This presentation discusses how licensing and business services can be a strong decision point, how existing staffing skills and culture make a difference, and how to align business and technical directives with the vendor. It also touches on 2 key technical decisions: staffing and technical directions. Visit www.agileit.com to learn more.
Tata AIG General Insurance Company - Insurer Innovation Award 2024
Agile IT: Filling in the Gaps in the Azure vs. AWS debate
1. Intro
Filling in the gaps in
the Azure vs. AWS
debate
AgileDataCenter
Delivered by Agile IT
We make IT easy
2. What we’ll discuss today
Business, Operations, Staffing:
Licensing and business services can be a strong
decision point
Existing staffing skills and culture makes a difference
Aligning business and technical directives with the
vendor
Key Technical Decisions:
Staffing
Technical Directions
What we won’t cover
Full technical comparison (It’s been
done before….many time)
A sales pitch… but we can later if you
like
3. Agile IT Vision
• Build a community of managed customers that maximizes cloud and SaaS
services to drive their business
Utilizing the best of what cloud services can offer
Driving and improving their business through automation, agility, business insight, and
productivity
Uniformity of service delivery
• Cloud Services beyond the IT Department. Providing services that expand deeper
into the enterprise beyond the IT department
Business Automation
Business Data
Business Integration
Business Intelligence
4. The Pizza Stack
Deciders Influencers Direct
Consumers
IaaS IT, Dev - IT, Dev
PaaS Dev IT Developers
SaaS Business,
Dev
IT End-Users
Developers
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/buckwoody/2012/06/13/windows-azure-write-run-or-use-software/
5. Cloud Landscape “Buckets”
Productivity Business Business Intelligence Identity MDM
Rights Mgmt/Encrypt. Files Voice Services Databases Management
Storage Servers/Virtualization IoT Services IaaS Desktop & Devices
6. Gartner says…
Amazon Web Services
• AWS has a diverse customer base and the broadest range of use cases, including
enterprise and mission-critical applications. …
• AWS is now a mature provider, yet it remains an agile, innovative thought leader
with a broad impact across a range of IT markets. It has the richest array of IaaS
and PaaS capabilities. It provides the deepest capabilities for governing a large
number of users and resources. ….
Microsoft Azure
• Microsoft has been rapidly rolling out new features and services, including
differentiated capabilities. It has a vision of infrastructure and platform services
that are not only leading stand-alone offerings, …
• Microsoft's brand, existing customer relationships, history of running global-
class consumer internet properties, deep investments in engineering and
innovative roadmap have enabled it to rapidly attain the status of strategic
cloud IaaS provider.
11. High Level: It’s all equal
Let’s go with all is equal for: Compute, Storage, Networking, and Price
12. High Level: It’s all equal
Let’s go with all is equal for: Compute, Storage, Networking, and Price
13. Common Decision Points
Don’t make a decision JUST from this page
Amazon Web Services Microsoft Azure
I only want Microsoft for Office and Windows Winner Bummer
Most of my development is Linux & other open
source
Winner Competing
Direct integration with Microsoft technologies Some Yes, of course
Pricing discount for longer termed resources Yes (Reserved Instances) No
Pricing benefits based on existing Microsoft
licensing
No Yes
Third-Party support (e.g. SAP) Yes Yes
14. Other points
Amazon Web Services
Technical innovation and long track record
More computing options, but really only an
option for developers
(new) VMware Cloud on AWS
Price (I know, I keep going back and forth
on this point)
History with verticals, such as Biotech and
Pharma
Microsoft Azure
Integration with Office 365
Azure AD Integration with your Office 365
Tenant for single IAM directory
Databases
Managed database for: SQL Server, mySQL,
PostgreSQL
SQL Server Stretch Database
Have existing licensing agreement
Azure Hybrid Use Benefit (Save up to 40
percent on Windows Server)
Microsoft Azure portal is extremely intuitive for
Microsoft Engineers and Developers
Documentation & Training for Azure is superior to
AWS
17. Security Maturity
Don’t make a decision JUST from this page
Amazon
Web
Services
Microsoft
Azure
Compliance Offerings 50+ 50+
Compliance Reports Online Online &
Support
Security Integration
with your service
Third-Party
Required
Available to
All
Enterprise History Growing Decades
18. Example: Decision Worksheet
Use a worksheet to compare YOUR costs, structure, and roadmap against both services
Amazon Web Services Microsoft Azure
Existing Staff: Knowledge
Existing Staff: Training
Existing Staff: Preference
Pricing Estimate for first 6 months
Pricing Estimate after 24 months
Billing and Subscription Management
Alignment with Server & Storage strategy
Alignment with Developer strategy
Alignment with Compliance requirement
Alignment with Security policies
19. Get going! (Readiness, Assessment, Planning)
Cloud First
Hybrid Options
Adoption
Migration as needed
Billing Optimization
Deployment
Optimization
Deployment
Phase 2
Small deployments
R&D
Time required projects
Deployment
Phase 1
Deployment/Migration
(Greenfield/Lift & Shift)
Business Continuity
Backup and Restore
Identity Management
Network Connectivity
Security policies
Security management
Security monitoring
Service management
Service monitoring
Planning
Business training
Technical leadership
Engineering training
Assessment of existing
services
Business/Technical
roadmap development
Readiness
Licensing
Support
Technical
Evaluation
20. AgileCover
Devices Connectivity Infrastructure Application SaaS
Workstations
Tablets
Desk Phones
Mobile
Phones
Networking
Firewalls
Routers
VPN &
DirectAccess
Microsoft
Azure
Amazon
Web
Services
Windows
Server
Exchange
Server
SharePoint
Dynamics CRM
Office
Skype for
Business
EMS
Office 365
Dynamics
Salesforce
Proactive Monitoring and Maintenance & Health Checks
AgileProtect: Backup and Restore
Reporting and Compliance
Licensing and Vendor Management
Security Patterns and Practices
Documentations
21. Change is coming
No matter who you select, you’ll have to:
Product retirements are forcing the need for a change
Adjust your training process and depth chart
Vendors are changing the “product”/service rapidly. Gone are the days of being a 5 year expert on one
product version.
