Amazon Web Services (AWS) still has the lead in the cloud war, there’s no doubt about that. But Microsoft Azure is making progress by leaps and bounds as it grows two times faster than any of its competitors.
The lead for AWS is obvious, as they have a four years’ head start on Microsoft. Amazon first released their Cloud services in 2006, and Microsoft didn’t join the game until 2010 when they first released Windows Azure, which is what we know today as Microsoft Azure.
According to Synergy Research Group, AWS is outrunning Azure, controlling 34 percent of the market while Microsoft only has 12 percent. But looking at recent numbers, Microsoft is not holding back. Azure revenue grew by 90 percent in the third quarter, while AWS revenue grew by 42 percent.
What’s Going On?
Even though Microsoft came late to the cloud party, it has a reputation of developing excellent enterprise software. This strong reputation has helped Azure gain some credibility points. It’s easy for organizations to trust Azure services since they are already familiar with Microsoft software.
John Ray, Lead Consultant at Shadow-Soft, believes developers favor Azure over AWS for how simple it is to build and run applications in the cloud.
“Azure’s commitment to meeting industry standard compliance guidelines removes much of the worry of moving to the cloud. Azure frees up organizations to focus on innovation and growth.”
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