As the demand for cloud services and solutions grows, AWS, Azure, and GCP are competing for the title of the best cloud provider. The unprecedented value brought by cloud technologies, such as cost optimization, improved operational efficiency, or robust data security, compels enterprises and SMBs to strengthen their cloud strategies. However, this wide range of benefits may come with the headache of choosing the right cloud provider for your business. So, to help you make a well-informed decision, we have prepared a detailed cloud comparison summary of AWS vs Azure vs GCP. Let’s look at all three cloud providers side-by-side to see where they stand out.
AWS vs Azure vs GCP: who owns the game?
Over 100 cloud service providers exist, but AWS has been the global market leader for many years. According to the report by Synergy Research Group for 2023, it has 32% of the market share, followed by Microsoft Azure at 22% and Google at 11%. Since its first launch in 2004, AWS has become a dominant cloud platform popular among startups, SMBs, and enterprises. GCP and Azure entered the market a few years later and have gradually increased in popularity.
AWS has a clear edge over Azure and Google Cloud regarding market share. However, the same cannot be said about profitability and cloud growth rate. When comparing AWS vs Azure vs GCP in 2022, Microsoft Azure has the highest revenue base of $81.8B, while GCP has achieved the top result in growth rate—48%. Just in 2023, Google Cloud announced new service regions in Asia Pacific, specifically Malaysia, New Zealand, and Thailand.
The multi-cloud approach to infrastructure should also be mentioned when comparing AWS vs Azure vs GCP. It is a preferred option by many companies who want to avoid a vendor lock-in and ensure adequate data backup. AWS and Microsoft Azure is a standard multi-cloud combo used by various big players on the market, such as Facebook. The Cloud Adoption and Risk report by McAfee claims that 78% of organizations use AWS and Azure together, typically as an official multi-cloud strategy.
AWS, Azure, GCP service comparison
We now move on to the differences between AWS vs Azure vs GCP regarding their key usage statistics and offered services. Let’s start with a more detailed look at AWS consulting.
AWS: the most widely used cloud platform in the world
According to Amazon, over 200 fully featured AWS services are used by more than 1.45M businesses worldwide. This is no small part due to the comprehensive geographical coverage offered by Amazon, spanning 32 regions and over 550 points of presence that cover 245 countries and territories.
AWS has numerous use cases, including Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, etc. Its services are widely used by SMBs and large enterprises, with the adoption levels reaching 71% and 75% in 2023, respectively. AWS services can be found in various industries, such as healthcare, media, finance, manufacturing, real estate, education, and more. According to Intricately, the most prominent AWS customers based on generated revenue include:
- The Guardian: $29.84B
- Netflix: $29.7B
- Pfizer: $27.74B
- McDonald’s: $23.22B
- Nordstrom$14.79B
- Epic Games: $6.27B
- Airbnb: $5.99B
- Kellogg’s: $3.86B
- Twitter: $1.18B
- Twitch: $65.13M
Azure: putting the pressure on the competition
After its launch in 2010, Azure has always presented stiff competition for AWS as the go-to choice among enterprises. As of 2023, it offers over 200 services used by more than 550K businesses worldwide. Moreover, it offers a broad geographical coverage spanning over 60 regions.
As a technology and business services company, Microsoft understands all too well what enterprises need as its products, such as Office, Outlook, and Windows, have been used in offices worldwide for decades. Azure is at the apparent advantage when choosing among AWS vs Azure vs GCP for migrating from other Microsoft products, such as on-premise SharePoint, or integrating with existing Windows deployments. Regarding adoption rates, it reached the 75% mark among enterprises in 2023—the same as AWS. However, its adoption rates were significantly lower among SMBs, reaching 51%.
Azure also offers industry-specific solutions to help businesses innovate, make data-driven decisions, and increase efficiency in manufacturing, finance, healthcare, energy, retail, etc. Based on the annual contract size, the largest Azure users are:
- Verizon: $79.9M per year
- MSI Computer: $78M per year
- LG Electronics: $76.7M per year
- CenturyLink: $61.9M per year
- NTT America: $48.7M per year
- Wikimedia Foundation: $42.6M per year
- LinkedIn Corp: $41.2M per year
- News Corp: $40.5M per year
- Adobe: $39.9M per year
- Intel: $38.5M per year
GCP: rapid growth fueled by innovation
GCP was released in 2008, making it one of the more experienced options when comparing AWS vs Azure vs GCP. Initially, it targeted mid-size companies. However, after Thomas Kurian became the new CEO, GCP embarked on a new strategy with an ambitious goal to attract large corporations by offering them industry solutions. As of 2023, GCP offers approximately 100+ services used by over 2M businesses worldwide.
