A Fascinating Behind-the-Scenes Look at AWS, GCP and Azure Comparison

by Douglas Bernardini

With every year that passes, it becomes ever more apparent that migrating to the cloud is the only way for companies to truly compete and remain relevant in the long-term. Instead of wondering if your business should utilize cloud solutions, the question now facing business leaders is: which is the best cloud service provider for their needs?

When assessing cloud providers, CIOs and business owners alike are met with an overwhelming number of providers, features, products, services, hybrid solutions, and training options to consider. Similarly, IT professionals are looking at which products they should build their skillsets on to gain that competitive advantage in the job market, and rightly so.

According to Gartner’s estimations, the value of the worldwide public cloud service market will balloon to $494.7bn by the end of 2022; that’s a compound annual growth rate of 20.4%.

Choosing a cloud service provider

Any professional worth their salt will tell you that when it comes to identifying the kind of cloud services your business needs to operate at maximum efficiency, you can’t expect a one-size-fits-all solution.

Every organization has its own technological fingerprint; its own distinct set of requirements, goals, and operational nuances that need to be taken into consideration.

With that in mind, it’s worth remembering that the perfect fit for your business could be a hybrid approach; combining different products and services from a mix of leading vendors.

Let’s take a closer look at the top three top names in the industry: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

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AWS: Pros and cons

AWS jumped into the game early as the very first major cloud vendor in the space around 16 years ago, claiming an impressive 33% of market share and generating $18.44bn in net sales in Q1 of 2022 alone.

The biggest strength AWS possesses is undoubtedly its maturity and dominance in the public cloud market, with its success and popularity linked to the sheer scale of its operation.

AWS boasts a huge, ever-growing range of products and services, and arguably the most comprehensive network of data centers the market currently has to offer. Today, it stands tall as the most established vendor, offering perhaps the richest capabilities when it comes to overseeing a massive number of resources and users.

Gartner’s report on cloud IaaS and PaaS vendors shows that AWS remains a clear leader in the market, dominating the cloud landscape and obviously benefiting from its early entrance into the cloud technology sphere.

Microsoft Azure continues to gain ground as the preferred service of existing Microsoft customers, with Google’s offering entering the cloud battleground relatively recently as a ‘leader’.

While other formidable competitors such as Alibaba Cloud and Oracle Cloud have also increased in popularity, AWS remains a strong front runner in the cloud computing industry, with competitors Azure and Google Cloud carving out their own modest share of the market.

Microsoft Azure: Pros and cons

Microsoft showed up on the cloud scene a little later than AWS, but certainly made up for it by adapting its existing on-premises offerings (e.g. Windows Server, Office, SQL Server, SharePoint, Dynamics, etc.) for the cloud.

Over a decade since its initial launch, Azure is a strong competitor to AWS, providing businesses with a great range of features, robust open-source support, and straightforward integration with other Microsoft tools. This makes it particularly well suited for Microsoft-centric organizations.

As a Microsoft product, Azure no doubt benefits from user familiarity with the brand, which creates an immediate preference for Azure among loyal Microsoft customers. While Azure has an investment focus on making architectural improvements and providing a broad range of enterprise-focused services, in its aforementioned Magic Quadrant report, Gartner noted that “Azure’s novel innovations in the market for IaaS and PaaS relative to its competitors over the past year were substantially less appealing.

Additionally, despite Microsoft Azure’s beginnings as an application PaaS provider, Azure’s product execution and adoption in this segment have been rather mixed.”

Users raised concerns surrounding the resiliency of critical services and the real-world impacts of these services being unavailable. Elsewhere, users also cited issues with commercial complexity and technical support as some primary pain-points when using the provider.

Google Cloud: Pros and cons

As a latecomer to the cloud market, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) naturally offers a more limited range of services and doesn’t command the same global spread of data centers offered by AWS and Azure. It does, however, give customers a highly specialized service in three main streams: big data, machine learning, and analytics, with good scale and stable load balancing, as well as those famously low response times.

Google’s container offering provides users with a significant advantage as it developed the very Kubernetes standard now utilized by competitors AWS and Azure.Customers tend to choose GCP as a secondary vendor in a hybrid solution, though it is becoming increasingly popular with organizations that are direct competitors with Amazon, and therefore cannot use AWS.

It’s important to note that GCP is very open-source- and DevOps-centric, and as a result does not integrate as well with Microsoft Azure.

