Cloud computing is witnessing a monumental shift away from conventional methods of operating a business and there’s a tussle to become the best.
Updated 15 February 2024
Global Delivery Head at Appventurez
Almost the entirety of business enterprises today has migrated operations toward cloud computing. Long-running industries are intent on transforming digitally through cloud computing and SaaS for sounder outcomes. The shift is so tectonic that the cloud computing market is expected to clock USD 1240 billion in the next five years. It has subsequently relayed a choice paralysis to developers and businesses: AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud – which is the better cloud platform.
The difference between AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud rounds to the analysis of categories, notably, features, pricing, and market share. AWS has been around for the longest and offers an extended roster of features and services to accommodate diverse computing needs. Azure finishes as the runner-up with stellar services in automation, AI/ML, and data analytics. Google Cloud is fairly new with a total of 90 services in number against AWS’s and Azure’s 200 each. But owing to the establishment and eventuality of Google the demand for GCP keeps rising.
The ranking is similar when it comes to market share. Since Amazon’s AWS was the first to enter the cloud computing market, it has by far propounded services and established a strong user base and an elaborate string of networks. Azure and the newbie, Google Cloud, are following the trail.
Since the launch of Amazon Web Services in 2006, the cloud computing market has been crowded with options. An enterprise may opt for another cloud platform that aligns with its business objectives the best, but three platforms – AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, primarily, have had the market conquered. The domination is such that the combined market share of AWS, Azure, and GCP stood at 62% as of 2022.
But which of the three is the best cloud platform is a continuing debate. This question imparts the need to sketch a comparative analysis of Microsoft Azure vs Amazon AWS vs Google Cloud. This would illustrate better provisioning of cloud services to business and development requirements.
Amazon Web Services, popularly known by its acronym – AWS, is Amazon’s all-inclusive cloud computing platform integrated with solutions for data storage, content management and delivery, and computing. Through its services, AWS offers a blend of Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-service (SaaS).
AWS began when the need to enhance efficiency was contrived in managing Amazon’s steeply scaling retail operations. The idea was compounded in 2003 when Amazon recorded the superiority of its infrastructure services and the capacity to scale and customize it accordingly. Thus, began the ‘Operating System of the Internet’, a data center that could be a memory bank, host to datasets and computing, and cut the backend computation requisite for developers.
AWS’s use cases extrapolate beyond business firms and enterprises. Its data tools are so comprehensive that AWS is also used in governance, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, outsourcing service companies, etc. Some of the notable entities that deploy upon AWS include Netflix, Expedia, Airbnb, Coursera, and Coca-Cola.
In comparison to other major cloud computing platforms, owing to AWS being the first in the market, it is the most mature and generates the most revenue. It offers over 18000 services that cater to computing, content management and delivery, data analytics and ML, storage services, etc. It is also the first platform to introduce the concept of Pay-As-You-Go. The advantages, in addition, include a generous free tier, support on all operating systems, efficient handling of end-users and resources notwithstanding the number, and so on.
Azure is a cloud computing platform developed by Microsoft web services four years post the inception and launch of AWS. While Azure’s on-demand computing services library isn’t as massive as that of AWS, it sure has emerged as a formidable rival. Solutions in cloud computing, particularly pertaining to data analytics and machine learning on the side of functionality and ease-of-use are arguably at par with AWS. It also offers cloud solutions in developing, scaling, deploying, and running cloud applications.
Essentially, Azure solutions are concurrent with services categorized as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and serverless computing. It has, nonetheless, grown an all-dimensional catalog of over 200 services in a short span. Azure has been recognized as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant CIPS report nine consecutive times and has recorded a near-perfect score in reliability.
Azure cloud infrastructure also comes with a disaster recovery tool— an advantage against AWS and GCP. This feature assists developers with greater flexibility as it enables back-up of datasets irrespective of the tech stack, operating system, and location. This feature extends utility to site recovery with offerings on data storage for 99 years, offsite replication, and built-in integration to cover up for supplemental data.
Additionally, similar to AWS, Microsoft also offers the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) subscription service. However, Azure has been reported to be more cost-efficient than Amazon Web Services. Cost is one of the paramount deciding factors for businesses and developers when opting between AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud for cloud computing.
