AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Cloud Platform Comparison

You’re likely contemplating AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud for your enterprise solutions.

In the cloud computing market AWS, Azure, and GCP are the leading cloud providers.

Choosing the right cloud platform from these three major cloud providers needs careful consideration.

Each of these cloud computing platforms has slightly different pros and cons to consider to know how to avoid cloud migration failure before choosing the one that suits your organisation’s needs the best.

Pulsion Cloud Migration Services: Helping You Choose the Right Platform

Are you navigating the complex waters of cloud adoption and finding it challenging to choose between AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud for your enterprise solutions? You’re not alone. In the rapidly evolving cloud computing market, these three giants stand out, but selecting the right one can be a daunting task.

At Pulsion, we offer cloud migration services, we understand that each of these platforms – AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud – comes with its unique set of strengths and considerations. That’s why having us by your side is crucial. Our expertise lies in helping you weigh the pros and cons of each platform, tailored specifically to your organisation’s needs.

We also offer a digital consultation strategy if you want to kick things off and get some tailored advice straight away.

Why Choose Pulsion for Your Cloud Adoption Strategy?

1. Expert Guidance: We provide expert guidance on each platform’s offerings, helping you understand the nuances that could make a significant difference in your cloud journey.
2. Customised Strategy: Our approach is not one-size-fits-all. We develop a cloud adoption strategy that aligns with your business goals, technical needs, and budgetary constraints.
3. Avoiding Migration Pitfalls: Cloud migration failure is a real risk. Our team helps you navigate common pitfalls, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal disruption to your operations.
4. Comparative Analysis: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud each have their strengths. We offer a detailed comparison to help you make an informed decision based on your specific requirements.
5. Future-Proofing Your Business: With our help, your cloud migration isn’t just about the present; it’s a step towards future-proofing your business in a digital-first world.

What’s the Differences Between Google Cloud vs AWS vs Azure Coud Providers?

Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure offers a variety of cloud computing services, data centres, server-less infrastructure, open-source software library options, elastic block storage, hybrid solutions, and machine learning applications. Let’s delve into what each cloud provider offers before choosing one.

What Exactly is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing revolutionises how businesses serve more people through virtual applications and services. Cloud computing is a comprehensive virtual tool for businesses to use computing services, like storage, databases, networking, servers, analytics, and intelligence over the internet.

Businesses can scale more easily with cloud computing services without investing in on-premises infrastructure, servers, and applications. It’s an innovative method to provide flexible services while you save money on operating expenses and offer efficient and reliable infrastructure for your clients.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

Cloud services platforms integrate benefits for small and large enterprises and are integral to the pursuit of regional or global success in your business. You can reach more people with a smaller capital, reduce maintenance, increase your services offered, and scale your organisation to new levels.

Decreased CapEx

Cloud computing platforms cut the upfront capital costs required to run efficient services to clients. A cloud provider eliminates extensive waiting periods and investments by offering infrastructure in minutes. Your organisation won’t need to invest in servers and computers for months before launch.

Reduced Infrastructure Maintenance

Cloud services remove the need to maintain physical infrastructure at your organisation’s premises. Your IT team can spend more time on essential organisational and client needs while the cloud pools the necessary services and resources to help your business succeed, regardless of your location.

Increased Availability

Cloud providers offer increased availability by allowing your users to reach you from broader locations. A cloud provider ensures your users have on-demand services and resources in minutes, regardless of their location. Increased availability boosts your organisation’s innovative agility and user retention.

Scalability

Your organisation can scale with cloud platforms without requiring constant infrastructure investments. Instead, your business can add hundreds of servers or have access to various data centres in minutes to suit your and your client’s needs. Cloud service providers offer easier and more affordable scalability.

Seamless Data Storage

The top three cloud providers have multiple data centers to ensure your organisation can seamlessly store and use data analytics to improve its services. For example, Amazon Web Services has 14 data centers at your organisation’s fingertips to reliably keep your data safe.

Understanding Each of these Cloud Platforms

Comparing AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud starts by understanding each platform and its services. Each cloud provider targets and monopolises a different market share and has a few integral organisation users that may align with your business. Let’s look at the basic services each platform provides.

