What's in the Cloud? Offerings from Amazon and Microsoft

.azurewebsites.net.  If you want a fully custom web domain you will need to upgrade to a paid tier starting at $55.80 per month; a significantly higher cost than Amazon's offering. The setup time for Azure takes just a few minutes but the configuration has quite a few choices that you will need to navigate.  If this is your first setup it will take you some time to digest what is being offered and which is the best selection for you.  After you've gotten familiar with the system you should be able to fly through the configuration fairly quickly. ## The Intangibles The two offerings, once you get beyond the free tier where Amazon has a somewhat larger catalog, are very comparable in features and pricing.  What differentiates the two are more UX and Theology than anything else. Amazon's interface feels rather Spartan.  It provides you a clean, text focused experience.  You can do pretty much anything you want.  There are not a lot of hard boundaries.  Amazon seems to be a giant warehouse where you can make any selection or combination of selections you want and be on your way.  What else would you expect from the largest online retailer? Microsoft however wants you to understand they know what they are doing, and what is best for you.  You will feel that you are being strongly advised as to which path to take in the Azure interface.  This is great if you want to feel confident and mentored in your choices.  If you enjoy more freedom this will make you feel stifled and claustrophobic. ## The Conclusion Microsoft is Microsoft and Amazon is Amazon.  Depending on your technology upbringing and loyalty you will prefer one over the other.  I can't say one has a better or more competitive offering.  They both get the job done from small to large.  Your choice is going to come down to which mode of operation and style you prefer. I will say Amazon does make it easier for you to get your feet wet and start tinkering with their platform if you are breaking into Cloud Services implementations.  These same pathways exist with Microsoft but you are going to have to jump through a lot more hoops (in triplicate) to access them.  If Azure is your platform of choice though you are going to find those well worth it. So go forth and experiment.  You're not going to be able to make a fully informed decision until you are elbows deep in the platforms. ### Question Which do you prefer, AWS or Azure?  What sold you?  Please comment below. Join my email list via the form below to stay up to date on the latest cloud computing news, tools and events. ]]>