| Cloud Provider | Instance Type | Price |
| AWS | C6a.xlarge | USD 0.153 |
| Azure | F4s v2 | USD 0.1690 |
| GCP | c2-standard-4 | USD 0.2351 |
This detailed breakdown showcases the hourly cost structure for general-purpose compute instances across this three-leading comparison of cloud providers, aiding in precise financial planning and strategic business decision-making.
Comparison of 1-Year Upfront Commitment Discounted Pricing: AWS vs Microsoft Azure vs Google Cloud
When evaluating the cost efficiency of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud within a one-year commitment period involving an upfront payment, it’s essential to consider their respective discounted AWS vs GCP vs Azure pricing structures. AWS employs Reserved Instances, Azure implements Reserved Savings, and Google Cloud leverages Committed Use Discounts to offer reduced rates.
The subsequent tables present a comparative analysis of discounted pricing for general-purpose instances across Azure AWS GCP comparison, with a one-year commitment and full upfront payment:
| Cloud Provider | Instance Type | Price | Discount |
| AWS | t4g.xlarge | USD 0.084 | 41% |
| Azure | B4ms | USD 0.1118 | 32% |
| GCP | e2-standard-4 | USD 0.095092 | 37% |
These figures shed light on the intricacies of cost savings achieved by committing to a one-year upfront payment with each primary comparison of cloud providers, assisting organizations in making financially informed decisions.
Prominent AWS, Azure, GCP Customers
AWS is the biggest cloud services provider and has amassed an impressive clientele. According to an exhaustive report compiled by Yahoo Finance, German firm SAP has been an AWS client since 2008. SAP is deemed to be the third-biggest software giant in the world. This was an AWS first, as it was the first cloud technology to handle SAP’s workflows. Other clients are Novartis, the American pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer, and the electronics colossus Sony.
Azure is not far behind in a lot of favor for its compatibility with its pre-existing Microsoft infrastructure. Beverage maker Coca-Cola, machinery manufacturer Bosch, and computers manufacturer Lenovo have harnessed the power of Azure.
Google Cloud is not backing down as it bagged Twitter, Deutsche Bank, and the global mailing platform UPS are using the tech to keep their operations running. Azure vs AWS vs Google Cloud has many more desirable clients.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
A pioneer of cloud computing, Amazon was the first entrant into the cloud services market over a decade ago and leads in terms of the number of products and customers, with AWS considered the benchmark of cloud service quality.
AWS offers a range of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings that can be classified into computing, database, content delivery and storage, and networking.
AWS enables a smooth and flexible data collection flow using serverless services such as Amazon Kinesis Streams, Amazon SQS Queues, and AWS Lambda Functions. It allows organizations to choose the web application platform, operating system, database, and programming languages, among others, as required.
Cloud infrastructure resource usage can be monitored using AWS management tools such as AWS CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch for tracking user activity and AWS Config for managing the resource inventory and changes.
AWS significantly enhances organizations’ productivity and business growth. However, some drawbacks of AWS include the complex infrastructure and default service limits set by average user needs.
Amazon data centers are the largest among the three cloud services providers in 84 regions worldwide.
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Useful Link: Best Practices for AWS Cloud Migration and Benefits
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure platform has been designed to build, deploy, and manage various services and applications through the massive network of Microsoft-managed data centers. Azure’s offerings include computing, networking, data management databases, and performance.
Azure Site Recovery enables organizations of all sizes to orchestrate site-to-site replication and data recovery to VMs hosted on Azure. Azure offers Zone Redundant Storage (ZRS) or data storage redundancy across multiple data center regions.
Azure ExpressRoute facilitates connectivity of the data center to Azure through a private link without using the Internet, thereby providing higher security, excellent reliability, and lower latency.
Azure also has extensive networking capabilities, including support for multiple site-to-site connections to virtual networks and the ability to connect virtual networks across different regions to each other.
Azure offers the lowest on-demand and discounted instance pricing. Specialist developers can use the Azure Machine Learning Studio to write, test, and deploy algorithms.
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Useful Link: Steps to a Successful Microsoft Azure Cloud Migration
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
With an intuitive interface, lower costs, preemptible instances, and flexible compute options, GCP is an attractive alternative to AWS and Azure. Google uses full-scale encryption of all data and communication channels, including traffic between data centers.