What Exactly is AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a leading cloud provider established in 2006. AWS offers Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). The cloud platform offers 200+ services to millions of users, enterprises, and governments in the global cloud market.

Some popular Amazon Web Services include Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Amazon S3 cloud storage. The AWS cloud also has a wide range of organisational services and resources, including virtual machines, data analytics, and machine learning at your fingertips at pay-as-you-go pricing.

10 Notable AWS Users

• Airbnb
• BBC
• BMW
• Coca Cola
• Coinbase
• Facebook (META)
• Formula 1
• Lyft
• Netflix
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

What Exactly is Azure?

Microsoft Azure is the most notable competitor to AWS and GCP, founded in 2010. Microsoft Azure Cloud offers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). Some SaaS services include machine learning, analytics, virtual computing, and storage.

Microsoft Azure is one of the fastest expanding cloud platforms that also provides 200+ services and resources with pay-as-you-go pricing. Azure vs other cloud providers shows that Azure cloud services largely provide for enterprise users and have an excellent track record among recognisable brands.

10 Notable Azure Users

• Audi
• Bosch
• Daimler AG
• FedEx
• Renault
• Starbucks
• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• The National Health Service (NHS)
• Walgreens
• Walmart

What Exactly is Google Cloud?

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is another simple storage service offering a range of virtual services to cloud users and organisations globally since 2008. GCP provides Platforms as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) to global enterprises of all sizes.

Some GCP services include Google Cloud Storage, machine learning, analytics services, hyper-scale data centres, enterprise Android, Google Workspace, Google Cloud Firewall, and more. GCP offers 100+ services to help big data processing while providing Google Cloud Functions at pay-as-you-go pricing.

10 Notable GCP Users

• Equifax
• Nintendo
• PayPal
• Spotify
• Target
• The Home Depot
• Toyota
• Twitter (X)
• Unilever
• UPS

Amazon Web Services Key Tools

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the leading three cloud giants in the global cloud battle. Amazon Web Service provides key cloud tools, including global data centres, cloud infrastructure, virtual networks, and cloud technologies. However, here are some key AWS cloud tools to consider:

• Machine learning and AI: AWS offers a deep-learning open-source library called Gluon. It allows developers and non-developers to integrate AI into neural networks without prior knowledge or experience. The cloud service also has the Deep Lens artificial intelligence camera to better recognise characters, images, and objects for enhanced machine learning.
• Server-less computing: Another AWS service is SageMaker, which activates and trains machine learning models, including Lex conversational interfaces, like Alexa. Your organisation also gains access to other models, like Greengrass Iot messaging and Lambda server-less computing.
• Robotic simulations: One of Amazon’s best computing resources is the ABS RoboMaker, which acts like cloud architects. Robotics developers build, scale, run, and automate simulations to properly inspect the running container’s framework for your business in the development stage.

(AWS) Microsoft Azure Key Cloud Tools

Microsoft Azure has cloud servers with a vast global network and market share. Azure is another one of the three cloud giants with a vast global infrastructure that makes your business needs and applications feel seamless. Still, here are some specialised services and key tools to consider from Azure:

• Easy MSFT software integration: Azure is a Microsoft service that can easily integrate MS tools to its vast global infrastructure with on-premises Microsoft programs, including Office 365, Microsoft Windows 10, and more. It allows you to easily use Azure backup on a Windows server.
• Cognitive services: Azure has a cognitive services vertex AI package that allows users to enjoy the artificial intelligence benefits behind Azure Cognitive Search, Bot Service, Bing Web Search API, Face API, and Computer Vision API.
• Automated maintenance: Azure services also include the Azure Kubernetes Service, an automated method for organisations to maintain the health of their virtual clouds. Azure Kubernetes handles the health and maintenance of data centres and cloud-to-code pipelines.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Key Tools

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has smaller cloud environments with fewer services without lacking the most instrumental data analytics tools, data centres, cloud vision, access management, enterprise solutions, custom vision service, and more. Still, here are three key tools to consider with GCP:

• Open-source AI tools: Google Cloud is the top AI advancement for enterprise customers and organisations. For example, TensorFlow is an open-source machine-learning application library that welcomes non-developers to create seamless end-user processing globally. Managing servers as a non-developer with powerful AI management tools empowers your organisation.
• A server-less IoT core: The GCP cloud services include a range of beta-stage server-less technologies, including natural language APIs, speech APIs, and translation APIs. The machine learning capabilities help your organisation adopt cloud supremacy and excel in data management.
• Easy access to hybrid cloud solutions: The Google Kubernetes Engine shares cloud space with the Azure model, allowing you to combine service providers or use a hybrid cloud environment. The Google Kubernetes Engine can also integrate with existing on-premises infrastructure.

How to Choose a Cloud Service Provider

The AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud deliberation for your organisation depends on a few factors you must consider. Choosing the best cloud environment between AWS, Azure, and GCP requires you to determine your organisation’s needs for seamless integration into the right virtual cloud infrastructure.

Regions and Availability

Whether you utilise AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud predominantly depends on regions and availability. As of 2023, the three top public cloud providers offer the following:

• AWS: Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers 105 availability zones across 33 global regions with another 4 regions planned in Malaysia, Germany, New Zealand, and Thailand. AWS Cloud also plans to add another 12 availability zones to expand its network further.
• Azure: Azure Cloud overtook AWS with 113 availability zones in 2023, while another 51 are under construction. Meanwhile, Azure Cloud services have 60+ operational regions with another 19 on the way globally. Microsoft Azure virtual machines are competing well with AWS.
• GCP: The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) has 94 availability zones with 31 regions globally, which is another increase from previous numbers. The main data centers lie in Europe, the U.S., South America, and Australia. GCP cloud services are limited on the African continent.

Common Cloud Provider Services

Let’s guide you with the common services offered by each provider to determine whether Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, or multi-cloud environments will best suit your organisation. Here are three cloud providers basic services to consider in a visually pleasing format:

Compute Services

Let’s compare the AWS, Azure, and GCP cloud service providers’ compute services.

Database & Storage Services

Next, compare the database and storage services of each cloud platform.

Networking

Google Cloud Firewalls, Azure Firewall, and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) are some of the networking components. Here’s a deeper look into what each cloud network offers:

Specialised Services

Microsoft Azure, AWS, and GCP each offer specialised services. Here’s a preview of what services you can expect from the Google Cloud Platform, and AWS vs Azure.

Cloud Services and Pricing

Azure vs AWS and the Google Cloud Platform offers different pricing models, each allowing you to use reserved instances, budgets, pay-as-you-go, and service optimisation to fit your organisation’s needs. It’s another point to consider before choosing your cloud platform.

Here’s a breakdown of the largest vs smallest pricing instances for Azure vs GCP and AWS services:

The Google Cloud Platform is the most affordable monthly, but AWS is the cheapest hourly. Azure is the priciest cloud provider, but the Microsoft product has discounts for businesses already using some of its products because you won’t need to add the services you already own on the premises.

Fortunately, there are ways to reduce cloud hosting costs.

AWS vs Microsoft Azure vs GCP: Pros and Cons

The AWS vs Azure vs GCP debate remains open until you consider the pros and cons of each service.

AWS Pros

• Provides the most services, including robotics, virtual machines, an Amazon elastic compute cloud (EC2), AWS Lambda serverless functions, AWS Secrets Manager, an active directory, Amazon relational database service, and artificial intelligence
• Is the most mature public cloud provider with global regions in an extensive network, welcoming enterprises to reach more people at affordable hourly and monthly rates with AWS cost explorer
• AWS cloud offering is reliable and trusted worldwide, having multiple major vendors using its services, with more computing power

AWS Cons

• Organisations must purchase Dev/Enterprise support separately
• Newcomers may feel overwhelmed by the number of cloud services
• Cloud migration is limited with AWS famous for vendor lock-in

Azure Pros

• Has a fair market share on its public cloud platform with Microsoft services nearly matching AWS, including a Windows server backup, Azure Blob Storage, Azure virtual machine, Vmware cloud, IoT and server-less services, Microsoft products, Microsoft tools, Azure SQL Database, SQL Cloud, and mobile development
• The Microsoft ecosystem easily integrates with existing infrastructure, with the current greatest number of availability zones and regions to ensure your organisation remains available online
• The broad range of data centres located globally ensures a higher chance you’ll have a data centre located close to your organisation for low-latency access management

