Cloud platforms: nine reasons to consider Amazon Web Services

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Cloud platforms: nine reasons to consider Amazon Web Services

Engineering Insights & Web Platforms

Figures prove it: cloud technology is on the rise. Dynamic companies understand that infrastructure as a service is becoming essential when they seek scalable optimization. The world’s largest cloud provider at the moment is Amazon. It had a 31% share of the global market in 2016, ten years after launching its cloud services. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is almost three times larger than the main competitor (Microsoft Azure), and quite far away from the next four players (source: Synergy Research). This rapid growth also shows in AWS’s revenue spike of 63% in August 2016, as compared to the previous fiscal year.

To better understand the expansion of the technology, it helps to take a look at some of the main business reasons that helped major clients choose the Amazon Cloud infrastructure:

1. Seriously lower CAPEX

Cloud computing allows even cash-strapped startups to gain access to enterprise-level infrastructure. This is one of their main financial advantages. Companies can use solid IT solutions without the hefty capital investments usually required by traditional options. The pay-per-use model is significantly more affordable than the costs of equipment, maintenance, and licenses.

2. No long-term financial obligations

The cloud can provide either the hosting for a small website or a Content Delivery Network for a global video streaming portal. It can deliver both scalable, stable email services and Big Data services. And AWS offers all those applications on an hourly paid basis. No compulsory annual contracts or other extended financial arrangements.

3. Faster procurement, minimum negotiations

Infrastructure procurement is now simplified. AWS offerings make it possible to install servers in minutes, without additional app and OS licensing. To attract more customers, Amazon has reduced prices 30 times over the past few years. And there are online tools such as CloudCheckr, Cloudability, or Cloudyn that can further help with the optimization of Amazon infrastructure.

4. Retail-like shopping experience

Amazon has retail in its DNA, and it treats clients as such even when selling Cloud Computing. That includes price cuts, widely accessible services, and the development of technologies with proven demand. The company continuously adds products for new consumers and fosters technologies that simplify their transition to the cloud.

5. Cloud: The advantage of scale

This is where the size of Amazon Cloud comes into play. The scaling of a cloud architecture means smaller prices for basic equipment. It means a wider geographic coverage. It ensures the ability to rapidly spot new trends, by analyzing apps and services built by users on its platform. În 2010 Netflix chose Amazon for the guarantee that scaling would not be a problem. In 2015 almost one-third of online streaming bandwidth in the US was used by Netflix clients (source: Sandvine).

6. Security

AWS has secure access to data centers located in various parts of the world. Amazon infrastructure offers firewall rules for various levels of access, whether public or private. AWS also provides IT and access management, private subnets, multi-factor authentication, or encrypted data storage, among its security features.

7. Flexibility

The application of cloud computing helps AWS users to build infrastructure that automatically aligns to various usage scenarios. That means it is capable of instantly supporting huge traffic spikes.

8. Some of the best PaaS offers

AWS provides scalable databases, storage, caching, backup, and management tools. They all reduce the time and effort needed to prepare and control infrastructure and apps.

9. Cloud APIs

Amazon APIs are available in various programming languages. The industry agrees that they are even more powerful than the AWS online management console.

The cloud market is rapidly growing as the advantages become clear to businesses of all kinds. Some of the companies that choose AWS as they expanded operations are Pinterest, Reddit, Adobe Systems, Airbnb, BMW, Canon, DropBox, HTC, Johnson & Johnson, Lafarge, Lyft, NASA, Pfizer, Philips, Samsung, SAP, Siemens, Spotify, Tata Motors, Time Inc., Unilever, Vodafone or Xiaomi. There is a wide range of options and the choice of a specific cloud provider depends on the profile of each consumer. In each case, the support of an expert consultant makes the cloud adoption process significantly faster and easier.

Tremend is an Amazon Web Services partner with over 11 years of experience. Our solutions include developments for the Internet of Things, e-commerce platforms, enterprise solutions, embedded software, CRM, CMS, ERP integration, and custom software. Over two million users benefit from solutions developed by Tremend. They range from online stores to complex software for the banking industry.

For additional details about the advantages of a cloud solution, say hello@tremend.ro.