AWS and Azure dominate Cloud services and it’s easy to default to them when you’re choosing a cloud service provider, but there are alternatives that may provide a better solution for your business or match your requirements more exactly.

AWS and Azure – Pros and Cons

AWS and Azure have lots of competing products and they are always pushing to offer the latest ‘must have’ products but in our humble opinion Azure and AWS are pretty much the same. They compete so closely that they more or less have to have very similar offerings.

One of the main difficulties of using AWS or Azure for most businesses is that you really need to know what you are doing in order to build your own cloud solutions from their range of services and options. Many businesses need to employ a 3^rd party IT partner who has more AWS or Azure experience and knowhow.

AWS and Azure make a form of ‘click and buy’ system so in theory building a DIY Cloud is easy but you should always be sure that you have everything you need in your basket to keep your systems safe. They will not take responsibility for you missing a key item, if you miss something it’s your issue.

Just a word of caution on costs, AWS and Azure can quickly get expensive when building out full solutions. We talk to a lot of clients who are surprised by these costs. Independent Cloud providers are more likely to look at detailed running costs for the client.

Independent Providers Pros and Cons

Collaborating with an independent provider will result in solution tailored to your business needs. They will ask questions, offer advice and deliver a bespoke solution generally building a wraparound solution specifically for you.

You are in direct contact with the solutions delivery experts and they will inevitably be more interested in your business and offer a more personal approach with more consistent support. This service and support are likely to be better as independent providers control their own platform and infrastructure. Of course it also true that the large operators command huge platforms and operate some truly colossal systems that independents would struggle to match.

You should look for ISO certifications when choosing an independent – it’s a quality indicator and don’t be afraid to ask for references and maybe ask how the provider deals with disaster recovery. And don’t believe them if they say they never have to deal with disaster recovery.

So the essential choice is; go DIY and take on some of the risk and deal with a large organisation that may not know your business and respond as quickly as you would like; or deal with an independent supplier and build a close working relationship with them to create a more bespoke solution for your business’s requirements.