AWS CloudFormation vs Visual Studio Team Services: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this analysis, we will explore the key differences between AWS CloudFormation and Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) for website development.

1. Deployment Process: AWS CloudFormation provides infrastructure as code to automate the deployment of infrastructure resources in a systematic manner. It allows you to define templates that describe resources and their configuration. On the other hand, VSTS offers a complete CI/CD pipeline solution, including code repository, build, and release management. While CloudFormation focuses on infrastructure provisioning, VSTS covers the entire development lifecycle.

2. Platform Compatibility: AWS CloudFormation is specifically designed for managing resources within the AWS ecosystem. It supports a wide range of AWS services and integrates well with other AWS tools and services. In contrast, VSTS is a more general-purpose platform that supports multiple cloud providers and can be used with both on-premises and cloud-based infrastructure. VSTS offers flexibility for managing resources across different cloud environments.

3. Resource Definitions: CloudFormation templates use a declarative language to define infrastructure resources. With these templates, you can specify the desired state of the resources, and AWS handles the provisioning and deployment details automatically. On the other hand, VSTS uses a combination of declarative YAML pipelines and script-based tasks to define and deploy resources. VSTS offers more flexibility for customization and scripting but requires more configuration compared to CloudFormation.

4. Scalability and Orchestration: AWS CloudFormation supports resource orchestration, allowing you to create complex stacks of resources with dependencies and perform updates and deletions in a controlled manner. It provides automatic scaling for certain types of resources, making it easier to handle dynamic workloads. In comparison, while VSTS supports scaling and orchestration to some extent, it primarily focuses on deployment and release management rather than resource provisioning.

5. Cost Management: CloudFormation provides visibility into the estimated costs of deploying resources, allowing you to estimate and manage costs more accurately. It offers cost allocation tags, enabling you to track expenses across different projects or teams. On the other hand, VSTS does not provide specific cost management features and relies on integrating with other tools or services for cost monitoring and control.

6. Ecosystem and Integration: AWS CloudFormation is tightly integrated with the broader AWS ecosystem, and it can leverage other AWS tools and services for tasks such as monitoring, logging, and security management. It seamlessly integrates with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for resource-level permissions. VSTS, on the other hand, provides integrations with various third-party tools and services and can be used with different development and deployment platforms, providing more flexibility and enabling you to work with your preferred tools.

In Summary, while AWS CloudFormation focuses on infrastructure provisioning and resource management within the AWS ecosystem, Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) offers a comprehensive CI/CD pipeline solution that covers the entire development lifecycle, provides platform compatibility across multiple cloud providers, and offers more customization and integration options.