Cloud computing has become an essential part of modern-day recruitment and staffing businesses. It provides a scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solution for storing, managing, and processing data. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure are two of the most popular cloud service providers in the market. In this article, we will compare the two and highlight their strengths.
AWS vs Azure: A Brief Comparison
AWS and Azure are both innovative tech giants that provide highly cost-competitive alternatives to conventional on-premises hosting infrastructures. According to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant report, AWS is ranked highest in terms of both vision and ability to execute. However, Azure is not far behind and has been gaining ground in recent years.
Availability Zones
AWS and Azure both offer availability zones to help protect applications against data center-wide failures. However, there are some differences between the two platforms. AWS uses Availability Zones (AZs) as the basis for its cloud, with each region made up of at least two AZs.
In contrast, Azure divides a region into two or more availability zones, with each zone corresponding to a physically isolated data center in the geographic region. Azure has numerous features for providing application redundancy at every level of potential failure, including availability sets, availability zones, and paired regions. Azure has 140 availability zones in 140 worldwide countries, while AWS has 66 availability zones.
Computing Capabilities
Azure also offers a wide range of services for AI, machine learning, and big data processing.
Azure Machine Learning is suitable for all types of machine learning and allows developers to create and manage models faster, and more confidently. It speeds up results via its open-source compatibility, making it a go-to for responsible AI in machine learning.
Regular data analysis software can’t handle the new levels of complexity and scale demanded in the market – this is where specialised big data tools such as Azure enter.
“Be future-ready. Take advantage of continuous innovation from Microsoft that supports your development today and your product visions for tomorrow.” – Microsoft talking about Azure.
Pricing
Both AWS and Azure offer a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which means you only pay for what you use. Azure can help you achieve your goals up to 5 times quicker and spend up to 93 percent less compared to AWS (Source: Principled Technologies Inc., 2022).
At the time of writing, Azure offers more discounts and flexible pricing options for long-term commitments, such as using your existing Windows licenses to save on cloud services.
Security
When it comes to the security of your data, both AWS and Azure are secure cloud platforms that offer encrypted data, threat protection and secure data centres. Both frameworks comply with industry standards and regulations, including GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001.
AWS’ encryption is said to be more comprehensive, while Azure has a more affordable storage solution and is more intuitive to use than AWS.
Businesses need to assess the balance in their requirements, budget and IT strategy to choose the best platform for their security.
Integration with Microsoft Products
If your business already uses Microsoft products like Microsoft365 (Office) or Power BI, Azure provides seamless integration with these products. This makes it easier to manage your IT infrastructure and reduces the learning curve for your employees.
AI Capabilities
After decades of research, AWS and Azure both offer AI capabilities that enable developers to build intelligent applications while also protecting data privacy and transparency.
While the technical capabilities are largely similar, we recommend two considerations: Connectivity and Complexity.
Azure offers a range of AI services, including Azure Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning, and Azure Bot Service which are all connected to the M365 and Microsoft Power Platform, meaning you reduce data silos and have one platform of data (one source of truth). This connectivity means that AI is more embedded in the other services, for example, Microsoft Copilot in Excel, Word etc. This reduces complexity for you because it means you can leverage these connected tools rather than needing to develop your own.
If you want secure and scalable information storage for your recruitment or staffing firm, Mercury uses Microsoft Azure to give you a fast and more cost-effective solution while improving your organisation’s efficiency.
For more information contact us.
Written by Emily Jerman and Daniel Fox.