AWS vs Azure vs Google: Pricing

When it comes to choosing a cloud vendor, pricing structures are notoriously complex and somewhat difficult to digest. This is primarily because there is no single way that providers bill customers; for example, AWS and GCP charge by the second, while Azure bills customers by the minute.

At a glance, this might not seem like much of a difference, however, that quickly changes when calculating the costs of deploying hundreds or thousands of virtual machines.The fact that many vendors also offer discounts makes matters slightly more complicated—a point to bear in mind when looking at the side-by-side comparison AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Security

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Security

AWS is hailed for its top-quality security, utilizing the services of cybersecurity giant Fortinet for its Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) across the majority of availability zones on an on-demand basis.

Azure also works with Fortinet to provide optimized security services across its data and applications, minimizing security costs when it comes to migration, while GCP uses FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall for advanced security and firewalling.

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: The results

In the battle for cloud supremacy, who comes out of our cloud provider comparison on top?

  • Most established: as the very first major cloud vendor, AWS is undoubtedly the most established cloud provider on the market
  • Best availability: with the greatest number of regions and availability zones worldwide, AWS comes out on top for the best availability
  • Biggest market share: boasting 33% of the market share, AWS remains the most popular cloud provider
  • Fastest growth rate: GCP currently has the fastest growth rate of almost 100%
  • Number of services: when it comes to the sheer number of services and tools available, AWS comes out on top once more
  • Familiarity: as a Microsoft product providing straightforward integration with other Microsoft tools, Azure wins the race when it comes to customer familiarity
  • Most cost-effective price: with the most customer-friendly pricing and discount models, GCP leads the way for the most cost-effective pricing

So, which cloud provider is right for me?

With Amazon winning our battle for cloud supremacy, is AWS the best cloud provider for your needs?

Answer: NO! The right answer is MULTICLOUD

The truth is that every cloud migration project is as unique as your own fingerprint and depends on your company’s specific needs, goals, industry, and resources.

A 2022 report has in fact shown that 89% of organizations reported having a multi-cloud strategy; 80% opted for a hybrid solution (combining public and private clouds).

When looking for the right cloud vendor for your enterprise, be sure to consider your particular requirements and workload, and remember that the answer could indeed lie in a combination of two or three cloud providers

SERVICES COMPARISON

AI and machine learning

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
AI containersAWS Deep Learning ContainersGPU support on AKSDeep Learning Containers
AI prediction human review and moderationAmazon Augmented AI (Amazon A2I)Azure Content ModeratorN/A
AI machine imagesAWS Deep Learning AMIsData Science Virtual MachinesDeep Learning VM Image
Chat bot builderAmazon LexAzure Bot Service, Health Bot, QnA MakerDialogflow
Data labelingAmazon SageMaker Ground TruthAzure Machine Learning data labelingVertex Data Labeling
Document extraction, image content analysisAmazon TextractAzure Form Recognizer, Ink Recognizer, Computer Vision, Custom VisionVision API
Image and video recognition, indexingAmazon RekognitionAzure Face, Video IndexerVideo AI
Inference acceleratorAmazon Elastic InferenceGPUs on AKSCloud TPU, Edge TPU
Language recognition, sentiment analysisAmazon ComprehendAzure Immersive Reader, Language Understanding, Text AnalyticsCloud Natural Language AI, Healthcare Natural Language AI
Language translationAmazon TranslateSpeech Translation, TranslatorCloud Translation, Media Translation (beta)
Machine learning hardwareAWS Inferentia, AWS Trainium (preview*)FPGACloud TPU
Managed machine learning platformAmazon SageMakerAzure Machine LearningTensorFlow Enterprise, Vertex AI
NotebooksAmazon EMR NotebooksIntegrations through Visual Studio, Azure and GitHubNotebooks
Online fraud detectionAmazon Fraud DetectorN/AreCAPTCHA Enterprise
Prediction review and moderationAmazon Augmented AI, Amazon SageMaker ClarifyAzure Content ModeratorN/A
Recommendation integrationAmazon PersonalizePersonalizerRecommendations AI
Speech recognitionAmazon TranscribeSpeaker Recognition (preview), Speech to TextCloud Speech-to-Text API
Text-to-speechAmazon PollyText to SpeechCloud Text-to-Speech API
Time-series forecastingAmazon ForecastN/AN/A
Vision/speech modeling packaged devicesAWS DeepLensAzure Kinect DKN/A