Vendor content online is really good. Also, thanks YouTube!
Continuously review your process and billing
22. What you learned today
Business, Operations, Staffing:
Licensing and business services can be a strong
decision point
Existing staffing skills and culture makes a difference
Aligning business and technical directives with the
vendor
Key Technical Decisions:
Staffing
Technical Directions
What’s Next
Azure: Readiness, Assessment, and
Planning
AWS: Readiness, Assessment, and
Planning
AgileDatacenter
Sales@agileit.com
http://www.agileit.com
AWS
STRENGTHS
AWS has a diverse customer base and the broadest range of use cases, including enterprise and mission-critical applications. It has the largest share of compute capacity in use by paying customers — many times the aggregate size of all other providers in the market. This has enabled it to attract an ecosystem of open-source tools, along with more than a thousand technology partners that have licensed and packaged their software to run on AWS, have integrated their software with AWS capabilities, or deliver add-on services.
AWS is now a mature provider, yet it remains an agile, innovative thought leader with a broad impact across a range of IT markets. It has the richest array of IaaS and PaaS capabilities. It provides the deepest capabilities for governing a large number of users and resources.
CAUTIONS
While it is easy to get started with AWS, optimal use requires expertise. Customers must proactively seek the depth of sales and solution architecture engagement they need to be successful; this may require professional services, not just support.
Organizations that cannot quickly take advantage of new capabilities will not receive the full benefits of AWS's rapid introduction of new services and expanded capabilities for existing services. A customer's best practices may become outdated as better or more cost-effective capabilities are introduced. Less-sophisticated customers may become overwhelmed by the range of possible options; training and third-party assistance are strongly recommended.
MICROSOFT
STRENGTHS
Microsoft Azure encompasses integrated IaaS and PaaS components that operate and feel like a unified whole. Microsoft has been rapidly rolling out new features and services, including differentiated capabilities. It has a vision of infrastructure and platform services that are not only leading stand-alone offerings, but also seamlessly extend and interoperate with on-premises Microsoft infrastructure (rooted in Hyper-V, Windows Server, Active Directory and System Center), development tools (including Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server [TFS]), middleware and applications, as well as Microsoft's SaaS offerings.
Microsoft's brand, existing customer relationships, history of running global-class consumer internet properties, deep investments in engineering and innovative roadmap have enabled it to rapidly attain the status of strategic cloud IaaS provider. Microsoft is aggressively pushing Azure into its customer base, and discounting to promote adoption.
CAUTIONS
While Microsoft has met its promised time frames for introducing critical features that help Azure fulfill enterprise needs for security, availability, performance, networking flexibility and user management, not all such functionality is implemented with the level of completeness, ease of use or API enablement that is desired by enterprise customers.
Microsoft is still in the process of building out its Azure ecosystem. It has been aggressively recruiting managed service and professional services partners, but many of these partners lack extensive experience with the Azure platform, which can compromise the quality of the solutions they deliver to customers.
Continuous integration and continuous deployment
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services
We've worked with 30+ companies since the beginning of the year to fast track them to Azure, and just about every company signs up for ASR
For Azure VMs, the built-in scheduled backup solution doesn't rely on third-party automation tools
Azure has 50+ compliance offerings (More than AWS, but I couldn’t find a number for AWS)
Other Azure Only Features:
Visual Studio Online
Azure Event Hubs
Azure Scheduler
Agile IT will provision one Azure Virtual Machine within Microsoft Azure. This will allow you to harness the power and benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and flexibility while managing costs more effectively.
AgileDataCenter Azure Server Standard covers Windows Servers (2008 - 2012 R2) running integrated Windows services, such as file, print server, ADFS, network services (DNS/DHCP), Active Directory (AD) and simple Hyper-V.
In provisioning AgileDataCenter Standard Server, our highly-skilled and award-winning professional team will:
Provide guidance on deployment based on technical and business requirements
Provide guidance on pricing, server sizing, and deployment best practices
Provision and configure one Azure Virtual Machine
Install and configure Windows core services
Setup basic backup services using Azure Backup Services