Some of the areas where Google Cloud strongly competes with AWS include instance and payment reconfigurability, privacy and traffic security, cost efficiency, and Machine Learning.
While all three cloud providers offer discounts of up to 75 percent for a commitment of one to three years, Google additionally offers a sustained use discount of up to 30 percent on each instance type running for more than 25 percent each month.
AWS’s one-year-free trial has been matched by GCP’s credit of USD 300 for 12 months, along with a free tier that isn’t time-limited. GCP’s credits model suits organizations newly venturing into cloud services.
Google offers several off-the-shelf APIs about computer vision, natural language processing, and translation. Machine learning engineers can build models based on Google’s Cloud Machine Learning Engine’s open-source TensorFlow deep learning library.
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Useful Link: Migrate to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) – Best Practices, Tools and Benefits
A Three-way Battle
Evaluating the three major cloud services using different parameters, such as computing, storage, databases, locations, and documentation, can reveal the differences between them.
- Compute: AWS offers the Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which handles all compute services by managing virtual machines with preconfigured settings that can also be configured by users as required. On the other hand, Azure offers Virtual Machines and Virtual Machine scale sets, while GCP provides the Google Compute Engine (GCE), which performs the same functions.
- Storage: Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is the best option for storage, with extensive documentation, tried-and-tested technology, and proper community support.Microsoft Azure Storage and Google Cloud Storage also offer reliable storage services.
- Multi-Cloud Support: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud have upped their respective games regarding multi-cloud infrastructure. AWS was one of the first cloud players to enter multi-cloud games with Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), allowing its AWS users to manage their containers and K8s applications on Azure and Google Cloud. Azure went the extra mile by bringing out Arc, allowing its users to run the Microsoft cloud’s services on AWS and Google Cloud. This is an edge Azure possesses over AWS as the latter has limited itself to containers and K8s. Despite its late entry, Google has also forayed into this arena with Anthos, which allows Kubernetes clusters and other such loads to be run on AWS and Azure.
- Databases: All major service providers offer multiple tools and service options for databases. Amazon’s Relational Database Service (RDS) supports major databases such as Oracle and PostgreSQL and manages everything from updating to patching. Azure SQL Database offers SQL database handling features for Azure, while it is Cloud SQL for GCP.
- Location: AWS, Azure, and GCP offer great coverage worldwide and ensure peak application performance by having the least possible route to the intended customer base. While Amazon has 77 availability zones, Azure has a presence in 60+ regions, and Google has a presence in 33 countries, with newer regions being added regularly.
- Documentation: Although AWS is slightly ahead of Azure and GCP, all three vendors offer high-quality documentation.
Cloud Security Comparison: AWS vs Azure vs GCP
| Security Feature | AWS | Azure | GCP |
| Cloud Security Risk Assessment | AWS employs a Shared Responsibility Model and offers tools like AWS Inspector and AWS Trusted Advisor to identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance. | Azure employs the Security Center to deliver comprehensive security management and sophisticated threat protection for workloads across hybrid cloud environments. | GCP offers a Cloud Security Command Center for centralized visibility into security health, threat detection, and policy enforcement. |
| Cloud Security Compliance | AWS meets major compliance standards, such as ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP, and GDPR. It provides AWS Artifact for on-demand access to compliance reports. | Azure complies with numerous standards, including ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP, and GDPR. Azure Compliance Manager helps track, assign, and verify regulatory compliance activities. | GCP complies with ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP, and GDPR, among other standards. It offers Compliance Reports Manager for easy access to compliance documentation. |
| Cloud Security Management | AWS delivers an extensive array of security services, featuring AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), to ensure comprehensive protection and effective access control over resources, AWS Key Management Service (KMS), and AWS CloudTrail for monitoring and logging. | Azure offers Azure Active Directory (AAD), Azure Key Vault, and Azure Monitor for security management, identity protection, and activity logging. | GCP features Identity and Access Management (IAM), Cloud Key Management, and Stackdriver for logging, monitoring, and diagnostics. |