Analytics

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Big data processingAmazon EMRAzure Databricks, Azure HDInsightDataproc
Business analyticsAmazon QuickSight, Amazon FinSpacePower BI Embedded, Microsoft Graph Data Connect (preview)Looker, Google Data Studio
Data lake creationAmazon HealthLake (preview), AWS Lake FormationAzure Data Lake StorageCloud Storage
Data sharingAWS Data Exchange, AWS Lake FormationAzure Data ShareAnalytics Hub (preview), Cloud Dataprep (partnership with Trifacta)
Data warehousingAmazon RedshiftAzure Synapse AnalyticsBigQuery
ETLAWS Glue, Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose, Amazon SageMaker Data WranglerAzure Data FactoryCloud Data Fusion, Dataflow, Dataproc
Hosted Hadoop/SparkAmazon EMRAzure HDInsightDataproc
Managed searchAmazon CloudSearch, Amazon Elasticsearch Service, Amazon KendraAzure Cognitive Search, Bing Search APICloud Search
Managed KafkaAmazon Managed Streaming for Apache KafkaAzure Event Hubs for Apache KafkaN/A (available through a partnership with Confluent)
Real-time data streamingAmazon Kinesis Data Analytics, Amazon Kinesis Data StreamsAzure Stream AnalyticsDataflow, Pub/Sub, Datastream (preview)
Query service, data explorationAmazon Athena, Amazon Elasticsearch Service, Amazon Managed Service for Grafana (preview)SQL Server ML Services, Big Data Clusters (Spark), Data Lake Analytics, SQL Server Analysis Services, Azure Data ExplorerBigQuery

Application integration

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
API development and managementAmazon API Gateway, AWS AppSyncAzure API AppsAPI Gateway, Apigee, Cloud Endpoints
Distributed app coordinationAmazon Simple Workflow Service, AWS Step FunctionsLogic AppsCloud Tasks
Event routing, third-party integrationAmazon AppFlow, Amazon EventBridge, Amazon Simple Notification ServiceEvent GridPub/Sub
MessagingAmazon MQ, Amazon Simple Queue ServiceAzure Web PubSub (preview),  Queue Storage, Service BusPub/Sub
Service discoveryAWS Cloud MapN/AN/A
Service meshAWS App MeshOpen Service Mesh AKS add-on (preview)Anthos Service Mesh
Workflow orchestrationAWS Data Pipeline, Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache AirflowLogic AppsCloud Composer, Workflows

Business applications**

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Collaboration tool suiteN/AMicrosoft 365Google Workspace
Document sharing and storageAmazon WorkDocsMicrosoft WordGoogle Docs, Google Workspace Essentials
Email and calendarAmazon WorkMailOutlookGmail
Low-code/no-codeAmazon Honeycode (preview)Microsoft PowerApps, Project Bonsai (preview)AppSheet
Video calls and chatAmazon ChimeMicrosoft TeamsGoogle Meet
Voice assistantAlexa for BusinessCortanaGoogle Assistant

Compute

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
AutoscalingAWS EC2 Auto ScalingAzure Autoscale, Azure virtual machine scale setsManaged instance groups (MIGs)
Batch scheduling, executing and processingAWS BatchAzure BatchBatch on GKE (preview), Cloud Scheduler
Functions as a serviceAWS LambdaAzure FunctionsCloud Functions
5G-based infrastructureAWS WavelengthAzure Edge ZonesGlobal Mobile Edge Cloud (GMEC)
High performance computing cluster managementAWS ParallelClusterAzure CycleCloud, Azure FXT Edge FilerN/A
VM image builderEC2 Image BuilderAzure VM Image BuilderN/A
Isolated serversDedicated InstancesAzure Dedicated HostSole-tenant Nodes, Shielded VMs
PaaSAWS Elastic Beanstalk, Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWSApp Service, Azure Cloud Services, Azure Spring Cloud, Azure Red Hat OpenShiftApp Engine
On-premises/edge devicesAWS Outposts, AWS Snow FamilyAzure Modular Datacenter, Azure Stack Hub, Azure Stack HCI, Azure Stack EdgeN/A
Quantum computingAmazon BraketAzure Quantum (preview)N/A
Virtual machinesAmazon EC2Virtual MachinesCompute Engine
Virtual private serverAmazon LightsailN/AN/A
VMware integrationVMware Cloud on AWSAzure VMware SolutionVMware Engine

