Organizations these days are increasingly using cloud based services and resources. Hence, an expertise in related technologies can really help you in your career, whether you are switching to a new career or want to enhance your skills in your current field.
Overview
Both AWS and Azure provide similar facilities in terms of storage, computing, networking and pricing.
In terms of Learning or Gaining Expertise
AWS is easier to learn than Azure. AWS supports plenty of programming languages. While Azure supported only C++ and C# till 2019. Although the SDKs for Java, python and Javascript have been included, developers claim C languages still have better support. AWS also provides three times more materials to learn than Azure. AWS also has a free version you can use forever to polish cloud skills. AWS cloud platform is more widely used.
Certifications and specialisations offered by AWS include-
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner,
AWS Certified Solutions Architect-Associate
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator-Associate
AWS Certified Developer-Associate
AWS Certified Solutions Architect-Professional
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer- Professional
AWS Certified Advanced Networking- Speciality
AWS Certified Data Analytics – Speciality
AWS Certified Database – Speciality
AWS Certified Machine Learning- Speciality
AWS Certified Security – Speciality
Around 16 Certifications and specialisations are offered by Azure which are divuided into levels of Expertise-
Fundamentals-Level Azure Certification–
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals
• Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals
Associate-Level Certifications
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Stack Hub Operator Associate
Expert-Level Certifications
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
Specialty Certifications
• Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty
• Microsoft Certified: Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty
In terms of Popularity
In terms of popularity, Azure holds about one third of the market share. But over 40% of applications and services use AWS instead of any other cloud service, which is more than the market share of the next 3 big competitors combined. Both small scale as well as large scale companies use AWS.
In terms of Job Opportunities
Although AWS is more popular, Azure cannot be neglected as well. There are definitely more job opportunities for expertise in AWS. But if the job you want has Azure as a requirement, you may prefer to learn Azure. But choosing which technology to learn also depends on your experience, as well as familiarity with the Cloud technology.
From the point of view of businesses, both AWS and Azure are promising. But an organization requiring a Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) provider or Windows integration, should choose Azure. While an organization requiring infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS ) or diverse set of tools should prefer AWS.
Comparison of AWS and Azure-
Compute
Computing services are one of the main reasons why cloud based services are used. Both AWS and Azure are used to provide computing services.
| AWS | Azure |
| AWS uses its EC2 instances for Computing. | Azure uses VMs with other tools such as Cloud Services and resource Manager for providing computing services |
Storage
Apart from computing facilities, one of the main features of Cloud based services is the storage facility. Both AWS and Azure are good in terms of providing storage.
| AWS | Azure |
| The Storage Mechanism of AWS is called Simple Storage Services(S3). | Whereas Azure’s storage mechanism is called Blob storage. |
| AWS storage facilities are longest running. | Amazon storage facilities came later. |
| AWS provides high availability and automatic replication across regions. | Azure uses temporary storage and page blobs for VM based volumes. |
Pricing
Reduced costs are also an important advantage of Cloud based services. Both AWS and Azure provide free usage of their services upto some limits.
While AWS charges you for the services used on an hourly basis, Azure charges for services by per minute usage. Also, AWS pricing is more flexible than that of Azure.
| AWS | Azure |
| AWS charges for the services used on an hourly basis | Azure charges for services by per minute usage. |
| AWS pricing is more flexible | Azure pricing is less flexible. |
Databases
Both AWS as well as Azure provide both NoSQL and relational databases.
| AWS | Azure |
| AWS’ RDS supports six database engines | Azure’s database is only based on MS SQL Server. |
| AWS has more instance types which give more control over database instances. | Azure has less control over database instances. |
Content Delivery and Networking
| AWS | Azure |
| AWS uses VPC or Virtual Private Cloud to create isolated networks within the cloud. | Azure offers Virtual Network (VNET) for users to create isolated networks. |
Machine Learning
| AWS | Azure |
| AWS uses SageMaker for complete Machine learning model development. | Azure uses its machine learning studio for machine learning model development. |
| Amazon SageMaker requires coding for model building. | Azure offers an easy to use drag and drop UI for model building and does not require coding. |
| It uses data engineering and other open-source libraries. | It does not use complex data engineering or libraries. |
Salary
| AWS | Azure |
| According to a survey of jobs in the US by Burning Glass, the median salary of people with AWS skills was $104,088. | While the median salary of people with Azure skills was nearly at similar level at $100,868. |
Difficulty Level
| AWS | Azure |
| Most experts claim AWS is easier to learn | Azure is slightly behind in ease of learning. |
| The content of documentation provided by AWS is easier to learn | But many users who are more comfortable with Microsoft technologies find it easier to learn Azure. |
Conclusion
AWS and Azure are both very popular and gaining expertise in them is a very in demand skill. While AWS is definitely more popular, Azure provides better support to clients for swiftly upscaling and downscaling QA/test environments by offering economic benefits.
Most companies making use of cloud services use both AWS and Azure for different services. Both AWS and Azure are continuously improving and launching new and new products and integrations with revised prices. So both offer a bright future ahead.
Angela Spearman is a journalist at EzineMark who enjoys writing about the latest trending technology and business news.