IMHO, most casual WordPress users (even ones with popular websites) know very little about what's required to scale, secure, and optimize a website. I know this because I work with a lot of first-time website owners...and I build their websites. Many are perfectly content to host with GoDaddy or Bluehost without considering the performance and security implications of being with a shared host.
As pet projects grow up and small businesses begin evaluating more robust options, VPSes become more and more attractive. The trouble is that they'd need to hire someone to set it up for them.
WP Engine seems to have taken the headache out of getting started on a robust platform right out of the gate.
Yeah, I thought about letting Cullen address your comment but he specifically mentioned that they'd be making the information available for anyone to use and hopefully build upon.
It's certainly not hard to figure out what they're running of course. http://builtwith.com/wpengine.com and the "Net" tab of the Firebug plugin tell most of the story.
Howdy, I guess I can address some of what you mentioned. The article was intentionally vague on the details about their architecture and the techie bits since I view a lot of things from the lens of a marketer.
What I wanted to highlight wasn't so much the technical underpinnings of the offering and why it's important to engineers and geeks, but rather what impressed me based on my initial reactions.
I haven't had a chance to thoroughly evaluate the service since it's brand new of course, but I plunked down my credit card just like everyone else on the waiting list if you're implying that I have a special relationship with them.
I just appreciate good service, entrepreneurship, and what WP Engine represents.
I think that's a fair accusation. I had been putting off the article for a while, but thought my audience (not really technical, but appreciative of product and service recommendations) would be lost if I went into the details of what made it exciting to me as a server geek.