Azure Cons

• The Microsoft ecosystem or Azure pricing is the priciest among the three cloud platforms, requiring organisations to have Microsoft technologies and services to reduce cloud costs
• Targets enterprises and larger organisations more than start-ups and individual IT specialists
• Has a wide range of services but doesn’t compare to the AWS offers

GCP Pros

• Has big data centres located on most continents, offering a good number of services, including Google Compute Engine, machine learning, hybrid cloud deployments, Google Cloud Load, Google Search, Google Cloud Blog, virtual private cloud (VPC), and a SQL server
• Provides an affordable and scalable cloud platform for enterprises of all sizes with simple pricing models for fluctuating workloads and storage resources
• GCP cloud-based services have a proven track record of working well with other Google services and products, also having good containerised workload support

GCP Cons

• GCP doesn’t have the existing infrastructure in multiple regions vs AWS and Azure, failing to have any data centres located in Africa as of January 2024
• AWS and Azure vs Google offer more resource optimisation, cloud services, and data centre regions
• Compared to AWS and Azure, limited support is provided to use cases

Summing Up the Big Three

So, how will you choose to deploy machine learning models? Which cloud platform will serve your organisation the best? At Pulsion Technology, we embrace the best cloud providers in a multi-cloud/hybrid solution. The top three providers have comparable services and offer a virtual server for any need.

We can guide your organisation through cloud adoption with the right cost management strategies and multi-cloud opportunities if you’d like a hybrid setup. Our cloud migration strategy can help you set up the ideal content delivery network, Windows-based services, AWS tools, and data and communication channels.

Often, a hybrid solution suits larger enterprises better. However, your organisation may already have Microsoft software to support Azure offers. Alternatively, you may prefer the basic instance of GCP for a start-up company. Our enterprise services can help you choose the best-suited cloud provider.

Let our experts guide your AWS vs Google Cloud and Azure decisions. AWS vs Google Cloud or Azure sounds complicated until dedicated developers, IT specialists, or AWS Lambda experts guide you through the basics. Contact us today to speak about our solutions and cloud migration services.

We are a Microsoft Azure partner and an AWS partner and offer objective advice and expertise.

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud FAQs

Cloud Platform Comparison

Which is best – Google Cloud or AWS or Azure?

GCP is the better option for small start-ups or individual technology specialists, with the potential to scale with affordable pricing models. However, Azure has the largest availability zones, regions, and global infrastructure for larger corporations and enterprise customers.

Which cloud platform is most popular?

AWS is the most mature cloud services provider with the longest list of services. AWS has a large global presence and is trusted by the IT community.

Why Azure is more popular than AWS?

The Azure sphere has a fanbase that considers it more popular because of its list of availability zones and regions, extending to every continent, ensuring low latency and high performance.

How is Google cloud compared to Azure?

Google Cloud doesn’t have the number of services Azure offers. GCP has 100+ services, while Azure has over 200. Larger enterprises use Azure future-proof to limit server and data centre failures.

Which is better AWS or Google Cloud or Azure?

The top three providers each have pros and cons. AWS is the most mature network but is losing the cloud market share to Azure regarding availability zones and regions. GCP is the cheapest but has limited services compared to AWS and Azure. Azure has the second-largest range of services but may have the most expensive pricing structures.

Is Azure better than AWS?

Azure has 113 availability zones, whereas AWS lost the first place with only 105 availability zones. Azure Cloud makes itself more available in over 60 regions versus AWS with only 33 current regions.

Is Google cheaper than Azure?

GCP costs $52 per month for a basic instance and $5.32 per hour for an advanced instance. On the other hand, Azure costs $70 per month for a smaller instance and $6.79 per hour for a larger instance.

Why Azure is preferred over AWS?

Azure has a more stable list of data centres in more regions and availability zones compared to AWS. However, Azure also welcomes multi and hybrid-cloud migrations better than AWS, which is infamous for vendor lock-in.

