There are several objections that folks raise related to adopting [[Serverless MOC|Serverless]] architectures, compared to using more traditional server-based architectures.
## General objections
- Simple **lack of awareness** or misconceptions of the benefits that serverless can bring
- **Steep learning curve** for developers
- [[Viewpoint- Serverless forces you to use microservices]]
- **Poor DX of existing cloud services and tools**
- [[A fully local development workflow is impossible for most serverless applications]]
- Serverless developers are **hard to hire for** (due to how new it still is)
- Founders or **senior developers can be stuck in their ways** and don’t want to learn something new or spend time upskilling teammates
- Billing concerns:
- PAYG pricing model can cause **unwanted billing surprises**
- [[Viewpoint- Cloud bills can be significantly more expensive at huge scale with serverless applications]]
- [[Working with RDBMS databases is difficult with serverless]]. **Lack of serverless relational databases** is a deal-breaker
- [[Viewpoint- Serverless is too risky because of the vendor lock-in]]****
## Objections specific to certain org types
### Objections by [[Funded startups]]
- Founders don’t have time to learn any new tech stack (nevermind serverless) and **stick to what they already know**
- Startups need to iterate quickly and using **serverless slows teams down** in the critical early stages because it's often new to most team members
- The touted benefits of **Deployment and scaling aren’t major concerns of early-stage startups**
- **VC spend does not encourage efficiency** in terms of team size
- Technical founders actually **enjoy the challenges of tinkering with lower level tech and servers**
- [[Serverless is not amenable to lift-and-shift of an existing application]] so can’t benefit from being introduced when a startup is scaling up (added by me), which is often also the time when they're getting a big round of funding
---
## References
- ["what is the biggest tradeoff of going serverless ?" / Twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/brianleroux/status/1422659956571099137) by [[@Brian LeRoux]]
- [things a serverless dev has to do (Tweet)](https://twitter.com/byFcz/status/1480932537954455572)
- [The unfulfilled promise of serverless](https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/the-unfulfilled-promise-of-serverless/) by [[@Corey Quinn]]
- Answer to above: [The Unfulfilled Potential of Serverless](https://www.jeremydaly.com/the-unfulfilled-potential-of-serverless/) by [[@Jeremy Daly]]
- [Why are so few funded startups using serverless?](https://serverlessfirst.com/emails/why-are-so-few-funded-startups-using-serverless/)