DigitalOcean & the Heroku Exodus: A Cloud Comedy

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The matter of Heroku, you see, is not merely a business decision, but a small tragedy played out in the ether. Acquired by Salesforce – a name that suggests a relentless, efficient harvesting of… something – back in 2011, it promised simplicity. A place where a developer could, with a mere incantation of code, summon an application into existence. But even the most meticulously crafted illusions crumble. Salesforce, in a fit of strategic re-evaluation – or perhaps a sudden aversion to platforms that actually worked – has decreed Heroku shall enter a “sustaining engineering model.” A polite way of saying the lifeblood is slowly being withdrawn. No new features, you understand. Like a prized samovar, polished and displayed, but never again used to brew tea. The Enterprise Account customers, those grand, demanding souls, are no longer welcome. A most curious arrangement.

One might think this a mere shuffling of digital papers, a footnote in the endless ledger of Silicon Valley. But consider the implications. These Heroku customers – and there are a great many, clinging to their applications like shipwrecked sailors to driftwood – must now seek refuge elsewhere. And where do they turn? To the behemoths, naturally – the Amazons and the Googles – where one’s request is lost in a labyrinthine bureaucracy, answered only by automated voices and the faint echo of indifference. Or… to DigitalOcean. A smaller vessel, perhaps, but one with a surprisingly sturdy hull and a captain who actually remembers your name.

A Platform, and a Peculiar Sort of Convenience

Heroku’s appeal, you see, lay in its convenience. A developer, weary of wrestling with servers and the endless complexities of scaling, could simply wish an application into being. DigitalOcean’s App Platform offers a similar enchantment. One can deploy applications, connect them to databases – those small, humming repositories of information – and even add load balancers, those diligent little functionaries who distribute traffic with an almost unnerving efficiency. And the company, bless their inventive souls, is not content to rest on its laurels. Just recently, they added a “1-Click Deploy” option for OpenClaw, a wildly popular AI project. A curious name, OpenClaw, suggesting a grasping, relentless intelligence. But I digress.

But DigitalOcean is not merely a platform. It offers a broader range of options. One can spin up virtual servers, those isolated pockets of computing power, or even construct full-blown Kubernetes clusters, those complex, almost architectural arrangements of containers. For those who prefer a middle ground, there’s Cloudways, offering managed servers. And for those venturing into the realm of artificial intelligence – a field fraught with both promise and peril – there’s DigitalOcean’s Gradient platform. A place where algorithms dream, and data… multiplies.

Salesforce’s pivot, one suspects, is driven by a desire to focus on AI products like Agentforce. A sensible enough strategy, perhaps, though one must wonder if they’ve considered the inherent chaos of entrusting such power to machines. DigitalOcean, however, offers the best of both worlds. It caters to the mundane needs of application deployment, while simultaneously providing the tools to explore the more… ambitious possibilities of artificial intelligence. A curious combination, indeed.

A Host of Customers, Adrift and Seeking Shelter

DigitalOcean, displaying a commendable lack of subtlety, wasted no time in publishing a detailed migration guide. A map, if you will, charting the treacherous waters between Heroku and its own App Platform. The process, of course, is not entirely painless. Migrating an application is akin to relocating an entire village – there will be disruption, grumbling, and the occasional lost goat. But DigitalOcean is making it as easy as possible, offering three months of free service and direct assistance to larger customers. A generous offer, though one suspects they have calculated the potential return with meticulous precision.

Revenue growth has been accelerating, you see, as DigitalOcean leans into the allure of AI. Revenue rose by 16% in the third quarter, and the company has raised its outlook for 2025. Direct AI revenue has more than doubled. And, most impressively, revenue from customers spending at least $100,000 annually has soared by 41%. These are not small accounts, mind you. These are the grand estates, the sprawling enterprises, the entities that demand – and receive – the utmost attention.

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With DigitalOcean actively courting Heroku’s displaced customers, one can anticipate a further acceleration in revenue growth. These customers, adrift and seeking shelter, will have options, of course. But DigitalOcean’s App Platform offers the same kind of convenience that made Heroku so popular. A simple, elegant solution to a complex problem.

DigitalOcean’s stock has been surging, it is true. It is not a clear-cut bargain, not by any means. But with a combination of AI and the Heroku development, accelerating revenue growth could keep the rally going. Investors should mark their calendars for February 24th, when DigitalOcean reports its fourth-quarter results. One suspects there will be good news. And perhaps, just perhaps, a touch of quiet triumph.

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2026-02-18 14:32