Google Cloud is the third titan of the cloud computing world. It isn’t as pronounced as its competitors Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure but is trotting the racetrack rapidly. Google Cloud, today, offers more than 100 services including but not limited to a suite of Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-service (PaaS), IoT integration and control, web content and media delivery, AI and ML, serverless, and networking features.
The inception of Google Cloud was two years prior to Microsoft Azure with the launch of App Engine. Through App Engine, developers could host and deploy web apps and application frameworks on Google’s system. Initially, only 10000 developers were provided access to the platform to collect reactions and feedback for improvements. After receiving a positive response, in 2011, Google made App Engine public and redefined it as a fully-fledged Google product.
In certain aspects, Google Cloud’s services in machine learning, sophisticated computing, and relaying a developer-focused platform have rendered distinction over AWS and Azure. Moreover, owing to Google’s near-hegemonic status in the sphere of technology and the subsequent rise in demand for GCP developers, Google Cloud has been professed to surpass its competitors and become the leading cloud platform in the near future.
In response to the seismic shift of business operations to the cloud platform, the competition among Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud has become sharper. All three are toe-to-toe on bringing innovative implementations to improve customer experience and satisfaction. Hundreds of services of various kinds are already on the dashboard, and in near future, an extension of the same is anticipated.
As already mentioned, AWS is comprised of 18000+ services and solutions. These can be widely categorized into sections, namely, computing, storage, machine learning and data analytics, content management and delivery, cloud app integration, etc. All these services further enable scalability, project customization, and efficiency.
AWS’s pre-eminent computing service is EC2, the acronym for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. EC2 relays flexibility in terms of rendering data secure, and scalable cloud computing services. This extended utility of EC2, added with the auto-scaling feature, further makes it economical from a business perspective.
Furthermore, AWS also facilitates developers with Amazon Elastic Container Service, popularly known and abbreviated as ECS. This docker container service can be configured as per the requirement to access the builds and logs and manage IAM roles. ECS also tracks container health and helps scale up or down the project to place capacity requirements appropriately. In addition, AWS also provides Kubernetes container services through Beanstalk, Lambda, Batch, Load Balancing, Lightsail, and Serverless Application Repository.
Notwithstanding the vastness of features, maturity of services, availability of support, and the abundance of learning material, AWS still has certain drawbacks relative to business requisites. These include comparatively high costs as service utility mounts, extra charges for tech support, and a steep learning curve after the initial phases.
The base of computing in Azure is facilitated through a virtual network based on open-source cloud computing. However, unlike AWS and GCP, Azure cannot run on macOS. Its computing services, from project development to deployment and testing, are adaptable with Linux and Windows OS only. On the contrary, third-party suppliers such as Oracle are also compatible with Azure.
Other notable computing services by Azure, to name a few, includes Azure IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), Azure Batch, Azure Spring Cloud, Azure Fabric, Azure PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), and Azure Functions.
When it comes to container service, the Azure Kubernetes Service, based on Kubernetes (K8s), is a predominant choice among developers. Given Azure’s enterprise-focused cloud platform, the AKS allows numerous teams of an organization to collaborate and work simultaneously in a given environment.
On the functional and computational level, Google Cloud is possibly behind its two predominant competitors, AWS and Azure. It does offer certain merits over the two that accelerate its trip to the top. For instance, GCP’s Cloud Functions run cloud apps and also enable scalability on code push from other Google platforms. To add to it, Google’s impeccable global network and caching service incentivize a fast and seamless product experience.
For running containers, the Google Cloud Engine (GCE) renders support for Kubernetes as well as Knative. As a matter of fact, Kubernetes is authored by Google and fits perfectly with GCP. It automates processes for container management and aids in app deployment through integrated commands.
The only disadvantage Google Cloud incurs against its competitors is the small number of services. As of now, GCP offers over 100 services and solutions, broadly categorized as hosting and computing, networking, analytics and ML, big data, and database storage and management. Take a look at the table below for AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud comparison in brief.
The price factor is perhaps the most crucial aspect when conducting a comparison of AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. In terms of age, capacity, and service, AWS is presently the undisputed leader, with Azure close behind and GCP quickly catching up. On specific segments, such as facilitating open-source and third-party services, Google Cloud has reportedly been better.
