Microsoft-Amazon Cloud War Battles On

In November 2012, Amazon announced it will be offering Windows Server 2012 as an optional addition to its Elastic Compute Cloud Service. Windows on Amazon Web Services General Manager, Tom Rizzo, made the announcement in a post in the team’s official blog. 

Earlier in 2012, Rizzo left Microsoft for Amazon. He now has the role of General Manager for the Windows team in AWS. He had previously worked for Microsoft for 16 years in Server, SQL, Exchange, SharePoint, and Office 365.

Rizzo also mentioned that he will be posting a blog series designated as “Windows Wednesdays.” The bi-monthly blog will be devoted to Amazon's Windows support.

In October 2012, Microsoft made Windows Server 2012 and .Net 4.5 on Azure available and in the same month announced .Net 4.5 support for Azure Web Sites.

The addition of Windows Server 2012 has several upgrades compared to previous Windows Server operating systems. One of the main advantages is that it now has improved software-defined networking. The system’s remote configuration has also been improved through PowerShell commands.

Although Amazon is not the first to offer Server 2012 to the public, Microsoft's Azure and several other small providers have been operating with Server 2012 since the system was released, Amazon can be credited for doing a number of things with Windows 2012 that are set to grab the attention of developers and enterprises looking to migrate to Server 2012.

One eye-catcher is Amazon's support for Server 2012 in AWS's Elastic Beanstalk. This service deals with the many capacity-provisioning and deployment aspects of utilizing an application in the AWS cloud. Amazon is also highlighting the fact that users can now make use of Windows Server 2012, as part of the AWS Free Usage Tier. This has the advantage of allowing users 750 hours of a Micro Instance each month for a whole year. The company is also providing direct integration into Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 through the AWS Explorer.

The battle between Microsoft and Amazon continues as they compete for clients who are seeking Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). While AWS’s Elastic Beanstalk qualifies the platform as an IaaS, Azure is more of a PaaS.

The two companies are not just battling for the loyalty of businesses and developers. They’re also trying to accrue consumer dollars. Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets are set to challenge Microsoft’s new Windows 8 tablets, and Microsoft seems determined to try to undermine Amazon’s plans for future growth in the mobile market. (CU) Link