AWS Vs. Azure: Which Is Better for Your Business?

User-Friendly

The AWS console is the central hub for managing all your AWS services. With a clean interface and consistent layout across all services, it is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

You can select from and integrate over 200 products and services into your environment. AWS also offers free training to help new and returning users acquire new skills and refine their skills.

Scalable

AWS has a modular design, where each component or solution is divided into smaller parts. This makes it easy to add, modify, and decommission services, and you can make changes without affecting the individual performance of any app.

Does your business run a single Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)? If so, then it may exceed its scaling limit and exhibit performance issues. To remedy this issue, you could divide the single VPC into smaller, multiple VPCs, making it easier to introduce changes in environments with many dependencies.

Secure

There are many common vulnerabilities in cloud computing, such as insecure APIs. Fortunately, AWS comes with a range of security features designed to help protect data, streamline identity access and management, and ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.

One security feature is the AWS IAM Identity Center. You can use it to centrally manage every account your workforce uses to access your AWS accounts and apps. By connecting their existing credentials to the IAM Identity Center, your team enjoys a consistent experience across all AWS services.

Requires Extensive Training and Expertise

With over 200 services and extensive customization options, Amazon AWS requires a high level of training and expertise. And to make matters worse, there is currently a cloud talent crisis.

According to research, the cloud skills shortage has increased the individual workload of IT professionals by 65%, resulting in serious repercussions like increased burnout and turnover rates.

To remedy this issue, enlist the help of a team of experienced cloud computing experts. At Orient Software, our cloud application development services can assist with cloud migrations, cloud application development, and more. We also employ the DevOps methodology to streamline development cycles and accelerate your time to market.

Complex Pricing Model

Many factors influence the cost of using AWS, such as regional price differences, server allocation, usage, and number of requests. Calculating and monitoring all of these costs can be challenging for individuals and companies, especially when trying to anticipate IT expenditure on a monthly or annual basis.

More Precise Billing

AWS and Azure use the pay-as-you-go billing method to charge for their services. However, there is a difference between how precise the two pricing models are. With AWS, your usage bill is rounded up to the nearest hour, while with Azure your use is minute based. Using a more granular billing method lets you pay for what you use to reduce overspending.

Integration With Microsoft Products

Developed and managed by Microsoft, Azure integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products like Active Directory, Office 365, and Windows Server. This makes Azure an easy choice if your business is already in the Microsoft ecosystem.

With Azure’s integration services, you can create and manage workflows across multiple on-premises and cloud services. For example, you can use Azure Service Bus to add IoT devices to an existing application.

Hybrid Infrastructure Support

Microsoft Azure is an excellent choice if you use a hybrid architecture. Azure allows you to deploy and maintain both public and private clouds, as well as on-premises infrastructure. Thus, you can preserve your legacy infrastructure and reap the benefits of the cloud, such as automated workflows and fast scalability.

Regional-Based Performance Issues

Although Microsoft Azure has over 160 AZs around the world, there is no guarantee of consistent performance. Depending on your region, you may encounter slow loading times, slow data transfer rates, and unexpected crashes.

As of this writing, Africa and South America have the lowest availability zone support. So, if you use Azure in these regions, you are the most likely to encounter performance issues. However, Microsoft is building a hyperscale data center in Kenya, which will service the East Africa region.

Requires Azure Expertise

Microsoft Azure has over 200 services available. It has products for analytics, mixed reality, networking, and more. This makes it one of the most feature-rich but also one of the most complicated cloud platforms to use.

To get the most out of Azure, you need product experts to help set up, deploy, and manage your Azure services. For example, if you need data analytics services, you’ll need a team with Microsoft Power BI experience. Doing so will enable you to transform your raw data into actionable insights.

Databases

All cloud applications need databases to store and retrieve information. Fortunately, AWS and Azure have their own relational and non-relational databases.

AWS’s Relational Database Service (RDS) is often used to power the backend of web applications. Meanwhile, Azure Cosmos DB is a highly scalable NoSQL database. Its multi-model architecture makes it easy to build cloud apps that must cross-reference different data types to function properly.

Availability Zones

In terms of raw numbers, Microsoft Azure has the broadest geographical coverage. Azure has over 160 AZs in 60+ regions, while AWS has over 100 AZs in 33+ regions. You should choose the cloud platform that best meets your region’s needs.

What about distribution? Both AWS and Azure’s AZs operate independently from one another. So, if one AZ fails within a region, any other AZs in the same region will keep working. However, many Azure services use automatic zone redundancy to ensure high availability across multiple data storage systems.

Hybrid Support

Both Azure and AWS support hybrid cloud deployments. AWS has Outposts, a service that lets you extend AWS infrastructure, services, and tools to on-premises environments. The alternative to this is Azure Arc, which lets you manage Kubernetes, virtual machines, and data services across on-premises, edge, and multi-cloud environments.

One of the main differences between the two is that you must use hardware provided by Amazon to use AWS Outposts. Azure Arc, on the other hand, has no proprietary hardware requirements.