What is Google’s equivalent to AWS?

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is the operations cloud service with an active directory that could compare with some of Amazon Web Services features for smaller businesses and applications.

Is Azure or AWS more in demand?

Azure is more in demand for enterprises already using Microsoft applications and Windows-based services. However, AWS is more in demand for its more mature Amazon QuickSight business analytics framework.

Which is better GCP or AWS or Azure?

AWS is the most mature with Simple Storage Service (S3), while GCP is the second-oldest platform with another reliable service called Google Cloud Storage. Meanwhile, Azure is the newest platform with the largest market share and the trusted Blob Storage service. By age, AWS would be the better option.

Is GCP easier than AWS?

GCP only has 100+ services, making it more user-friendly for new organisations and developers, whereas AWS has the largest range of services better suited to larger, more seasoned organisations.

Can GCP overtake AWS?

AWS currently owns 34% of the global public market share, whereas GCP owns 11% of the market share for virtual machines. It will take GCP a while before they can overtake Amazon Web Services.

Why AWS is better than Azure?

AWS has better provisioning with a lower number of compute instance. It also has greater resources, good traffic security, and superior scalable services than Azure.

How is GCP compared to AWS?

GCP can’t compare in infrastructure numbers, but it can compete in network optimisation, fast data transfer, and low-latency connections.

Which is better AWS or GCP or Azure?

The Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) from AWS provides all the necessary computing admin, even allowing you to use pre-configured sets, whereas the Google Compute Engine has similar functions with fewer services. Meanwhile, Microsoft Azure gives you more control over scale sets for virtual machines.

Is Google Cloud better than Azure?

Microsoft Azure and Google both have pros and cons. Azure has Table Storage, BigTable belongs to GCP, but both are reliable object storage services. However, Google offers stronger support for Kubernetes use cases and containers.

Why Azure is better than AWS?

Microsoft Azure offers better integration with your current infrastructure and Microsoft applications, such as Office 365, Visual Studio, and Active Directory.

Why is GCP not as popular as AWS?

GCP doesn’t have the computing power AWS offers. AWS Lambda is better for developers seeking more control over their computing environment. However, AWS hybrid isn’t as available as GCP hybrid solutions, and those seeking migration or multi-cloud solutions should reconsider AWS.

What is the difference between GCP and Azure?

GCP offers a one-cloud platform for data management, machine learning, and Alexa services in smaller enterprises. However, Azure’s offerings provide better security features, multi-product integration, infrequently accessed data, and visual studio projects.

Learning and Ease of Use

Is Google Cloud easier to learn than AWS?

The GCP platform is easier to learn compared to AWS because it offers fewer services, which may overwhelm newcomers and small businesses.GCP also offers smoother learning curves for all types of deployments.

Can GCP overtake AWS?

GCP cannot overtake AWS yet, as it contains fewer data centre locations and infrastructure.

Is GCP easier than AWS?

AWS config requires a slightly more seasoned understanding if you’re configuring on-site infrastructure to fit serverless computing.

Which is better to learn AWS or Azure or Google Cloud?

GCP is easier to learn to use for newcomers. However, AWS and Azure offer seasoned developers and IT experts a larger challenge with more extensive services.

Market Growth and Demand

Is Google Cloud growing faster than AWS?

AWS is the most mature service, growing at an average of 13.7% per year, while Google Cloud, a newer platform, grows at an average of 28.9% per year. GCP is growing faster as a newer service.

Is Azure or AWS more in demand?

Azure is more in demand for organisations already using Microsoft tools and technologies. However, AWS is more in demand for businesses seeking a higher global reach and more services from their provider.

Salary Comparison

What is the salary of GCP vs AWS vs Azure?

• AWS Salary: The AWS salary ranges from $15 to $85.5/hour.
• Azure Salary: The Azure salary ranges from $30 to $90/hour.
• GCP Salary: The GCP salary ranges from $18 to $85.25/hour.

General Cloud Platform Information

What are AWS, Azure, and GCP?

AWS, Azure, and GCP offer solutions for organisations to use virtual machines, object storage, and advanced technologies without installing the same infrastructure on-premises, which becomes costly.