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0 pointsscaryclam8y ago0 comments

I get the feeling the OP was talking more about things like Firebase than EC2 or Cloud Compute. Of course, GCP and AWS will allow you to do things that lock you in, but as you stated, you don't have to do that to use their other products.

The idea that some people are using other companies backend systems to build their own company that completely relies on those systems creeps me out.

If I hire a backend developer who creates an API that talks to my DB, then that developer walks away, at least I can continue with my business while I run around finding a new developer. I don't need a new codebase and I don't need to shutdown operations. If a hosting company goes under but I host my own code there, at least I can redeploy elsewhere and get on with life. If I use a BaaS company and they go under/discontinue my hosting/etc then I can neither move, or hire another company to continue the work. I have to start again, and for anything significant, that's probably going to kill my company first.

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3 comments · 2 top-level

dzhiurgis8y ago· 1 in thread

Salesforce has been running essentially a BaaS for nearly two decades and they show no sign of slowing down.

IMHO their platform is garbage compared to something like Firebase, but no businesses seem to be worried about portability. In fact most are doubling down on building teams to build and support Salesforce.

yellowapple8y ago

"In fact most are doubling down on building teams to build and support Salesforce."

I'd sooner attribute that to Stockholm syndrome, in much the same way that Oracle shops tend to double down on Oracle products - not because Oracle products are actually good, mind you (they're absolutely abysmal, in my observation, and even the ones acquired from Sun are rotting corpses at this point, Java being perhaps the sole exception), but because it's cheaper to keep buying in than to break out of the vendor lock-in.

seanwilson8y ago

Sounds like we agree then! I'd rather stick to generic technologies so I can migrate away if needed. If the service being offered gave a big advantage but didn't have any realistic migration paths then I'd be very cautious. All I mean is that between the major cloud providers there's a decent overlap of common services you can use such that the advantages are hard to ignore. I think we're at the stage where doing everything yourself with some generic VPSs or your own machines isn't economical or productive if you value your time in a lot of cases.

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