Comparing "the top" Cloud platforms: AWS vs Azure vs GCP

Published on October 13, 2021

Cloud computing has led to a revolution in the way companies do business and go to the market. Cloud computing for business as an industry has grown considerably in recent years. Many companies have benefited from this adaptation. It has made our technology stacks more robust and feasible.

Nowadays, many enterprises, mid size companies, Startups are using cloud for business and even using multi cloud environments as there are more benefits using it than not.

Here are some of the ways cloud computing is changing the business world:

  • No Infrastructure Needed
  • Decreased Capex
  • Flexible workplace
  • 24x7 availability
  • Scalability
  • Can build smart with more resilient

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud yield:

The competition in cloud computing is a strong three way race where Amazon Web Services(AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Computing(GCP) holds 60% of market share worldwide in the public cloud.

Worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 18.4% in 2021 to total $304.9 billion, up from $257.5 billion in 2020, according to Gartner, Inc report.

So within that market, let’s take a look at the AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud market share breakdown and what each cloud provider is.

AWS(Amazon Web Services):

AWS is one among the multi cloud platforms where 61% businesses in the world are already using, 16% businesses in the world are experimenting to migrate their loads to AWS and 7% are in plans to shift their workloads. It is one of the most cost effective platforms and holds the first position in public cloud adoption.

AWS is a secure cloud computing platform that helps developers to build smooth applications with scalability & flexibility. It was launched in 2006 from the internal infrastructure of Amazon to efficiently manage its retail operations. It was one of the first companies to set up a pay as you go cloud computing model.

AWS is broadly used by all types of organizations like enterprises, Mid size companies and Startups as it offers more than 200+ fully featured cloud services from database storage to CDN, machine learning, and computing power that help them become more nimble and innovate faster.

Benefits of AWS:

  • Easy to use
  • Flexible
  • Cost- Effective
  • Reliable
  • Scalable and high performance
  • Secure

AWS is witnessing traction from customers across the board – enterprises, small and medium businesses (SMBs), and startups. Some of them are:

  • Aon, Adobe
  • Bitdefender, BMW
  • Canon, Capital One
  • Disney, Docker
  • ESPN, Expedia
  • Financial Times, FINRA
  • General Electric, GoSquared
  • Hitachi, HTC
  • Samsung, SAP
  • Tata Motors, Twitch

Microsoft Azure:

Azure is a public cloud platform launched by Microsoft in 2010. Microsoft Azure maintained the 2nd position, one among the multi cloud platforms where 52% businesses in the world are already using, 16% businesses in the world are experimenting to migrate their loads to Azure and 9% are in plans to shift their workloads.

It provides a wide range of specialized services for analytics, big data, virtual computing, mobile application development, games, DevOps-agile development pipelines, data warehousing, storage and many more.

Microsoft Azure has served more regions globally as compared to any other cloud provider. It is currently available in 140 countries worldwide. Azure has hybrid cloud features such as Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS), Platform as a Service(PaaS) and Software as a Service(SaaS).

Benefits of Microsoft Azure:

  • On-demand Scalability
  • No on-site hardware required
  • Cost-effective subscription models
  • High availability
  • Enterprise-level development tools
  • World class security
  • Advanced compliance features

Microsoft Azure allows businesses to deploy as well as run applications or even services through a huge network of data centers that are managed by Microsoft. Here are some of the customers where Azure is assisting them in their business process.

  • eBay
  • Boeing
  • Samsung
  • GE Healthcare
  • BMW
  • Travelocity

Microsoft Azure has proven its worth in providing necessary support and infrastructure to some of the biggest companies in the world. From healthcare, manufacturing, consumer appliances, the travel industry, and aviation industry.

Google Cloud Computing(GCP):

Google Cloud Computing is a public cloud platform launched by Google in 2008. Google Cloud Computing maintained the 3rd position, one among the multi cloud platforms where 19% businesses in the world are already using, 22% businesses in the world are experimenting to migrate their loads to GCP and 14% are in plans to shift their workloads. Compared to AWS and Azure, GCP has a small market share worldwide but it offers a robust set of cloud services to support any kind of application and business workloads.

GCP offers a suite of computing services to do everything from GCP cost management to data management to delivering web and video over the web to AI and machine learning tools.

GCP offers nearly 100 services and in that it provides a wide range of services for Computing and hosting, Storage and database, Networking, Big Data and machine learning.

Benefits of Google Cloud Computing:

  • A cut above pricing plans
  • Enhanced execution
  • Redundant backups
  • Control and security
  • Live Migration of VM’s

Google Cloud Platform as the third most-utilised cloud platform, behind AWS and Azure. The demand for GCP is rising year on year. Here are some of the Enterprises using GCP for their business process.

  • Verizon
  • SAP
  • Facebook
  • Twitch Interactive
  • CenturyLink
  • Intel
  • Yahoo
  • NewsCorp
  • Marriott International

How to Choose a Cloud service Provider

As all the IT systems businesses are externalised, make sure you pick the right CSP for long term success. We’ve listed out some of the consideration factors.

  • Data protection and compliance
  • Architecture
  • Regions and availability
  • Technologies and services offered
  • Support
  • Pricing
  • Reliability and Performance

AWS and Azure have a wide range of services where both offer more than 200+ services and while GCP offers around 100+ services.

Wrapping up “the top” Cloud platforms

Even though AWS is the current market leader in terms of capacity and service, Microsoft and Google are also rapidly growing to compete with AWS.

Microsoft in particular is close behind AWS with its focus on the enterprise. Meanwhile, Google continues to evolve its presence by providing excellent integrations with open-source projects and third-party services.

To end up, of course, it all bubbles down to your specific use case. As the market grows, most enterprises are looking for multi-cloud strategies to leverage the strengths offered by each cloud provider without locking themselves to a single provider.

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