AWS vs. Azure – A brief guide on main differences

Enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure has grown tremendously in recent years, surpassing the $50 billion mark in Q4 last year. Gartner predicts worldwide end-user spending on public cloud is expected to reach nearly USD 600 billion in 2023. 

This brief guide will shine a light on the competition and services between the two market leaders in cloud services. The market is dominated by AWS (the largest single player) with a 33% market share. Microsoft Azure has only held a 21% share until Q4 2021 (up 9%). Whereas, Google Cloud Platform only holds 10% of the market.  

                                                                      Source: Synergy Research Group 

This brief guide will shine a light on the competition and services between the two market leaders in cloud services. The market is dominated by AWS (the largest single player) with a 33% market share. Microsoft Azure has only held a 21% share until Q4 2021 (up 9%). Whereas, Google Cloud Platform only holds 10% of the market.  

Azure Cloud Services 

Azure Cloud Services aids in the management of applications through Microsoft-operated data centers. The platform provides seamless services like analytics, computing, networking, and storage. Its extensive toolkit is constantly growing and competing in the market with a global footprint. 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) 

AWS is a subsidiary of the eCommerce and technology behemoth Amazon. It has 200+ services from its globally established data centres. The pricing model and its optimized costs enable users across start-ups, large enterprises, and leading global agencies to adopt AWS. 

 Where the difference lies? 

Gartner published a document that stated, "Public cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and IBM Cloud, are innovation juggernauts that offer highly operating-cost-competitive alternatives to traditional, on-premises hosting environments." 

While both provide similar services, there is a certain differentiation factor as well. These can be segregated in terms of computing power, pricing, provisioning, computing, storage, features, and adaptability. 

1. Computing power, provisioning, and usage 

Scalability is one of the core elements of cloud computing. For Azure, users can create VMs from Virtual Hard Disks (VHD). It enables load balancing and uses virtual scale sets to ensure scalability. On the other hand, AWS uses EC2 instances in which the resource footprint may increase or shrink on demand. Users may constrict their virtual machines (VMs), which are pre-configured and users can modify them in terms of power, size, and memory. 

In both virtual machines and servers, you can manage the OS. In both, users pay according to demand. The key differentiation is that EC2 may be customizable for various uses, whereas Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) can merge with other cloud deployment applications, even from third-party tools. 

2. Storage 

AWS and Azure both offer tier-based object storage. particularly directed at protecting stored data. AWS has S3 and Azure offers Azure Cool Blog Storage, both designed for infrequently accessed workloads. In terms of storage, both AWS S3-IA and Azure CBS are best for clod-tier or infrequently-accessed data loads where performance and latency are the keys. 

Both offer reliable storage services ideal for long-term usage, backup, and DR. However, there are certain differences in regional availability, pricing, and security features. 

3. Pricing – Comparing apples to apples 

The objective of pricing comparison isn’t necessarily to make a decision between service providers but to identify where costs can be saved by using the same services from different providers. Truth be told, AWS has different pricing models, but they’re complex enough to give bill-related surprises. Dedicated tools like AWS Cost Explore, AWS Calculator, and trusted advisors are developed for cost optimization. whereas Azure’s pricing strategy is easier to understand. 

Instances Selected for Comparison  

(Region & Pricing Model): Middle East and Pay-as-you-go/on-demand model 

Azure provides a billing dashboard with a clear bill on spending and fewer hidden charges generated from instances like AWS zombie instances. Here is an example of cloud Pricing based on-demand rates: 

Source: https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/on-demand/ 

Source: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-machines/windows/ 

Prices are as off 3/8/2022 

General Purpose 

Source: https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/on-demand/ 

Source: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-machines/windows/ 

Prices are as off 3/8/2022 

4. Database 

The next most critical decision is which database, either SQL or Non-SQL. Here is a quick comparison table-top guide for you: 

5. Analytics & Big Data processing  

Now every touch point in your business generates data. These huge data volumes cannot be simply whisked away, so valuable data insights can be unearthed with the help of AWS and Azure services. 

Both AWS and Azure provide the broadest selection of analytics services that are designed to enable organizations of all sizes to work with and reinvent their data. From data storage to big data analytics, streaming analytics, BI, and support for ML, both offer a broad range of services. 

 6. Data Warehouse 

A data warehouse is a central repository for information that is extracted from multiple internal and external sources for business intelligence. The typical functionalities support data analysis, reporting, and business intelligence. The cost and technical capabilities depend on the vendors, but most data warehouses share the same traits. Compared to legacy systems, modern cloud-based data warehouse systems are agile enough to support today’s data and business intelligence requirements. Major vendors have multiple on-prem and cloud-based solutions. 

Amazon and Microsoft are two of the main players in cloud computing, followed by Google and others. Amazon Redshift is a cloud-based data management system, which allows petabytes of semi-structured and structured data in little time. 

Being a limitless information analysis service, Azure Synapse Analytics combines the advanced capabilities of enterprise data warehousing, data integration, and big data analytics. This allows you to query data depending on the requirements by utilizing dedicated and serverless resources. 

To clarify things, here is a quick comparison between Microsoft and Amazon services in data management functionalities. 

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Both platforms as discussed above have strong capabilities, and it’s difficult to pick one as a clear winner. AWS has more flexibility and extra features like pricing models. Azure, on the other hand, is great when it comes to the hybrid cloud due to its great integration capabilities with Microsoft’s stack. You can make the right pick as per the requirements of the organizations. Get in touch with our cloud experts, and start your cloud journey today.