CloudBees Reviews

CloudBees is the Jenkins tool for building and deploying. There's open-source Jenkins, which is free and can be used by any organization, but it offers a different architecture for Jenkins. If your organization is larger, you might choose the architecture. This way, you can have different masters for different applications, and different teams can manage their masters separately. However, a single person can still control all the masters, whoever manages it for the organization.

It has dynamic node allocation for the code we're building. When we trigger a build, like for Java code, it pulls a Docker image from a repository. Then, a pod spins up. If you have ten nodes, the solution uses a Kubernetes architecture. There's one master node and ten different nodes connected to the master. Whenever we trigger a build, a pod spins up and gets scheduled on any of the slave nodes in the Kubernetes cluster. That's the best thing I see about the product. 

The management is good. You don't need to manage different nodes individually. You don't have to specify which node to build the code on. In CloudBees, you can avoid that. You mention the node, and it will automatically schedule the pod on whichever node is free.

You can also configure different nodes. Another good point is that you can configure Elastic File System to store the data.

The setup is somewhat complicated. You need a cloud architect and engineer to set it up properly. The initial setup will take time, so you need a good engineer and architect to handle it.

I have been working with the product for three years. 

I have no issues with the tool's stability. 

I find the product scalable. Currently, we're using a Kubernetes architecture and working on-premises. However, other teams are working on the cloud version of CloudBees with AWS infrastructure. There, we can also scale the nodes.

I'm currently working for an organization that has over 200 applications. They've adopted the CloudBees architecture. So, these 200 applications have 200 different masters. All of this is managed by a single team, which is a separate team. The different applications and different members are managed by a single person who oversees the entire organization, similar to how we have it in AWS.

The tool's support is good. 

Neutral

I don't think CloudBees requires much maintenance, but some things must be considered. As I said, they have a Kubernetes architecture, so Kubernetes patching and Jenkins patching will also be required. It publishes upgraded versions on its website. You can purchase the latest license and upgrade the Jenkins version through that purchase.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

We use CloudBees for deploying the code in higher environments, such as QA, C2, staging, and production.

CloudBees has made deployment faster compared to on-premise solutions. It also facilitates working with multiple machines, improving efficiency and performance.

I find the automation feature most valuable. CloudBees is highly scalable and supports both small and large teams. The deployment process is also faster when compared to on-premise.

There are connection issues with CloudBees, specifically between Sybase and CloudBees. We often encounter connection problems, and there are issues with the pipelines.

I have been working with CloudBees for one and a half years.

There are a lot of connection issues with CloudBees. We experience disconnections frequently.

CloudBees supports the deployment of large amounts of data efficiently across multiple machines.

I haven't gone through the technical support, so I can't comment on it.

Positive

Before CloudBees, we were using Jenkins on-premises. We switched to CloudBees because we moved our SQL servers to the cloud, which made deployment easier.

The initial setup of CloudBees took approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.

We used UrbanCode deployment to deploy it in different environments, but I was not directly involved in the implementation part.

I am not aware of the return on investment metrics for CloudBees.

I am not sure about the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for CloudBees. The team takes care of it.

I am not aware of any other solutions that were evaluated before choosing CloudBees.

I would recommend CloudBees to others because building jobs is much easier than with other solutions.

As a consulting company, I implement CloudBees for our customers to standardize and globalize the use of Jenkins. This helps in providing automation for DevSecOps by automating pipelines and controlling them. 

Additionally, I use it for traditional development projects and a security audit product, which provides ROI by automating audit processes.

CloudBees helps streamline DevSecOps by automating pipelines and providing standardization and control, thereby enhancing the efficiency of my clients. The security audit product offered by CloudBees is particularly beneficial in automating audit processes, which reduces the time developers spend on audits.

The most valuable features of CloudBees include its scalability for large teams and complex pipelines, advanced security features, and extensive integration with various tools. It also offers application delivery automation, pipeline release orchestration, compliance, and audit features, and provides visibility into deployment processes.

There could be improvements in the ease of use. A better GUI instead of code-based interaction would make it more accessible to a broader audience. Additionally, incorporating more AI features in the future could enhance usability as AI becomes more advanced.

I have been using CloudBees for approximately two and a half years.

CloudBees is very stable. Issues usually arise when recommendations aren't followed, such as overloading the server.

CloudBees scales excellently. There are no significant limitations, and it can be expanded as needed by adding more servers.

CloudBees customer service and support are very good. They respond quickly, and the support quality is commendable.

Positive

I have not extensively used alternatives because I'm more involved in managing implementations rather than being a developer. However, I acknowledge that there are alternatives available in the market.

The initial setup of CloudBees is straightforward if you have the right personnel. The integration of pipelines is what requires more time and effort.

A team approach is generally needed within a corporation, involving multiple people from different departments like developers, scrum masters, architects, and SysAdmin personnel to handle installation, setup, and integration.

The licensing model of CloudBees opens up a true ROI, especially with their security audit product. It offers significant benefits by targeting the DevOps process from a security audit standpoint.

The licensing model is considered good, and while CloudBees is not cheap, it is worth the cost because of its extensive benefits. The core product and security audit product in particular provide substantial value.

There are alternatives to CloudBees, such as those offered by GitHub and Amazon. In my opinion, CloudBees leads in integrating with Jenkins, and competitors are behind in this aspect.

My advice would be that before starting, align all groups required for the project to avoid delays. Plan which teams and pipelines to target first, especially since large companies have thousands of pipelines. Detailed project planning and resource alignment are crucial to moving quickly.

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

We use the product primarily for automation tasks. It handles various processes that don't require human intervention, making it a crucial part of our workflow.

One recent product feature that stands out is the pipeline explorer, which is providing significant value for us right now.

The platform could integrate better with other tools and support external tools directly.

I've been using CloudBees for about five years.

Over time, we have encountered product performance issues at large scales. However, at small to medium scales, there are no issues at all.

Overall, I rate the stability an eight. 

As long as you follow the vendor's recommendations on scaling, the platform performs well. Adapting to more complex organizational challenges outside those recommendations could be better. However, the support team does their best to handle the issues. 

I rate the scalability a nine. 

The VM-based infrastructure setup is easy. However, Kubernetes-based setup is difficult, even for experts who find bugs and report them back to the vendor.

To effectively use the platform, you need to know Jenkins, as the product is essentially a layer on top of Jenkins.

It's a powerful and flexible system, but it's important to implement proper guardrails from the outset because making systemic changes down the road can be difficult for your organization.

I rate it a nine out of ten.