Containers

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Container registryAmazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR), ECR PublicAzure Container RegistryArtifact Registry, Container Registry
Managed container serviceAWS Copilot, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Serverless containersAWS App Runner, AWS FargateAzure Container Instances (ACI)Cloud Run

Cost controls

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Long-term commitment discount programsEC2 Reserved Instances, Savings PlansReservations, Azure Hybrid BenefitCommitted use discounts, sustained use discounts
Low-cost, interruptible VMsEC2 SpotAzure Spot Virtual MachinesPreemptible Virtual Machines
Optimization toolsAmazon CodeGuru, Amazon DevOps Guru, AWS Compute Optimizer, AWS Trusted Advisor, AWS Well-Architected ToolAzure Advisor, Azure Well-Architected ReviewRecommender, Network Intelligence Center, Cloud Profiler
Spending tracker and analysisAWS Budgets, AWS Cost Anomaly Detection, AWS Cost Explorer, AWS Cost and Usage Report, Reserved Instance ReportingAzure Cost Management and BillingCost Management

Databases

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
BlockchainAmazon Managed Blockchain, Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB)Azure Blockchain Service (preview), Azure Blockchain Development Kit, Azure Blockchain Workbench (preview), Microsoft Azure Confidential Ledger (preview)N/A
CachingAmazon ElastiCache (Memcached, Redis)Azure Cache for Redis, Azure HPC CacheCloud Memorystore
NoSQL: Column-familyAmazon Keyspaces (for Apache Cassandra)Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra (preview)Cloud Bigtable
NoSQL: DocumentAmazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility), Amazon DynamoDBAzure Cosmos DBCloud Firestore, Firebase Realtime Database
NoSQL: GraphAmazon NeptuneAzure Cosmos DB Gremlin APIN/A
NoSQL: Key-valueAmazon DynamoDB, Amazon KeyspacesAzure Cosmos DB, Table storageCloud Bigtable, Firestore
Relational database management systemAmazon Aurora, Amazon RDS (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB), Amazon RDS on VMwareAzure Database (MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL), Azure SQL (Database, Edge, Managed Instance)Cloud SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server), Cloud Spanner
Time-series databaseAmazon TimestreamAzure Time Series InsightsCloud Bigtable

Developer tools

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
App configuration parameter storageAWS AppConfigApp ConfigurationCloud Storage
Artifact managementAWS CodeArtifactAzure Artifacts, GitHub PackagesArtifact Registry (preview)
Code debuggingAWS X-RayVisual Studio CodeCloud Debugger, Firebase Crashlytics
CI/CDAWS CodeBuild, AWS CodeDeploy, AWS CodePipeline, AWS CodeStarAzure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure PipelinesCloud Build, Tekton
Development kitsAWS Cloud Development Kit, Amazon CorrettoAzure SDKsCloud SDK
IDEs and other tools for interacting with cloud resourcesAWS Cloud9, AWS CLI, AWS CloudShell, Amazon EMR StudioAzure CLI, Azure PowerShell, Azure Cloud Shell, Visual Studio, Visual Studio CodeCloud Code, Tools for Eclipse, Tools for PowerShell
Lab environmentN/AAzure Lab Services, Azure DevTest LabsN/A
Mobile and Web app developmentAWS AmplifyApp Service, Mobile Apps, Xamarin with Azure, Web Apps, Static Web AppsGoogle Firebase
Private repositoryAWS CodeCommit, AWS Serverless Application RepositoryAzure ReposCloud Source Repositories
TestingAWS Device Farm, AWS Fault Injection SimulatorVisual Studio App Center, Azure Test Plans, Azure Internet Analyzer (preview)Google Firebase Test Lab

IoT

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Cloud-device connections, data collection and managementAWS IoT Analytics, AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT Device Defender, AWS IoT Device Management, AWS IoT Events, AWS IoT SiteWiseAzure IoT Central, Azure IoT Hub, Azure Defender for IoT, Azure SphereCloud IoT Core
IoT edge computeAWS GreengrassAzure IoT Edge, Azure Percept (preview)Edge TPU
Microcontroller OSFreeRTOSAzure RTOSN/A
Virtual modelingAWS IoT Things GraphAzure Digital TwinsN/A