On the pricing segment, however, all three platforms have a common alignment – a free tier with limited bandwidth and a per-hour or per-minute pay-as-you-go structure. The latter mostly determines the pricing by taking into account resources deployed, customer choice of service, etc. For a head-to-head comparison, take a look at the table given below.
Among the three, the developer community has an inclination toward Google Cloud for the lowest pricing. Azure is presumed to be the costliest and AWS closer to it. However, for organizations already functioning on the Microsoft enterprise suite, it can be economical to shift operations to Azure.
Second, only to pricing, storage is one of the central aspects of the AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud services comparison. Firms and enterprises are drawn to the feature of extended or unlimited storage in cloud computing. The point is to analyze which platform’s storage capacity suits your project the best.
AWS Storage — AWS Simple Storage Service, aka S3, provides standard object storage services through a web interface. It also offers a block storage facility through EBS or Elastic Block System. For a more extensive storage capacity, enterprises can opt for AWS Storage Gateway as it provides both cloud storage and local caching.
There are other storage options in AWS, notably, Elastic File Storage (EFS) to expand storage as needed, Snowball, Snowball Edge, Snowmobile, etc. There are database tools as well, such as RDS, and Neptune, and backup services like Glacier.
Azure Storage — Azure is arguably the best cloud platform for enterprise needs and offers quite many targeted storage services. The topmost ones include Azure Data Lake and Queue Storage, particularly in managing larger datasets. For raw, unstructured datasets, Azure’s Blog Storage is more suitable. There are also solutions for databases as Azure offers a hybrid approach through SQL.
One exceptional feature Azure provides is a backup recovery service. Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery simplify the disaster-recovery solution by instigating copies of data, replication, and restoration. In this component, Azure is sure-shot the favorite cloud platform.
Google Cloud Storage — Comparative to its competitors, the storage services of Google Cloud are elemental. Although the available solutions are definitive and consistent. This construction is based on the fact that Google Cloud corresponds both to SQL and non-SQL-based databases.
Some prominent GCP storage options include Cloud SQL for database management, Cloud Datastore and Cloud Bigtable for NoSQL databases, and Cloud Spanner with endless scalability.
According to market statements recent to the first quarter of 2022, AWS dominates the cloud computing sphere with a 33% share, followed by Azure’s hold on 21%, and Google Cloud’s 8% comes third. The cloud computing market size grew 35% and is projected to expand further with a CAGR of 17.9% to USD 1240.9 billion by 2027.
However, as per revenue earnings data available from the fourth quarter of 2021, despite AWS’s gigantic stature, Azure posted a capital mark of USD 17.7 billion against AWS’s USD 13.5 billion. While Google Cloud posted a moderate, overall sum of USD 4.05 billion.
At Appventurez, we are enthusiastically facilitating various industry verticals in the shift to the cloud with the integration of cloud computing solutions. The efficiency in the utility of cloud computing has been widely acknowledged by our team of developers. If you run a business and are planning to shift operations to the cloud to cater to the rising demand for efficiency and borderless functioning, long-term collaboration for cloud app development is necessary.
We guarantee the delivery of a world-class product that not only offers a flawless user experience but also satisfies its market criteria. Thanks to the expertise we have garnered over the years and deployed valuable insights in our cloud app development services. Partner with Appventurez today for a two-way communication channel during the development process and timely delivery of the product.
Q. Which is better – AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud?
While on the pricing segment, Google Cloud does seem to be at the top of the heap, AWS and Azure are more comprehensive when it comes to computing and the number of services. AWS has been the longest in the cloud computing market and has the widest range of services.
Q. How to choose a cloud service provider?
When choosing a cloud service provider, it is imperative to understand the requirements, not only from a technical but business perspective as well. That assured, the follow-ups include reliability and performance, data security, technology preference, backup services, and disaster recovery.
Q. What is the difference between AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud?
The key difference between AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud is that AWS dominates infrastructure in terms of scalability and storage, and offers over 18000 services, Azure is focused on enterprise and is prevalent when it comes to analytics and ML, and Google Cloud is better in high data management and efficient integration with third party services.
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Global Delivery Head at Appventurez
Ashish governs the process of software delivery operations. He ensures the end product attains the highest remarks in qualitative analysis and is streamlined to the clientele’s objectives. He has over a decade of experience as an iOS developer and teams mentorship.
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