| Cloud Security Strategy | AWS focuses on a robust security strategy that includes rest and transit encryption, automated compliance checks, and a vast partner network for security solutions. | Azure emphasizes integrated security within all services, proactive threat detection with AI, and strong identity protection measures. | GCP prioritizes a security-first approach with data encryption, secure-by-design infrastructure, and extensive security partnerships. |
| Cloud Security Assessment Tools | AWS provides solutions such as AWS Security Hub, offering a unified overview of security alerts and posture management across all AWS accounts. | Azure provides Azure Security Center for threat protection, security recommendations, and compliance insights. | GCP’s Security Command Center delivers centralized security management and compliance monitoring. |
| Identity and Access Management (IAM) | AWS IAM allows fine-grained access control and integrates with AWS Organizations for multi-account management. | Azure Active Directory (AAD) provides robust identity management and integrates with Office 365 and other Microsoft services. | GCP IAM offers a unified approach to access control across all GCP services with support for fine-grained permissions. |
| Data Encryption | AWS encrypts data at rest using AWS KMS and offers client-side encryption options. TLS is used for data in transit. | Azure encrypts data at rest using Azure Key Vault and supports encryption in transit using TLS and SSL. | GCP encrypts data at rest by default and provides encryption options for data in transit using TLS. |
| Threat Detection and Response | AWS GuardDuty provides intelligent threat detection and continuous monitoring for malicious activities. | Azure Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) offers real-time threat detection and automated responses. | GCP’s Chronicle offers advanced threat detection and investigation capabilities, leveraging AI and machine learning. |
| Security Monitoring and Logging | AWS CloudTrail and CloudWatch offer extensive logging, monitoring, and alerting capabilities for AWS resources. | Azure Monitor and Azure Log Analytics provide comprehensive monitoring and logging solutions for Azure environments. | GCP Stackdriver offers integrated monitoring, logging, and diagnostics across GCP and AWS resources. |
| Compliance Reporting | AWS Artifact provides on-demand access to compliance reports and agreements, streamlining audit preparations. | Azure Compliance Manager helps manage and track compliance activities, providing detailed reports and assessments. | GCP’s Compliance Reports Manager centralizes access to compliance documentation and audit reports. |
| Security Comparison Summary | AWS offers many compliance certifications and an extensive security and management toolset. | Azure stands out with its integration of AI for threat detection and comprehensive security management tools across hybrid environments. | GCP leads with its security-first infrastructure design and centralized security health and compliance management. |
Benefits of AWS, Azure, and GCP
AWS Benefits:
- Mature Ecosystem: AWS is the longest-standing cloud provider with a vast and mature ecosystem of services and solutions.
- Global Reach: AWS boasts a widespread global network of data centers, ensuring low-latency access in various regions.
- Robust Security: AWS offers a comprehensive suite of security tools and compliance certifications, making it a trusted choice for security-conscious organizations.
- Serverless Computing: AWS Lambda enables serverless computing, allowing users to focus on code without managing servers.
- AI and Machine Learning: AWS provides powerful AI and ML services like Amazon SageMaker for advanced data analytics.
Azure Benefits:
- Seamless Integration: Azure seamlessly integrates with Microsoft products like Windows Server and Active Directory, which is ideal for organizations heavily reliant on Microsoft technologies.
- Hybrid Cloud: Microsoft Azure is known for its hybrid solid cloud capabilities, making it suitable for businesses with on-premises infrastructure.
- Enterprise Focus: Azure offers extensive enterprise-grade services, including Azure Active Directory, Azure Site Recovery, and Azure DevOps.
- AI and ML Integration: Azure Machine Learning and Cognitive Services facilitate AI and ML integration into applications.
- Data Analytics: Azure provides Azure Data Lake Analytics and HDInsight for advanced data analytics and big data processing.
GCP Benefits:
- Data Analytics Prowess: GCP excels in data analytics with BigQuery, Dataflow, and Dataprep for efficient data processing and insights.
- Container Management: Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a leading container orchestration and management platform.
- Global Network: GCP boasts a high-speed, low-latency global network, perfect for real-time applications.
- Open Source Embrace: GCP is known for its open-source commitment and support of popular tools and frameworks.
- Machine Learning Expertise: Google’s AI and ML capabilities are leveraged in GCP, making it a strong choice for machine learning projects.
