cloud: AWS Lambda: Microservices without the Servers

AWS Lambda "...is a compute service that runs your code in response to events and automatically manages the compute resources for you, making it easy to build applications that respond quickly to new information. AWS Lambda starts running your code within milliseconds of an event such as an image upload, in-app activity, website click, or output from a connected device. You can also use AWS Lambda to create new back-end services where compute resources are automatically triggered based on custom requests. With AWS Lambda you pay only for the requests served and the compute time required to run your code. Billing is metered in increments of 100 milliseconds, making it cost-effective and easy to scale automatically from a few requests per day to thousands per second.
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AWS Lambda supports code written in Node.js (JavaScript) and Java (Java 8 compatible). Your code can include existing libraries, even native ones. Lambda functions can easily launch processes using languages supported by Amazon Linux, including Bash, Python, and Ruby."Microservices without the Servers | AWS Compute Blog
"...built a mobile app that used it as a backend, added an HTTPS-based API using Amazon API Gateway and a website, and then unit and load tested it, all without using any servers..."

(4) Are there any alternatives to Amazon Lambda? - Quora
"The most obvious alternative is Google Dataflow: Google Cloud Dataflow. Another potential alternative is to use Apache Storm or Apache Spark. Microsoft is running Apache Storm on Azure as a managed service which makes it a clear option as a cloud hosted service: 

Google's offering is Cloud Dataflow which was recently released in general availability Google-Amazon Fight Over Big Data In The Cloud Is Heating Up

Microsoft announced (shortly after Google's above announcement) its own Azure Stream Analytics (ASA) service in general availability: Microsoft Launches New Big Data Stream Analytics Cloud Service