A webapp isn't a company. If you have a company, you should have at least half a rack of hardware in a colo. Being 100% on the cloud is a grave mistake.
I guess Netflix isn't a company then, since they use AWS after all. You might think AWS isn't a good deal but it's hyperbolic to call companies that are on cloud services as not being real companies.
> A webapp isn't a company. If you have a company, you should have at least half a rack of hardware in a colo.
is the quote I was replying to. The parent doesn't mention startups, they say the word company so of course I'd have taken it as all companies as a whole. There is no hard and fast rule that every company must have "half a rack of hardware in a colo" or otherwise they're not a "real company." This is basically the No True Scotsman fallacy in action.
I mean basically a company just has to make money, and today, dealing with a colo and all is probably just going to get in the way of that for the vast majority of companies in the early stages. Making the claim that relying on cloud is a big mistake is a pretty bold claim as well
If you're trying to scale, fast, into the global stage "half a rack of colo" isn't going to cut it. You're going to need presence everywhere and that can be impossible to deploy fast.
If you're targeting say a single market, say North America, with fewer larger clients you're likely to be able to manage it from two DCs and can realistically manage it yourself.
It's just "right solution for the right situation". Cloud is absolutely not always the right solution.
I'm trying to come up with a charitable read of this that isn't no true Scotsmaning the concept of a corporation but frankly am coming up short. I might be missing some part of your argument here - why do you believe that dedicating resources (cost and time/expertise) to having your own hardware is always the right decision for a company with a software/internet based product?
Yes at some level, every company should have at least one rack in a colo and I think that point is very soon after it starts, months.
I didn't say only, and I did say you should have footprint in every cloud for when you need to scale or deploy in a region.
If there was an "App Template" for a company, I think have your own hardware in a place you control is super important. Cloud providers literally don't give a shit about you. It is about agency.
Where your rack is is basically not relevant. For most startups, AWS is great, even if it's more cost of colo, it's the opportunity cost and dynamism it offers. Use AWS until the savings of not doing so will not affect your ability to grow, or costs are not dreadful. Moving away from AWS is a cost optimization, it depends on the kind of business you have.
But more broadly, the value is IP, essentially know-how and lock-in with customers, relationships etc..
