What to Choose Between AWS and Azure? A Detailed Comparison

When it comes to cloud computing, two of the biggest players are Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. Both Azure by Microsoft and AWS consists of a similar set of core features and cloud capabilities. However, they differ from each other in a lot of ways having their unique features, pros and cons. Whether you plan a multicloud solution with Azure and AWS, or migrating to Azure, you must compare the IT capabilities of Azure and AWS services in all categories to use the best platform.

In this article, we discuss the key differences between AWS vs Azure to help you figure out which one best meets your business needs.

 

What is AWS?

Amazon Web Services or AWS is a cloud computing platform created and operated by Amazon.  Launched in 2006, AWS became the first cloud provider in the market offering services such as S3 bucket storage, EC2 compute machines, and the Simple Queue Service (SQS).  AWS consists of a wide range of global cloud-based products for business use. This pay-as-you-go pricing model is ideal to store databases, analytics, networking, mobile, development platforms, and enterprise applications. Some of the key AW’S services include Block Storage, Compute Clusters, Machine Learning, Data Lakes, etc.

Presently, AWS is the largest provider of Cloud services having a more than 1/3rd market share and annual revenues exceeding US$80 Billion mark as of 2022. The platform offers over 200 services spread across 99 availability zones within 31 locations.

 

What is Azure?

Microsoft Azure, which initially was realised as Windows Azure is a cloud computing service allowing users to create, modify, test, deploy, and maintain applications. Azure offers free access for the first 12 months and provides quick ways to process data, tools for analysis and monitoring, and so on. Azure provides 200+ cloud services globally with key solutions to finance, healthcare, government, manufacturing industries, to name a few.

Today Azure enjoys a market share of more than 20%, serving over 70% of all organisations and 95% of Fortune 500 companies.

 

AWS vs Azure: key Highlights

When it’s about offering high-quality services, both AWS and Azure compete with each other while offering modern facilities such as serverless environments, hi-tech security, etc. But still they are different in many ways and out of many, a few of AWS vs Azure highlights are explained beneath.

Amazon Web Services	Azure
AWS was launched in 2006.	Azure was launched in 2010.
AWS is a virtual private cloud with cloud spanning across 61 availability zones.	However, Azure is a virtual network spanning across 140 availability zones.
Industry leader with a 1/3rd market share	Increasing its market share and emerging as an ideal choice for large enterprises
Comes with better integration with third-party technologies such as Oracle	Comes with Integrations ideal with Microsoft technologies like SQL Server, Windows, etc.
Comes with a dynamic pricing model with on-demand and reserved services.	It has a dynamic pricing with affordable pricing as compared to AWS. Moreover, it offers discounts to existing Microsoft customers.

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AWS vs Azure: Key Differences

Some of the key points mentioning the difference between AWS vs Azure include:

Cloud Storage Offerings

Sufficient storage is important to make cloud deployment successful and regard to this, both Azure and AWS are equally strong. AWS offers services such as Amazon simple storage service (S3), elastic block store (EBS), and Glacier, while Azure Storage Services offers features like blob storage, disk storage, and standard archive.

By using AWS, users can enjoy stability, security, and robust storage solutions for unstructured and structured data use cases. On the other hand, Azure offers data storage in Azure Blogs, Azure Queues, Azure Disks, Azure Tables, and Azure Files.

Documentation and Simplicity

AWS comes with ease of use and is ideal for first-time cloud platform adopters. AWS also provides extensive documentation for its cloud services and to host a simple EC2 instance, users can mention their queries into the AWS search box and click on the “Documentation” for a video or written lesson. However, adding users and accessing rules is a bit more difficult in AWS.

On the other hand, Azure is quite user-friendly in keeping all the user accounts and information updated in one place, while its documentation and recommendations system is less intuitive and search-friendly.

Licensing

Azure and AWS ensure that customers don’t have to deal with licensing hassles or license mobility issues as both of them follow a pay-as-you-go pricing structure. The customers using these services are supposed to pay just for the services that they use, and if they’ve paid for the service earlier, they can get licence mobility in Microsoft Azure.

AWS offers flexible licensing with a variety of features. Microsoft Azure is more convenient for Windows administrators for setting up and offers more SaaS options. While comparing AWS vs Azure, Azure has more software as a service (SaaS) feature as compared to AWS. It includes SaaS offerings such as Azure Scheduler, Azure Site Recovery, Azure Visual Studio Online, and Azure Event Hubs. However, AWS offers enhanced flexibility and wider adaptation to the open-source community and revenue generation.

Networking & Content Delivery

Having a safe and secured network is important for cloud users, and network performance is one of the important parameters in cloud solutions. The users can use the cloud to generate isolated private networks using AWS’ virtual private cloud (VPC), Application programming interfaces (API) gateways are then used to enhance cross-premises connectivity. Within a VPC, can create private IP ranges, route tables, network gateways, etc.

On the other hand, Azure leverages a virtual network rather than a VPC. A virtual private network (VPN) gateway provides cross-network communication. Cloud-compatible firewall options are available from both AWS and Microsoft Azure.

Security and data privacy

While comparing AWS vs Azure, if you look for a secured alternative, AWS is the right platform and it does an excellent job in ensuring enhanced privacy. Azure uses Microsoft’s Cloud Defender service, an artificial intelligence-powered solution, for enhanced security and data privacy. However, still its services are not completely secured and have some loopholes.

 

Final Words

Both Azure and AWS have similar features and users can easily host various applications, learn about the cloud offering, using AI and ML. However, there are still many differences in the pricing model and documentation approach. Presently, AWS dominates the cloud computing market by holding 33% of the total share, but Azure is also not far behind as it has also become the preferred option for some leading companies.

If you are confused between choosing between AWS vs Azure, then book a consultation with Kodehash Technologies today. We are a leading software solutions provider helping startups, SaaS, and enterprises with cutting-edge solutions.