Bigger isn’t always better. Stacked against Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS) looks like the more extensive cloud provider - with around double the products of GCP - but factor in pricing, functionality, and flexibility, and you might want to give Google another look.
When choosing your software solutions, the devil’s in the details. And that’s where GCP has the edge over AWS, with a suite of tools that are intuitive, flexible, and better suited to small or mid-sized organizations that don’t have the tech know-how or the budget for advanced applications.
1) Price
Both AWS and GCP offer pay-as-you-go and tiered pricing, but Google comes out on top as the more inexpensive option. Especially so when you consider how the software giant sweetens the deal with cost-effective incentives.
The Google Cloud Free Program gives all new users $300 in credit to explore the platform within 90 days and a recurring monthly $200 credit ringfenced for Google Maps products.
If you’re a small business, you may find that Google’s free tier can handle your needs. This tier gives you access to over 20 products, including Cloud Storage, Workflows, and App Engine, completely free (within usage limits).
And, of course, the cost of a product isn’t just monetary. With AWS, you’ll likely have to devote serious time and workforce to figuring out exactly what features you want from their chaotic catalog, how to integrate them, and how to deploy them. Even inexperienced staff can quickly pick up GCP tools and get on with their tasks without disrupting their workflow, saving your company time, energy, and effort.
2) Simplicity
With over 200 products in its portfolio, many of them near-duplicates, AWS has a clutter problem. By comparison, Google’s products are fewer but are better organized, integrating more seamlessly and grouped in a way that makes them easy to find and deploy.
Think of it like building a bookcase. GCP is the out-of-the-box kit that comes with all the materials you need and a manual with clear instructions on putting it together. AWS is a pamphlet full of technical jargon that sends you scurrying around to find the materials and the mechanisms for putting it all together.
GCP isn’t just more cohesive than the messy maze of AWS’s bumper offerings. It also boasts a leaner, cleaner interface. The GCP console can get you where you need to go within a few clicks and is easy to customize if you want to adjust your personalized settings.
Simple doesn’t mean basic - with Google, you get all the bells and whistles of a full-service cloud platform. They’re just much easier to find, customize, and use.
3) Flexibility
GCP was built with the end-user in mind, giving the customer a high level of flexibility to play around with the products and tweak them to taste.
Business is never static, and your company’s needs and requirements will change over time. The highly-customizable environment of GCP means it can be scaled up or down, giving you infrastructure and applications that can expand or contract as needed. This level of flexibility is embedded across the entire GCP suite, from analytics to apps, to service companies of all sizes and industries.
4) Security and reliability
Google has a well-deserved reputation for robust security and consistent reliability, and its cloud platform is no exception.
If you want to encrypt your data with AWS, you must manually enable that function. On the other hand, Google does this by default - automatically encrypting your data at rest and in transit.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that AWS has a more extensive global network, making it more vulnerable. The provider has also seen some troublesome reliability issues recently, experiencing three significant outages in the span of a few weeks at the end of 2021. Despite being one of the largest generators of internet traffic globally, Google rarely experiences major outages.
As a longstanding Google Cloud Premier Partner, UpCurve Cloud’s experienced team can guide you through the ins and outs of installing and using GCP to transform your business. We can help you build a more efficient and cohesive workspace by integrating Google’s tools into your existing infrastructure. Get in touch today to schedule a consultation and see how migrating to the cloud can change the way you do business.
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