Understanding the differences between AWS Services vs. Azure Services can help you make better tech decisions for your small business. Many businesses choose to use a combination of the two cloud platforms, blending AWS services from Amazon and Azure services from Microsoft. But many companies use just one of these cloud platforms.
Both offer a marketplace of third-party apps, AI and machine learning architectures with plenty of data and analytics options. While AWS and Azure offer many similar services, they differ significantly. Read on to see what sets these two cloud platforms apart from each other.
AWS Service Features
AWS offers storage, database, deployment and networking services. They also offer the same number of virtual server options – currently five – as Azure.
When there’s a problem with your system, you need to be able to rely on your cloud platform provider to fix the issue with excellent support. AWS offers five levels of support packages at increasing price points: developer, business, enterprise on-ramp and enterprise.
The support features you have access to increase at each level. For example, a developer account will have business hour email access to AWS cloud support associates, while an enterprise support package will have 24×7 phone, email and chat access.
Azure Service Features
Like AWS, Azure provides storage, database, deployment and networking services. However, Azure offers more analytics and visualization options than AWS, as well as a wide range of options for each service category.
Azure customers can choose from four levels of support packages: basic, developer, standard and professional direct. The Azure basic support plan is free for all Azure customers and includes 24/7 self-help resources, community support and unlimited support tickets.
The Azure basic plan also includes Azure Service Health. This feature informs you of planned maintenance – and service incidents — through personalized cloud alerts and a custom dashboard. Azure Service Health allows you to minimize disruptions for your staff and your customers through this important feature.
AWS Services vs. Azure Services
Because both cloud platforms offer similar services, it’s helpful to take a closer look at the pros and cons of each before committing to one provider.
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The Pros and Cons of AWS
Amazon has plenty of power and resources to offer its customers. As a result, the AWS cloud platform may have more government cloud offerings and more options for long-term data archiving and retrieval.
However, there are drawbacks to purchasing cloud services from such a massive enterprise. AWS offers an overwhelming number of products, which can make it difficult to choose the best option. AWS customer service has also been found lacking.
Most importantly, AWS does not offer the best support for a hybrid cloud. So, if you wanted to (or needed to for compliance reasons) host some of your data in an on-site server and the rest on an AWS cloud option, you may not receive the best service and support when something goes wrong.
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The Pros and Cons of Azure
Microsoft has been one of the two key players in hardware and software for decades. Cloud services from Microsoft have grown with the increasing popularity of Azure. However, some have found that the pay-as-you-go option results in extra charges.
On the other hand, Azure offers more customer service support features, and converting current Microsoft licenses to the cloud is easy. It’s also available in more markets. Azure is considered more start-up- friendly and it can be more cost-effective than AWS.
For businesses that rely on legacy Microsoft apps, Azure offers critical support. It seamlessly integrates with Windows and Microsoft users, including total support for Microsoft legacy apps.
One major advantage of Azure is its approach to security. Microsoft invests heavily in cybersecurity, and there are more than 3,5000 global cybersecurity experts on the Azure team. With state-of-the-art security available at Azure data centers worldwide, you can rest easier knowing your data is protected.
Configuring Azure’s security tools is easy to do through built-in controls. Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides insights and continuous protection for identity data, networking and apps. Azure helps with reserved site recovery, scalability, AI-powered protection and more.
Work with Nortec to Leverage Azure for Your Business
When it comes to AWS Services versus Azure Services, more businesses are choosing Azure because of its security capabilities. With scalable pricing options, security and compliance tools baked in, and a 99.99% data availability guarantee, Azure is the secure and flexible option for many small businesses.
