Azure or AWS? Isn’t the Cloud the Same?

Azure or AWS? Isn’t the cloud the same regardless of whom I choose?

Azure or AWS? Isn’t the cloud the same regardless of whom I choose?

We hear that a lot from prospective customers. Change can be very stressful. With the cloud, you’re talking about changing the way customers do business. That’s not something to be taken lightly, and that’s why more than a few businesses are reluctant to consider it.

One of the top objections for migrating to the cloud with Microsoft Azure is this idea that the cloud is the same regardless of the platform that I choose.

In the broadest sense, yes, public clouds do the same thing. But, once you begin to dig a little deeper and exam Azure’s competition, you will see that public clouds can be quite different.

AISN supports customers on Microsoft Azure and we have deep experience offering managed services for Azure and Microsoft applications. Here are a few items that I can help you with as you look at Azure’s competition:

Azure offers a complete hybrid solution, so don’t make an “all-or-nothing” assumption. Starting small – such as email migration, or data backup and recovery – can be implemented without forcing a complete overhaul of existing processes.
With Azure, you can move virtual machines “as-is” back and forth between on-premises and the cloud. Companies get a consistent experience everywhere without having to invest heavily in dismantling their existing infrastructure.
Azure supports the broadest selection of devices, operating systems, databases, languages, frameworks, and tools. Azure’s integrated tools, unified services, and proven solutions help you build enterprise, mobile, web, and Internet of Things (IoT) apps faster, for virtually any platform or device.
There’s no steep learning curve with Azure, unlike with Amazon Web Services (AWS). As you can choose from a vast array of third party tools, solutions, and partner-developed applications via the Azure marketplace.
System management tasks are automated, enabling developers to focus on apps using Azure’s Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution, the underlying Operating System (OS). This leads to faster on-boarding to the public cloud and lets you quickly develop apps.
Microsoft matches AWS pricing for all commodity public cloud offerings. And, Azure brings more compute capacity than AWS in the instances we offer; so Azure beats AWS on a price-to-performance comparison.
Microsoft has a strong ecosytem of partners like AISN. Partners can help you customize and manage your installation. Unlike AWS, Microsoft has been nurturing their partner base for decades.

So what is the key takeaway here? Microsoft Azure has a really strong competitive offering, especially against AWS. Dig deep into what you’re looking for and let me know if I can help guide you to the best Azure/hybrid identity solution for your business.

 

Bill Peters is Director of Business Development for AIS Network.