Amazon Deep Learning AMIs vs. Amazon SageMaker

Amazon AMIs has been very useful for the quick setup and implementation of deep learning for data analysis which is something I have used the service for in my own research. We commonly use the service to enable students to run intensive deep learning algorithms for their assessments. This service works well in this scenario as it allows students to quickly set up a suitable environment and get started with little hassle. If you are looking to run simple, surface level deep learning algorithms (kind of contradictory statement I know) then AMI is more complicated than most will need. When it comes to teaching the basics of Machine Learning, this kind of system is unnecessary and there are other alternatives which can be used. That being said this service is a must if you are looking to run complex deep learning via the cloud.

Incentivized

It allows for one-click processes and for things to be auto checked before they are moved through the process but through the system. It also makes training easy. I am able to train users on the basic fundamentals of the tool and how it is used very easily as it is fully managed on its own which is incredible.

Incentivized

• Setting up environment
• Support for different types of machines
• Perfect for Machine Learning / Deep Learning use cases
• Nvidia / Cuda / Conda support easily

Incentivized

• Machine Learning at scale by deploying huge amount of training data
• Accelerated data processing for faster outputs and learnings
• Kubernetes integration for containerized deployments
• Creating API endpoints for use by technical users

Incentivized

• Some aspects of the User Interface are quite confusing and activating packages can be a bit convoluted
• It can be a bit confusing to switch between frameworks for novice users

Incentivized

• It's very good for the hardcore programmer, but a little bit complex for a data scientist or new hire who does not have a strong programming background.
• Most of the popular library and ML frameworks are there, but we still have to depend on them for new releases.

Incentivized

Both of these services provide similar functionality and from my experience both are top class services which cover most of your needs. I think ultimately it comes down to what you need each service for. For example Amazon DL AMIs allows for clustering by default meaning I am able to run several clustering algorithms without a problem whereas IBM Watson Studio doesn't provide this functionality. They both provide a wide range of default packages such as Amazon providing caffe-2 and IBM providing sci-kitlearn. My main point is that both are very good services which have very similar functionality, you just need to think about the costs, suitability of features and integration with other services you are using.

Incentivized

Amazon SageMaker took the heavy lifting out of building and creating models. It allowed for our organization to use our current system for integration and essentially added on a feature to help all levels of Data scientists and IT professionals in our department and company as a whole. The training was simple as well.

Incentivized

• Saves a lot of Infra Costs
• Saves a lot of time in handling environment issues
• Easy to start a new instance

Incentivized

• We have been able to deliver data products more rapidly because we spend less time building data pipelines and model servers.
• We can prototype more rapidly because it is easy to configure notebooks to access AWS resources.
• For our use-cases, serving models is less expensive with SageMaker than bespoke servers.

Incentivized