What is our primary use case?
My company uses Amazon SageMaker since we are into data analytics involved in predictions and focusing on various model executions, working with some top companies. Most of the use cases of the solution for my company stem from the fact that we need to understand various customer chain models, including customer retention or customer acquisition models, to leverage more revenue. Sometimes, the solution functions in batch mode or real-time mode. In case a customer contacts an IVR agent or the customer support team for help, we do modeling in real-time and deliver to Amazon SageMaker endpoint, ensuring how the robotics part responds to the queries of the customer.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution's ability to improve work at my organization stems from the ensemble model and a combination of various models it provides. It is important to note that since the ensemble model has limitations, it takes more time to process.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution is Amazon SageMaker Canvas. The training and algorithm-based XGBoost modeling make it a good product for a startup, especially for companies that want to explore something but don't have a proper model. The instrument will be helpful for those who want to explore something.
What needs improvement?
Amazon SageMaker should concentrate and get the performance of the ensemble model to be good enough for its users.
Improvements are needed in terms of performance for not all but some of the models, especially whenever we use the product for image classification or something. In general, improvements are needed on the performance side of the product's graphical user interface-related area since it consumes a lot of time for a user.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon SageMaker for four to five years. My company is a customer of AWS, and we have an advanced technology partnership with Amazon.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Around 20 to 25 people in my company use Amazon SageMaker.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support for the solution is good, but it is a paid service. The technical support for troubleshooting issues is chargeable, so ten percent of AWS billing will be the cost for technical support. I rate the solution's technical support an eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Along with Amazon SageMaker, I use other services from AWS, like AWS Glue, Athena, Redshift, SQS, SNS, and Airflow.
How was the initial setup?
On a scale of one to ten, where one is a difficult setup, and ten is an easy setup, I rate the setup phase a nine.
The solution is deployed on the cloud.
The deployment phase takes around 15 to 20 minutes since the product has good integration capabilities with other platforms like Jenkins and Terraform.
Our company uses Jenkins pipeline and Bitbucket for the deployment process. Everything is moved from CodeCommit to Bitbucket, after which the Jenkins pipeline takes it from Bitbucket and deploys it to SageMaker. We can do the deployment in the cloud as well, but we do it with Bitbucket and Jenkins since they allow for good integration with Amazon SageMaker, which is also easy for us to make it move.
We have a team consisting of solution and database architects in which, most of them are AWS-certified individuals capable of carrying out troubleshooting procedures in case of issues who take care of the solution's deployment process in our company.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate the pricing a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is the lowest price, and ten is the highest price. The solution is priced reasonably. There is no additional cost to be paid in excess of the standard licensing fees.
What other advice do I have?
From an exploration perspective, for people who cannot afford hardware at the physical location, it would be good to use the services from a cloud for leverage. It is easy to scale up or down when operating on an AWS Cloud. Suppose we have an on-premises or hybrid solution. In that case, we need to look at the economic structure of the organization, after which bringing everything into a physical location can get really complex. I suggest others explore using AWS before deciding on future plans.
I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