Comparing AWS vs Azure vs GCP in terms of popularity among enterprises puts Google Cloud Platform behind its competitors. Nevertheless, it has shown steady growth in recent years. This is confirmed by Flexera's State of the Cloud report, which showed that Google adoption rates among enterprises reached 46% in 2023. However, its adoption among SMBs has slowed in recent years, decreasing from 43% in 2022 to 28% in 2023. When it comes to GCP’s biggest clients based on company revenue, the top 10 include:
- Chevron Corporation: $215.974B
- Target: $106B
- Deloitte: $50B
- Verizon: $34.07B
- SAP: $33.2B
- Facebook (Meta): $28.8B
- PayPal: $17.77B
- Intel: $15.3B
- Mariott International: $13.86B
- Bloomberg: $10.5B
Which platform to choose: AWS vs Azure vs GCP comparison
In case you are still on the fence about which platform to choose, here are some specific advantages of each one.
Why choose AWS for cloud migration?
- Market leader: AWS is considered the pioneer in cloud computing and holds the largest market share. This leadership position often translates to a broad and mature service portfolio.
- Global reach: AWS has a vast global network of data centers spread across multiple geographic regions, allowing for low-latency access to services worldwide.
- Service variety: AWS offers a comprehensive set of services spanning computing, storage, databases, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, and more. This diversity can accommodate a wide range of use cases.
- Ecosystem: AWS has a rich ecosystem of third-party integrations, tools, and a vibrant community. This makes it easy to find solutions and support.
- Security and compliance: AWS provides robust security features and compliance certifications, making it suitable for industries with strict regulatory requirements, such as healthcare and finance.
- Cost management: AWS offers various cost optimization and management tools, including AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Trusted Advisor.
Why choose Azure for cloud migration?
- Hybrid cloud: Azure is known for its strong hybrid cloud capabilities. It seamlessly integrates with on-premises environments, making it suitable for organizations with a mix of cloud and on-premises infrastructure.
- Enterprise focus: Azure has a strong presence in the enterprise market and is well-integrated with Microsoft's suite of products, including Windows Server, Active Directory, and Office 365.
- AI and Machine Learning: Azure offers robust AI and Machine Learning services, making it an excellent choice for organizations looking to harness the power of AI in their applications.
- Windows workloads: Azure is often the preferred choice for organizations that rely heavily on Windows-based workloads and applications.
- Developer tools: Azure migration provides a rich set of developer tools and services, including Azure DevOps and Visual Studio integration, making it developer-friendly.
- Global data centers: Azure has a growing number of data centers worldwide, enabling organizations to deploy resources close to their target audience.
Why choose GCP for cloud migration?
- Data Analytics and Machine Learning: GCP excels in data analytics and Machine Learning with services like BigQuery, TensorFlow, and Dataflow. It's a preferred choice for data-driven organizations.
- Open source embrace: Google is strongly committed to open-source technologies, reflected in GCP's support for popular open-source tools and libraries.
- Networking and edge computing: GCP boasts a high-performance global network and strongly focuses on edge computing, making it suitable for applications that require low latency and high bandwidth.
- Big Data: GCP offers various Big Data services, such as Bigtable, Dataflow, and Dataprep, making it a popular choice for organizations dealing with large datasets.
- Sustainability: Google has made significant commitments to sustainability and renewable energy, making GCP an environmentally responsible choice.
- Kubernetes and containers: GCP was an early adopter of Kubernetes, offering robust container management solutions like Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).
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N-iX is a global software engineering company with a strong portfolio of cloud projects across various industries, including telecom, fintech, healthcare, retail, and more. N-iX has built successful partnerships with Lebara, Gogo, Saks Fifth Avenue, Fluke, and other leading companies and helped them leverage the benefits of AWS, Azure, and GCP. With over 400 cloud experts on board, we are fully equipped to help you develop cloud-native apps or move your existing applications to the cloud. From cloud readiness assessment and strategy development to infrastructure setup, architecture redesign, migration, and maintenance, our specialists will support you at any stage of your cloud journey.
- N-iX is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, a Microsoft Solutions Partner, and a Google Cloud Partner, offering unprecedented expertise in all three cloud platforms;
- N-iX is compliant with PCI DSS, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, GDPR, and other data protection standards;
- Our expertise in cloud computing includes cloud-native development, on-premise-to-cloud migration, cloud-to-cloud migration, as well as multi-cloud and hybrid cloud management;
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