Ultimately, the choice between Azure vs AWS vs Google Cloud depends on an organization’s specific needs, existing technology stack, and strategic goals. Each cloud provider provides a unique set of benefits that can cater to various business requirements.
How to choose a cloud service provider (Based on Reason and Availability)
Amazon Web Services has had a head start in the cloud race as it was the first to kickstart the race. AWS has a wide range of services, and its reach is a significant motivational factor for choosing the Amazon cloud. Whether with the containers or their innovative tools, AWS has been the favorite for many users who develop and deploy products rapidly.
Azure is another preferred productivity partner, and its parent company, Microsoft, is prevalent. Azure’s compatibility with Microsoft products such as Windows and Office suites is an excellent reason for choosing the cloud. Additionally, Microsoft is expending efforts to lay an undersea cable to ensure high-speed connectivity for its clients.
Finally, GCP is preferred by companies in their nascent stages, as Google is known to offer discounts on its pricing models. Additionally, Google is spearheading some open-source projects, such as Karpenter, which would push productivity to new heights. These productivity tools and affordable pricing models sweeten the deal for users in their emerging phases.
AWS Vs Azure Vs Google Cloud: Key Takeaways!
After examining the pros and cons of these three cloud providers, it is evident that each is unique and offers various options to customers.
But looking closely at them, we can see AWS securing the maximum footprint in this cloud battle of Azure vs AWS vs GCP. Even though AWS is ahead of the curve, it is still uncertain how long it will enjoy its dominance.
Azure and GCP strive to secure a maximumglobal cloud market share. Azure leverages the fact that ‘it is easy to integrate MS tools with Azure cloud’, So It can easily embrace organizations using MS tools. On the other hand, GCP, with the best pricing models, can aid customers with cost concerns.
AWS, Azure, GCP: Market Shares and Growth Rate
Since the inception of Cloud computing, AWS has been dominating others in the global cloud market. AWS enjoys dominance by securing around 33 percent of the global market share. At the same time, Microsoft Azure is ensuing AWS with 23 percent of the global market share. GCP is third, with a global market share of 11 percent.
AWS vs Azure vs GCP Market Share
- AWS – 33%
- Microsoft Azure – 23%
- GCP – 11%
Source: Synergy Research Group
Useful Link: Which Cloud has Better Private Connectivity: AWS or Azure or GCP?
The Selection Dilemma
The war for cloud supremacy is between the Big Three. While several other players, such as IBM and Oracle, have ventured into cloud services, they are still far from cornering a significant market share.
Each of the three cloud platforms, Amazon Web Services vs Azure vs Google Cloud, is unique and offers many options for organizations to select from based on their specific requirements. Whether AWS will retain its eminence or if others will catch up soon remains to be seen.
Conclusion
AWS is the top cloud computing provider, with the broadest range of services, the largest community, and the most mature tooling. Azure is a strong competitor to AWS, with a broad range of services and good hybrid cloud support. GCP is the most affordable of the three major cloud providers and strongly focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Your needs and requirements will determine the best cloud web services comparison platform. AWS is a good choice if you are looking for the most mature and feature-rich platform. Azure is a good option if you are looking for a good hybrid cloud solution or a platform with solid machine learning support. GCP is a good choice if you are looking for the most affordable platform.
It is also important to note that all three major cloud providers offer free trials, so you can try them out before you commit to a paid plan. Still unsure about which cloud suits you best? We are here to solve your dilemma. Veritis, the Stevie and Globee Business Awards winner, has developed, deployed, and maintained countless cloud applications. From Fortune 500 companies to emerging enterprises, we have tendered customized solutions that stood the test of time.
Reach out to us, harness our cloud expertise, and walk away with a suit tailored just for you.
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Additional Resources:
- Which AWS Cloud Management Tools Should You Use to Manage Your Business
- What are the Differences Between Amazon ECS vs EKS?
- Choosing the Right AWS EC2 Instance Type for Your Application
- AWS vs Azure vs GCP: Breakdown of Cloud Migration Services (Infographic)
- Top 7 AWS Cost Optimization Tools
- AWS Vs Azure Cloud – A Glance at Comparison
- Leverage Full Advantage of Cloud Migration with GCP