Management and governance

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
AutomationAWS CloudFormationAWS Proton, AWS OpsWorksAzure Resource Manager, Azure AutomationCloud Deployment Manager, Cloud Foundation Toolkit, Cloud Scheduler
Anomaly detectionCloudWatch Anomaly DetectionAnomaly DetectorAnomaly Detection
Application portfolio and data governanceAWS Service CatalogAzure Managed Applications, Azure Blueprints (preview), Azure Purview (preview)Dataplex, Private Catalog, Service Directory
Automated Windows Server managementN/AAzure Automanage (preview)N/A
Configuration managementAWS ConfigAzure App ConfigurationCloud Asset Inventory
Health dashboardPersonal Health DashboardResource Health, Azure Service HealthCloud Monitoring
Hybrid and multi-cloud managementAmazon EKS Anywhere (preview), Amazon ECS AnywhereAzure ArcGoogle Anthos, Network Connectivity Center (preview)
License managementAWS License ManagerN/AN/A
MonitoringAmazon CloudWatch, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, AWS Transit Gateway Network Manager, Amazon Lookout for Metrics, Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus (preview)Azure Monitor, Network Watcher, Log Analytics, Azure Metrics Advisor (preview)Operations, Cloud Operations for GKE (formerly Stackdriver), Network Intelligence Center
Multi-account managementAWS Control Tower, AWS OrganizationsAzure Management Groups, Azure LighthouseN/A
Policy managementAWS OrganizationsAzure PolicyOrganization Policy Service
Telemetry collection and responseAWS Systems Manager, AWS Distro for Open Telemetry (preview)Azure MonitorNetwork Telemetry
Web-based user interfaceAWS Management ConsoleAzure PortalCloud Console

Migration

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Database migrationAWS Database Migration ServiceAzure Database Migration ServiceDatabase Migration Service (preview)
Data transfer applianceSnow FamilyData BoxTransfer Appliance
Disaster recoveryCloudEndure Disaster RecoveryAzure Site RecoveryN/A
Online data transferAWS DataSync, AWS Transfer FamilyAzure File SyncBigQuery Data Transfer Service, Cloud Data Transfer
On-premises application analysisAWS Application Discovery Service, Migration EvaluatorAzure Migrate, Movere, Azure Resource MoverN/A
On-premises and cloud storage integrationStorage GatewayStorSimpleN/A (offered by partner Cloudian)
Migration trackerAWS Migration HubAzure MigrateN/A
Server migrationAWS App2Container, AWS Server Migration Service, CloudEndure MigrationAzure MigrateMigrate for Anthos, Migrate for Compute Engine, VM migration

Miscellaneous

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Customer engagementAmazon Connect, Contact Lens for Amazon ConnectAzure Communication Services, Azure SignalR ServiceContact Center AI
End user communicationsAmazon Pinpoint, Amazon Simple Email ServiceAzure Notification HubsFirebase Cloud Messaging
GamingAmazon GameLift, Amazon LumberyardGame StackGame Servers
Geolocation APIs and servicesAmazon Maps API, Amazon Location ServiceAzure MapsGoogle Maps Platform
GenomicsN/AMicrosoft GenomicsCloud Life Sciences (preview)
Fast Healthcare Interoperability ResourcesFHIR Works on AWSAzure API for FHIRApigee HealthAPIx, Cloud Healthcare API
Industrial and other workplace monitoring toolsAmazon Lookout for Vision, Amazon Lookout for Equipment, Amazon Panorama (preview), Amazon MonitronAzure IoTVision AI, Visual Inspection AI
Media servicesAmazon Elastic Transcoder, AWS Elemental suite, Amazon Interactive Video Service, Amazon Kinesis Video StreamsAzure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Azure Video Analyzer (preview), Media ServicesOpenCue, Transcoder API (preview)
Mobile access to internal web appsAmazon WorkLinkN/AIdentity-Aware Proxy
Robotics application developmentAWS RoboMakerN/ACloud Robotics Core
Satellite ground stationsAWS Ground StationAzure Orbital (preview)N/A
Virtual desktopAmazon WorkSpaces, Amazon AppStream 2.0Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, VMware Horizon Cloud on Microsoft AzureN/A
Virtual reality, mixed reality app developmentAmazon SumerianAzure Digital Twins, Kinect DK, Object Anchors (preview), Remote Rendering (preview), Spatial AnchorsGoogle VR

