04 Jul 2025
Digital transformation is no longer an option. Companies across all sectors and sizes are realizing that traditional IT infrastructure is not enough to support long-term business growth, innovation and competitiveness.
In this regard, two names emerge repeatedly as the top choice for global enterprises: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. The question is, why them? What sets AWS and Azure apart from dozens of other cloud service providers?
Let's approach these questions with actual facts and data.
According to Statista's Q1 2024 report, AWS leads the global cloud market with 31% market share, followed by Microsoft Azure with 25%. Together, they account for more than half of the world's total cloud market.
What does this mean? Global trust in AWS and Azure is not just a trend, but the result of proven performance, technology capabilities and service consistency.
AWS has 102 Availability Zones in 32 geographic regions around the world and plans to add 15 more. While Azure is available in more than 60 global regions, making it the cloud provider with the most region coverage today.
This means companies can:
Store and process data closer to the end user (reduced latency)
Meet local data sovereignty regulations
Provide high availability services
Both AWS and Azure offer architectures designed for high availability, disaster recovery, and auto-scaling. Both also meet various global security certifications such as:
ISO 27001
SOC 1, 2, 3
GDPR compliance
HIPAA (for healthcare)
According to the Gartner Magic Quadrant 2023 report for Cloud Infrastructure and Platform Services, AWS and Azure are in the "Leader" position due to their high commitment to security investments, innovation, as well as a solid partner ecosystem.
AWS offers more than 200 active cloud services, ranging from compute (EC2), storage (S3), to machine learning (SageMaker). While Azure excels at integrating Microsoft products such as:
Azure Active Directory
Microsoft 365
Power Platform
Dynamics 365
Companies can build hybrid, multi-cloud or edge computing solutions with full flexibility without having to drastically change existing business systems.
Many companies are moving to the cloud not only for speed and scalability, but also for cost efficiency reasons.
A report from IDC shows that organizations that migrate to Azure experience an average savings of 30% to 50% on IT operating costs over three years.
While a study by Nucleus Research found that the average ROI from migrating to AWS was 3.2 times the initial investment, in just 12 months.
Both actively invest in frontier technologies such as:
AI & Machine Learning
Azure AI and AWS SageMaker make it easy to develop predictive models and process automation.
Quantum Computing
Microsoft with Azure Quantum and Amazon with Bracket show commitment to the future of computing.
Sustainability
AWS and Azure are both committed to renewable energy and sustainability. Microsoft even has an ambition to become carbon negative by 2030.
AWS and Azure both offer the power, speed, and reliability to support today's and tomorrow's businesses. Choosing the best platform depends largely on each company's needs, industry and digital strategy.
But clearly, both are not just technology choices, but strategic choices. Cloud infrastructure is no longer just a 'place to store data', but a foundation for building innovation, competitiveness and digital acceleration.
If you are in the stage of considering or planning a cloud migration, it is important to thoroughly understand the options available.
We can help you develop a scalable and customized cloud strategy using AWS, Azure, or a hybrid of the two. Our solutions are tailored to the nature of your business, so that cloud investment is truly a growth accelerator, not a new burden.
Contact our team for a free consultation session or learn more about how AWS and Azure can unlock the greatest digital potential in your business.
Author: Ghea Devita
Marketing Communication, PT Perkom Indah Murni.