AWS Compete Battlecard

Co
mpete

This battlecard provides summary information and guidance on how to compete with VMware in the cloud space. Please see the AWS Compete portal for additional information

Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2): Scalable virtual compute power designed to

make computing easier for developers and system administrators. Auto Scaling
enables automatic up/down capacity scaling according to predefined
conditions.
Simple Storage Service (S3): Cloud storage infrastructure for storing and
retrieving data from anywhere on the web.
Amazon Glacier: A low-cost storage service that provides durable storage for
data archiving and backup.

Redshift: Fully managed large scale data warehouse service in the cloud.
Businesses can analyze large-size data sets using the same SQL-based tools
and business intelligence (BI) apps in use today.

Amazon EMR (Elastic MapReduce): A web service that enables businesses,

researchers, data analysts, and developers to process large amounts of data.
Amazon EMR uses Hadoop to distribute data and processing across a resizable
cluster of EC2 instances.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk: Service for deploying and scaling web apps and
services developed with popular programming languages such as Java, .NET,
PHP, Node.js, Python, and Ruby.

Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud): A way for customers to define a

virtual network topology that closely resembles a traditional network that they
might operate in their own datacenter.

Amazon CloudFront: A content delivery web service to give developers and

businesses a way to distribute content to end users with low latency and high
data transfer speeds.

WorkSpaces: A desktop computing service that enables customers to

provision cloud-based desktops on multiple devices.

Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS): RDS lets businesses set up,
operate, and scale a MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, or PostgreSQL database in the
cloud.

For internal Microsoft use only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied.

Anticipated changes and developments

Continue to offer new instance types and services and to reduce prices

Promote its own hybrid vision by connecting to on-premises

Globally expand services and datacenters

Re-orient its sales approach to prioritize accounts by verticals, segments, &

geography

Explore entering the Analytics as a Service space more strongly

AWS Compete Battlecard

Co
mpete

This battlecard provides summary information and guidance on how to compete with VMware in the cloud spac

AWS strengths

AWS says

Microsoft says

1.Leading mind share and market share in cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS), with extremely high
penetration within startups and early adopters, making them the incumbent to own the public datacenter,
cloud space.

a hosting servic
Microsoft public cloud.

2.Broadest platform of IaaS capabilities and APIs.

3.Rapid platform development with hundreds of new features each year.

What to sell key Microsoft solution

components
5.Large-scale capacity and efficient use leading to continuous price cuts; perception of lowest cost provider.
4.Pricing flexibility for customers.

6.Broad ecosystem of ISVs and service catalog options.

Microsoft Azure

Windows Server 2012 R2 (including

Hyper-V), & System Center 2012 R2

7.Global platform reach with a single, consistent user interface.

8.Turnkey application deployment through AWS Marketplace.

AWS positioning and messaging

Strategies in customer profile

Cloud

Compute

AWS offers low cost, highly

innovative flexible and scalable
cloud solutions including
databases, analytic tools,
networking and app services, and
management resources with no
upfront investment or long-term
commitment. An expanding
network of managed service
provider partners ensure
customers are optimizing
solutions.

AWS provides a variety of cloudWin

based computing services
including a wide selection Deploy
of
best-in-class
compute instances, which storage,
can
backup, &
scale up and down automatically
disaster recovery
to meet the needs of your solution in private and
application, a managed load
public cloud with one
balancing service, and fullyprovider and contract.
managed desktops in the cloud.
For new cloud initiatives,
focus on the hybrid
platform to easily extend
existing tools,
infrastructure, & skills to
the cloud.

Competitor claims
AWS says

Microsoft says

Amazon is less expensive

than Microsoft

Amazon is more innovative

than Microsoft.

Amazon is leading the way

to an all cloud future

Surround the customer

environment and
improve datacenter
service agility with
System Center. Position
System Center as a onestop shop for all
datacenter and cloud
management needs.

Extend

Extend datace
Azure services
Server, ShareP
Tier 2 & 3 app
workloads.

Extend the de
and testing en
to use on-dem
cloud resource

Key actions for success

Microsoft matches AWS
pricing for all commodity public
What to do
cloud offerings.
Understand customers pains, challenges,
Azure packs more compute capacity than AWS in the
goals, & major initiatives.
instances we offer, so Azure beats AWS on price-toperformance.
Build conversation around Microsofts modern
platform: Windows Server 2012 R2, System
Reserved EC2 usage above contracted amount is
Center 2012 R2, and Microsoft Azure.
charged at the On-Demand rate.
Identify and select winning sales tactics and
Azure releases new services faster than AWS (most
align them with solving key customer pains.
AWS updates are enhancements).
Approach customers around specific
Azure is 56% faster in write speed than AWS (source:
scenarios where we have a significant
Nasuni, The State of Cloud Storage 2013 Industry
competitive advantage, such as Microsoft
Report).
workloads.
Azure's average availability response time is 25%
Position Microsoft as a more enterprisefaster than S3 (source:
trusted advisor than AWS.
Amazon labels private clouds as archaic; pitches
Price comparison: support offerings
inaccurately defined hybrid platform.
Amazon

