For companies and public sector organizations that are in the process of planning a Cloud migration, there are plenty of Australian Cloud providers from which to choose. Over 40% of businesses in the country already use Cloud computing services and of those that are yet to make the move, many have plans to do so in the near future. To meet this healthy demand for Cloud platforms and services, service providers from across the globe offer a wide range of solutions to organizations in the private and public sectors here. But which Cloud platform is the right choice for your organization and where can you find the best service providers in Australia?
Finding the best Australian Cloud providers
Whilst it’s true that there are many competent small Cloud service providers, there is a very good reason why the majority of organizations choose one of the big three Cloud platforms when migrating legacy IT systems and infrastructure. In Australia, as is the case in almost every country across the world, the three most popular Cloud platforms are, in order of market share, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Together, these service providers account for over 70% of the Australian Cloud computing market.
As the biggest and most experienced Cloud platform providers, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud are able to meet the needs of organizations of all sizes: from small, local businesses, to international enterprises, their platforms provide the tools, resources, and services that companies and government bodies need to manage their Cloud environments efficiently. You could decide to migrate to a less well-known Cloud platform but if you want to complete your migration as quickly and smoothly as possible, one of the big three platforms is almost certainly going to provide you with the best path to establishing a well-managed Cloud presence.
Evaluating your options
Assuming that you decide your best option lies with one of the most well-established service providers, how can you choose between them? We suggest evaluating each platform based on experience, availability zones and Cloud computing services.
- Experience — Launched in 2006, AWS is the most mature cloud platform currently available. Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud were established in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Whilst all three can boast years of experience in the Cloud sector, AWS is the clear leader.
- Availability zones — The more availability zones, or regions, a network has, the wider its reach. AWS, with 84, is once again the leader in this respect. Microsoft Azure has 54, based on the most recently available figures, and Google Cloud has 73, based on figures from 2020. However, as all three networks are continually expanding, we suggest that you contact each service provider for the most up-to-date information on availability zones.
- Services — AWS has around twice the number of Cloud computing services as its nearest rivals.
If you’re looking at the criteria above, AWS is a preferred vendor to consider. But always keep in mind, there are other things to look into when evaluating a cloud vendor.
