most demanded in the current tech market.

Being able to deliver software solutions with the most popular and most demanded core cloud service provider, only helps to give us an edge.

Furthermore, engineers that get to work at Zed Labs, stand the chance of getting exposed to working and delivering solutions with technologies and(AWS) cloud services that are valuable and in-demand, hence better strengthening their portfolios.

3. Bare-Metal/Low-Level Is Always Better.

While other considerations come into play when talking software delivery, it still always make sense - when ever necessary, to stick with low-level options for reasons such as software performance/speed, privacy, and security.

As much as I'm aware, a good number of the easier, faster-delivery and less complex cloud platforms like like Vercel, Uploadthing, and Supabase build upon existing cloud infrastructure providers such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.

It's clear that these platforms offer specialized tools, simplified workflows, and abstraction layers that solve specific problems while handling the underlying complexity of infrastructure management, but It only makes sense, to stick with what you'll end-up using after all. Especially when you get to gain massive benefits, and also save cost.

4. AWS Is Simply Good At What It Does.

While there's a lot of hate, and negative talk about AWS. There's no doubt, that AWS is awesome. A very clear proof of this, is how it's still thriving, and leading the core cloud service provider market.

AWS is good at what is does. AWS simply get's the job done.

When what you know and are good at, get's the job done, there's absolutely no need considering another.

Of course we're flexible at Zed Labs. As earlier clarified in this article, if the need arises to use a different cloud solution - including other options like GCP and Azure, we're awesome and professional enough to make the switch, and get the job done.

5. AWS Is What We Know Best.

At Zed Labs, we're committed to making every client happy with each delivery that we make. This means every delivery must be as perfect possible. This simply leaves us with no choice(if the project permits), but to use the tools and technologies that will help us deliver the job perfectly.

With this fact in mind, for cloud services(and for now) - we'll readily go with AWS.

Hire the Zed Labs Team - Let's bring your software and design projects to life.

We invite you to come hire us to build and deliver your software or design projects.

• If you will love to work with the team at Zed Labs and have us build awesome stuffs for you, simply visit out website, And fill the contact form. Alternatively, you can send us an email here: hello.zedlabs@gmail.com.

• You can also send me a private email at okpainmondrew@gmail.com or a DM via Linkedin - just in case you prefer to contact me directly.

We'll be excited to hop on a call and get on the way to bringing your software or design project to life.

Conclusion.

With that, I'll bring this title to a close.

AWS remains at the top of the cloud service provider market, and it remains our preferred choice as it continues to help us deliver awesome software and services to clients.

I do hope this article gave you a good reason to try out AWS.

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