Windows Azure and AWS

The two entities that dominate the enterprise Cloud Computing landscape are undoubtedly Microsoft Windows Azure and Amazon Web Services. Though Google App Engine is maturing rapidly, I am not planning to cover it in this series. I may compare Windows Azure and Google App Engine in a separate article.
With the latest announcements from PDC, Microsoft is inching closer to Amazon Web Services to match the offerings. Windows Azure is also blurring the line between PaaS and IaaS by offering VM Role that enables businesses to bring their legacy applications to the Cloud. Microsoft is leveraging the leadership in the platform and tools by seamlessly integrating the Cloud with .NET and Visual Studio.

Amazon is a very credible player in the Cloud Computing space and enjoys the leadership position in the IaaS offerings. Their fast paced innovations ensure that they have a lead and help them differentiate from the competition. They have a very healthy ecosystem of partners and developers who build rich and complementary tools on AWS.
This series of articles attempts at comparing the Windows Azure Platform and Amazon Web Services. The objectives of this series are the following –

• Provide objective comparison between the two
• Enable enterprises and ISVs to take an informed decision
• Avoid marketing speak and buzz words
• Be neutral and unbiased in the approach

The following table provides a quick comparison of both the platforms.

 Looking at the above, it is evident that these two stacks will go head-on to secure the mind share and market share. While Microsoft is moving some of the middleware components from BizTalk Server to Azure, Amazon is leveraging it’s payment mechanism and components for AWS. Windows Azure will be the most comprehensive PaaS offering once all the above components are delivered.

From http://www.janakiramm.net/