Businesses around the world are increasingly turning to cloud computer as a solution. In fact, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) has become the way businesses look to save money, become innovative, as well as agile. No longer is it necessary to have an in-house IT department, invest in expensive hardware and software, servers and more. This is all now being managed by third-party providers.
When it comes to security, the big three (AWS, Azure and Google) vendors strive to make their systems as secure as possible.
For years, AWS (Amazon Web Services) have dominated this industry; however, Microsoft and Google are close behind.
If you’re looking to buy cloud services, which one of the big three is the best for you? That’s a hard question to answer, but it usually comes down to your business requirements and preferences. So, in this article, we’ll take a look at features of each of these cloud services and reviewing some of their differences.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Amazon Web Services has been providing cloud services for about fourteen years, to millions of customers around the world. In fact, they have the largest piece of the market of the big three. They serve individuals, entire countries, as well as enterprises of all sizes.
AWS also provides excellent services, which is one of the main reasons they have such a large client base. AWS offers several services including:
- AWA service catalog
- Amazon Time Sync Service
- AWS PrivateLink
- Elastic Fabric Adapter
- Enhance networking
- High-Performance Computing (HPC) Clusters
- Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling
- Elastic IP Addresses
The key strength of AWS is in the number of services they provide. They have more than 175 across compute, storage, database, analytics, mobile developer tools, networking, management tools, IoT, security and enterprise applications. Try to say that in one breath!
With this cloud platform, you’ll have easy access to almost everything that’s currently available in this market. You can gain additional computing power, data storage, and more. They also offer developer tools, management tools, mobile services and app services.
One of the weaknesses of this cloud service provider is in its pricing. AWS’ pricing tends to be confusing and it’s not always apparent how the price is supported by the service they’re providing. However, their prices are competitive. As time goes on, they continue to lower prices, and create different pricing tiers (though these can be confusing).
If you’re not sure which service to use, then you’ll be happy to learn that AWS offers free tiers for enterprises. You’ll have the chance to test whether or not their services are a good fit for your company. Plus, if you do decide to go with AWS, you’ll only pay for the services you use and for the length of time you’re using them.
One of the main advantages of AWS is that they offer developers over 15 years of enterprise infrastructure. Plus, they have one of the best management teams in the industry.
Microsoft Azure
This is a very strong company and competitor to AWS. Azure offers hybrid cloud service. This means it makes it easy for customers’ networks to operate together.
Azure is a very popular choice with executives who have used the vendor’s services for years. Plus, they understand the benefits of keeping their enterprise data all in one place. This includes everything from productivity to enterprise software, and more. This all makes Azure a very strong contender for second place behind AWS.
Executives tend to chose Azure because they know the company behind the services. And they see it as a safer bet when it comes to cloud services.
Azure also works with Linux. You’ll find their cloud service features:
- Data resiliency
- Security
- BCDR integration
- Capacity planning
- Single-plane operability
In addition, Azure has one of the fastest and scalable cloud services currently available. This is a great choice for companies that need complex operations done on a large scale. This cloud will handle it with no problem.
In addition, this platform allows you to deploy and manage virtual machines at scale. This means you have plenty of processing and computing power within only minutes. Plus, Azure works with your current systems and processes. You have the advantage of more power and capacity ready for the enterprise class.
Azure has a wide range of prices available for its services, which are comparable to AWS. So, the price will depend on the type of service(s) you require. The cost of the server can vary, too.
The advantages of using Azure are its full set of features and bespoke pricing. This is also one of the fastest cloud platforms available.
Google Cloud Platform
This is the newest provider in the IaaS market; however, they do tend to offer more innovative solutions when it comes to cloud services. This is the perfect solution for those who need a high level of computing, plenty of storage, networking and more. Each of Google’s products are comparable to those offered by AWS and Azure.
When it comes to pricing, they are a little behind their competitors. However, Google does offer pay-as-you-go-pricing, billing per second of usage, and they offer discounts for long term usage. While Google’s prices are lower, it’s helping to get the other cloud competitors to lower their prices to match.
The advantage of using Google’s cloud platform include the additional security solutions they provide.
Summing It Up
Each cloud platform provides enterprise level services in their own unique way. This can make it difficult to decide which one is best; however, you should consider your business needs and see which one can provide the best options for your requirements. The best solution may not be just one single service, but a combination of services from two or three of the big three.
If you’re having trouble choosing which cloud platform is best for your business, why not give us a call. We can help you conduct an in-depth analysis to see what your company needs, and which provider has the best plan to meet these needs.
Contact us today with your questions—we’re looking forward to working with you.