Networking

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Build, deploy and manage APIsAmazon API GatewayAzure API Apps, API ManagementApigee API Management Platform
Content delivery networkAmazon CloudFrontContent Delivery Network (CDN)Cloud CDN
Dedicated fiber connection between VPCs and private networkAWS Direct ConnectAzure ExpressRouteCloud Interconnect
Domain name systemAmazon Route 53Azure DNSCloud DNS
Load balancingElastic Load Balancing (ELB)Application Gateway, Load Balancer, Traffic ManagerCloud Load Balancing
Network acceleratorAWS Global AcceleratorAccelerated NetworkingPremium Network Service Tier
Network area translationNAT GatewayVirtual Network NAT, Azure Route Server (preview)Cloud NAT
Satellite ground stationAWS Ground StationAzure Orbital (preview)N/A
Service discoveryAmazon ECS, AWS Cloud MapN/AGKE
Traffic control planeAWS App MeshAzure Front Door, Azure Service FabricTraffic Director
Virtual WANN/AVirtual WANN/A
VPCAmazon VPCAzure Virtual NetworkVirtual Private Cloud
VPC/VM secure connectorAWS Transit Gateway, AWS VPNAzure Bastion, Azure Private Link, Azure VPN gatewayCloud VPN, Direct Peering, VPC Service Controls

Security

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Audit and compliance reports and controlsAWS Artifact, AWS Audit ManagerService Trust PortalAssured Workloads
Centralized security managementAWS Security HubSecurity CenterSecurity Command Center
Certificate managementAWS Certificate ManagerApp ServiceCertificate Authority Service
Confidential computingAWS Nitro EnclavesAzure Confidential ComputingConfidential Computing
Container deploy-time security controlN/AN/ABinary Authorization
Data discovery and classificationAmazon MacieData Catalog, Azure Information ProtectionData Catalog, Cloud Data Loss Prevention
Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protectionAWS ShieldAzure DDoS ProtectionGoogle Cloud Armor
End-user identity managementAmazon CognitoAzure Active Directory B2CFirebase Authentication
Firewall managementAWS Firewall Manager, AWS Network Firewall, AWS WAFAzure Firewall Manager, Web Application FirewallCloud Armor, Cloud firewalls
Identity and access managementAWS Identity and Access ManagementAzure Active Directory, role-based access control (Azure RBAC), Azure Active Directory External IdentitiesBeyondCorp Enterprise, Identity and Access Management, Identity Platform, Identity-Aware Proxy
Key managementAWS Key Management Service, AWS CloudHSMKey Vault, Azure Dedicated HSMCloud Key Management
Multifactor authenticationAWS Multi-Factor AuthenticationAzure AD Multi-Factor AuthenticationGoogle Authenticator, Titan Security Key
Microsoft Active Directory compatible directory serviceAWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active DirectoryAzure Active Directory Domain ServiceManaged Service for Microsoft Active Directory
Resource access managementAWS Resource Access ManagerAzure Resource ManagerResource Manager
Security data analysisAmazon DetectiveSecurity CenterChronicle, Risk Protection Program (preview)
Secrets managementAWS Secrets ManagerAzure Key VaultSecret Manager
Single sign-onAWS Single Sign-OnAzure Active Directory single single-onCloud Identity
Signoff for cloud provider data access requestsN/ACustomer LockboxAccess Transparency
Threat DetectionAmazon GuardDutyMicrosoft Azure Attestation, Azure Defender, Azure SentinelChronicle, Phishing Protection, Web Risk, Event Threat Detection (preview)
Vulnerability scanningAmazon InspectorSecurity CenterWeb Security Scanner

Storage

 AWSAzureGoogle Cloud
Archival storageS3 Glacier, S3 Glacier Deep ArchiveArchive StorageArchive Storage
BackupAWS BackupAzure BackupN/A
Block storageAmazon Block Store (EBS)Azure Disk StoragePersistent Disk, Local SSD
File storageAmazon Elastic File Service (EFS), Amazon FSx for Windows File Server, Amazon FSx for LustreAvere vFXT for Azure, Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files, Azure FXT Edge FilerFilestore
Object storageAmazon S3Azure Blob StorageCloud Storage, Cloud Storage for Firebase

*AWS, Google and Microsoft use different terminology to describe services that are in preview, beta or alpha. For the purposes of this piece, any service that is not generally available is listed as being in preview.

**Several Google and Microsoft services in this section are not explicitly available through Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, respectively. They are part of each vendor’s broader cloud portfolio.