Using AWS and FastPix to build better video products

After reading our AWS vs FastPix comparison, a CTO / cofounder prospect asked if choosing FastPix meant walking away from AWS—and the credits they expect from it.

The answer is NO.

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It’s about choosing the best-in-class provider for the task at hand and benefiting from both the value and the start up credits offered by both FastPix and AWS. It’s about assembling a smart stack for success.

Using both cloud-native (those in-built into cloud platforms) and third-party tools is common in modern software. For example, in the infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools space, Terraform or Pulumi are modern alternatives preferred by many to AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK). Similarly in configuration management space, tools like IBM’s Redhat Ansible or Progress’ Chef Automate are preferred to AWS Config or Google Cloud Config to manage AWS and Google capabilities respectively!

Does Terraform replace everything AWS? No, Terraform does the IaC piece well, and way better than cloud-native tools do for IaC.  

Likewise, for ‘Video’, FastPix Video API platform replaces 10 different AWS products resulting in faster development times, lower costs and lower total cost of ownership.

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Video product architecture with AWS and FastPix

Let’s consider the example of video product architecture for a deeper conversation.  

A video product has a lot of parts. Below we show sample OTT video product architecture with many distinct parts (this architecture has an OTT skew so more people can follow but much of it applies more broadly) and specific AWS products for each function.

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Some of the parts you need to build a full-fledged platform include:

• Figma designs so you can clarify and firm the big picture and move from idea-to-execution without frequent additions and cascading changes.
• Web, Android, and iOS apps for starters before you expand into CTV as you grow ‍
• Security management so you can keep your app, content and users safe without having to build complex security systems from scratch
• ‍API gateway to connect all your services through one gateway, making integrations cleaner and scaling simpler. ‍
• Auth logic to handle sign-ups, logins, and subscriptions reliably so users get in smoothly and stay engaged. ‍
• Data fetch to retrieve and serve the right content quickly so users always see fresh, relevant media ‍
• Content processing to process and prepare videos automatically so they’re always ready to stream in the right quality. ‍
• Database to store and retrieve all your app data—users, content, sessions etc. ‍
• Storage to keep your media and assets secure, scalable, and always available to my internal and external users ‍
• ETL operations and data integrations to move and clean your data across systems so you can actually use it for insights and automation ‍
• Analytics and reporting to track performance and viewer behavior so I can grow faster and make smarter decisions. ‍
• Video Streaming vendor to deliver reliable, high-quality streams to my users without managing complex video pipelines. This is FastPix!  ‍
• Payment and other vendors to plug in payments and third-party tools easily so you can monetize and run your business smoothly

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Hopefully as a builder all this looks and feels familiar to you. It is quite the laundry list (!) and much of this applies to many video applications.

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How better value emerges

Against this architectural backdrop here is how simplicity and value stack up for you as a builder and a practitioner.  

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16 products vs 7 products is how this totals out. And it does not include other vendors you will need like for payments, marketing, subscriptions, emails, etc.  

FastPix is your all-in-one product only for video and streaming needs. But for this niche, FastPix Video API platform isn’t just an alternative to any one AWS media product, we replace 10+ different AWS products in the media spectrum. 

For all workflows related to video, using FastPix Video API platform means you need to free up your people by more than 50% to focus on business, reduce your costs by up to 70% and get to market 4X faster.  

For all the other activities, you can use AWS and the credits you get from them. Also, a quite note that sometimes we speak with folks who see AWS’ startup credits page and assume that everyone automatically gets $250K in credits. Looks so but isn’t so. They don’t; the full credits are usually given to funded companies. Non-funded companies get substantially fewer credits like $25K. And with many hidden costs common to all cloud providers those $K credits do burn faster than you estimate or envisage. There is a reason (expensive reason) for an entire category of service providers around cloud cost optimization!

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Conclusion

Cloud-native and third-party tools both have their advantages and disadvantages.   

With ‘Video’ choosing between or among them becomes more nuanced. It becomes so because of the complexity of video stack (as shown in above diagram), number of tools needed, their ease of use (or lack of in fact!), talent pool needed and their availability, costs, and your own ability to manage all these factors both in short term and long term.  

While it is true that third-party tools like FastPix does require some effort to set up on the whole, the effort is usually not especially high. FastPix is out-of-the-box designed to simplify and get you to market quickly. We’re 1 product to replace 10 other products that reduces complexity, effort, and cost substantially.  

Taking both AWS and FastPix together is smart choice many of our clients have made, thereby substantially building a more cost-effective and technically better video product. If you wish to discuss more, we welcome the opportunity to connect and discuss further.