(2006-11-04) Sim Amazon Startup Scaling

Ed Sim on scaling up a WebApp Start Up with Amazon Web Services.

Artima did a telephone interview with Evangelist Jeff Barr about the services.

Business Week wonders if this is off-FoCus. Operating margins, at 4.1% for the past four quarters, now come in at less than WalMart's 5.9%. Even Barnes And Noble Inc. (BKS ), that doughty bricks-and-mortar book chain that many expected to get remaindered by the Web, has higher margins, at 5.4%... Eleven of 27 analysts who follow the company have underperform or sell ratings on the stock--a stunning vote of no confidence. That number of sell recommendations is matched among large companies only by Q West Communications International Inc... Google, for one, has replaced Retail sites such as Amazon as the place where many people start their shopping... "Amazon's a pretty serious dark horse" in that (IOS) race, says Internet visionary Tim OReilly, CEO of tech publisher O'Reilly Media Inc. "Jeff really understands that if he doesn't become a platform player, he's at the mercy of those who do." Jeff Bezos believes he has identified a unique Amazonian edge: Like no other Internet or computer company today, the e-retailer is in a position to apply the efficiencies of the Net to tangible and corporeal assets like products and people. Bezos envisions embedding the tasks of product distribution and knowledge work right into the flow of more automated business processes such as order taking and payment processing.