Surround

Microsoft offers one consistent

platform for
Enterprise
infrastructure, apps, and data, whether in the

Azure

Pro-Direct

Azur

Prem

AWS Compete Battlecard

Co
mpete

This battlecard provides summary information and guidance on how to compete with VMware in the cloud spac

Unlimited Phone/Chat/Email Support 24x7

Unlimited phone/e-mail
support 24x7

Unlimited phone/e-mail
technology
support 24x7

Dedicated Support
Escalation Resource
(reactive only)

Managed Support
Escalation

Dedicated Support
Delivery7.
Resource
Showcase

Automated Proactive
Checks

Automated Proactive
Checks

Architecture Assistance/
Support Service

Self Service Guidance

15 minute response from

> 1 hour response time

$15,000+/month

$1000/month

How to sell
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Position Microsoft as a provider of

end-to-end cloud offerings across
the cloud stack. Shape the
discussion as development and
deployment oriented, which AWS
lacks, and focus on the overall
business value.
Highlight the integration between
our networking solutions & the
flexibility in working IaaS and
platform as a service (PaaS)
environments.
Emphasize Microsofts commitment
to the cloud and its vision in
providing a continuum of solutions
that enable private clouds, public
clouds, and a hybrid clouds.
Outline Microsoft Azure flexibility
over AWS to move back and forth
between on-premises & off-premises
cloud offerings.
Highlight that Microsoft Azure is
covered under existing EAs in few
countries at a discounted price for
yearly commitment, while declaring
that negotiating an EA with AWS is
challenging.
Highlight that Microsoft is a trusted

vendor with decades of

experience in delivering IT solutions.

Microsoft Azure cloud

solutions
as
more enterprise ready,
Automated Proactive
Checks
highlighting the product integration
Proactive Services,
capabilities, strong SLAs, and
Custom Advisory Services
Assigned Technical
SME support options.
bundled
Sales
objection
> 1 hour
response
time

handling

offers hybrid
solutions too

AWS offers point solutions and tools

policies across on-premises and pub
private cloud or any on-premises IT
hybrid IT support through the Cloud
and capabilities across on-premises,
clouds.

AWS is the most flexible and

cheapest available solution

Microsoft customers get the best va

flexibility of a hybrid environment an
is unique in the sense that customer
on-premises to Azure using IaaS virt
services to the application.

AWS offers developers a fast,

inexpensive way to set up
test environments in the
cloud with tools such as
Elastic Beanstalk and Cloud
Formation

EC2 runs on EBS, which is limited to

have to buy S3 at an additional cost
Azure blob storage includes geo-rep
requires manual effort to replicate. W
familiar development tools such as V

AWS S3 offers a highlyscalable, reliable, durable,

and low-latency virtual
infrastructure at a low cost
for data storage & disaster
recovery

Microsoft Azures Local Redundancy

than S3. Azure charges only for the
snapshotting a blob whereas S3 cha
With StorSimple, Microsoft offers the
scalable, cost-effective storage solu

AWS EC2 running Windows

Server is a secure and
dependable way for
customers to deploy
SharePoint quickly and cost
effectively

Microsoft workloads are not tested o

buggy and unreliable. Any error duri
entire configuration.
With Microsoft Azure, customers get
(infrastructure and software) for a S

RDS is a scalable relational

cloud database that provides
cost-efficient and resizable
capacity

Microsoft customers can easily build

SQL Server and Azure SQL Database
is not available on AWS. Microsoft Az
effective, since customers do not pa

$3k+/month
AWS

Key feature comparison

Capability
Compute

Virtual Machines, Worker role, Web role

w/elevated privileges, Web role

Hosting (lightweight
web apps)

Web Sites

Database

SQL Database (formerly SQL Azure)

Big Data

HDInsight

Blob storage

Microsoft Azure Blobs

Table storage

Microsoft Azure Tables

Storage Drives

Microsoft Azure Drives

AWS Compete Battlecard

Co
mpete

This battlecard provides summary information and guidance on how to compete with VMware in the cloud spac

App Deployment

Automatically handled

Evidence to emphasize

Storage Archive

Expected H1 FY15

Hybrid Storage

StorSimple

Customer evidence

Messaging

Microsoft Azure Service Bus, Queues

Networking

Virtual Network, Connect, Traffic Manager,

Azure DNS

Caching Service

Azure Managed & In-Memory Cache

Content Delivery

Expected Q3 FY14 (See OneList)

