Has anyone else seen OpenCart Cloud?

[antropy]

OpenCart have released a cloud-based version of the platform which allows you to quickly and easily get an OpenCart store online, starting at just £12.50/month (for the first year, £25 after) with a 14 day trial.

Has anyone used it yet? What do people think? Would it be an attractive way to start an online business?

You can see more info here:
https://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=cloud/landing

 

[arnydnxluk]

The setup doesn't seem bad for the price, although it doesn't seem to mention how much traffic (which is pretty expensive on AWS!) or CPU/RAM usage you're able to use before they kick you off or ask you to upgrade.

The real problem with these services is always the lock-in. It's convenient to get started but if their service turns out to be crap or doesn't scale well then you're in trouble in future; you're always at their mercy.

It's an attractive proposition for a startup but I would likely opt to deploy to my own server if starting a serious business, for absolute flexibility and control further down the line.

 

[WebDesires]

Exactly as Mike said, attractive in the sense it gives you the feeling of "no hassle, easy, no fuss" but has some serious flaws such as limited customization and expansion as well as the fact that you are locked in.

I would always recommend a deployed code base that the customer owns and controls, so you can move servers, modify the system exactly as needed in future etc.

 

[ryedale]

Just going to sign up for a trial and have a look. I hope for their sakes, they've made a better job of it than they did with their website relaunch a few months ago which was disastrous!