Management

Management Portal, Power Shell, System

Center 2012

Monitoring

Diagnostics & Service, Management APIs,

SCOM Pack

Authentication &
Authorization

Windows Live, Accounts and Subscription,

Federation Future, Azure Active Directory

Development Tools

Toolkit for Eclipse and Visual Studio

Supported Libraries
and SDKs

.NET, PHP, Java, node.js, Python

Industry Specific

Azure Media Services, Mobile Services

Desktop
Virtualization

N/A

External case studies:

Jidari: Egyptian start-up

Jidari switches its web apps to the
Microsoft Azure cloud system, giving
its social networks users a faster
response than was previously the
case with AWS.
Getit Infomedia: Getit Infomedia
chose to migrate 25 workloads from
on-premises deployments to
Microsoft Azure because AWS could
not offer the same range of
components across IaaS, PaaS and
software as a service (SaaS).
Sangkuriang International: In
need of a cloud solution that could
work with a wide mix of
technologies, Sangkuriang chose
Microsoft Azure over AWS because
the company considered it an easier
cloud platform for achieving its
goals.
Wellero: In choosing Microsoft
Azure over AWS, Wellero was able to
bring its new offering to market
twice as fast, save upwards of
US$275,000 in its first year of
business, and boost its scalability
and corporate agility.
Callaway Golf: Callaway Golf chose
Microsoft Azure over AWS and
Google, reducing IT costs by
US$324,000 annually and giving
Callaway unprecedented flexibility
and scalability to respond to the
needs of its global business.

AWS Compete Battlecard

Co
This battlecard provides summary information and guidance on how to compete with VMware in the cloud spac
mpete
Azure Roadmap

AWS
weakness

Description

What it means to customers

Lack of
private
cloud
support &
on-premises
IT assets

Other than limited 3rd party integration, AWS

lacks private cloud support or on-premises IT
assets. AWS recently announced partnership
with a startup called Eucalyptus to provide a
private cloud environment compatible with
AWS APIs. In reality, AWS is just providing the
Eucalyptus license to their API and some
technical support.

AWS and Eucalyptus are not working

to innovate the private cloud offerin
build new technology that offers
compatibility of broader AWS service
Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus does not run
Windows or support Hyper-V.

Customer
lock-in

AWS locks customers into a proprietary AMI

format, making it difficult to move virtual
machines on-premises.

Amazon doesnt have any of their ow

development tools, instead relying o
party offerings. If customers choose
to AWS, they are in effect locking
themselves into a proprietary ecosy

Enterprise
novices

The majority of AWS customers are startups

and developers. AWS is just starting to focus
on the enterprise and most of their
experience is at the business unit level.

Architectural visibility and language

frustrates traditional enterprise IT bu
Transformation to the Cloud can be r
AWS is still learning how to sell to
enterprises. Their enterprise sales te

AWS Compete Battlecard

Co
mpete

This battlecard provides summary information and guidance on how to compete with VMware in the cloud spac

are not available in every state in th

Poor
support for
Microsoft
workloads

Because AWS uses a proprietary format,

Microsoft workloads are not fully supported.

A proprietary format means that Mic

workloads are not tested on AWS an
receive best-effort support. Custome
wont get 1st rate support on issues
AWS.

No Oracle
support

Oracle doesnt support AWS virtualization

engine and assumes no
reliability/responsibility for data stored in S3.

What happens to customers who ha

existing licenses to run Oracle softw
With AWS, they would require additi
licenses from other vendors. Custom
wont get 1st rate support on issues
Oracle on AWS

No PaaS
solution

Amazon lacks a comparable PaaS solution to

complement its IaaS solution; RDS for SQL
Server lacks features such as data-sync,
multi-AZ deployment for SQL Server, and read
replica.

AWS is primarily an IaaS service tha

depends on partners to fulfill PaaS
scenarios. This limits the flexibility o
customers and necessitates them to
continue to do the same as before (m
the infrastructure).

No unified
AWS lacks unified enterprise management
manageme between on-premises and the AWS cloud.
nt solution Partner offerings are limited.

Amazon is relying on a variety of 3rd

partners to provide a singular view o
premises and cloud deployments. AW
its own console, but it doesnt includ
integration with other services and
specifically with private cloud
implementations.

Rigid
pricing

AWS billing is not as flexible as it is by the

hour.

The effective rate you pay is depend

your utilization. When making a
reservation, you need to specify exa
instance type, instance size, and
datacenter location. Your usage has
match these exact dimensions to ge
reserved instance pricing. Once rese
the rate is locked for 1-3 years, desp
price drops on on-demand instances

Lack of
SLAs

AWS has carefully worded guarantees and a

lack of available SLAs for some services.

AWS EC2 provides SLAs for multiple

instances only.