Amazon. com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been aggressive in developing and cultivating Amazon Web Services cloud computing services, as many developers have used the platform for building and distributing customized applications. And Amazon.com has been the dominant leader in this use of the cloud, as a recent market survey revealed that Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the choice of 70 percent of cloud developers. And AWS announced at its recent AWS Summit in New York that AWS marketplace has grown its customer base by 102 percent just since the start of the year, and that usage of services per customer jumped by more than 50 percent.
So while certain things are lining up well for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) – which includes good reviews on the price of using the services – there seems to be one challenge that Amazon.com still is working on that is affecting AWS being the undisputed king of enterprise cloud against Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) services – Amazon.com seems to be lacking in enterprise application development.
The No. 1 problem for Amazon.com, one tech consultant says, just might be optics.
Image: Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
“Amazon has not necessarily positioned itself as a development tool or as a Platform as a Service in the same way that Salesforce.com has,” said Jeff Kaplan of THINKStrategies. “It’s viewed as an environment where apps are hosted, as opposed to an environment where you can deal with native apps.”
What Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) seems to be doing now is working with the model that works for amazon in other parts of its business. Kaplan said, “What [Amazon] has been trying to do is build a combination of Amazon Web Services/native functionality that supports app development, while augmenting and enhancing it with a widening array of third-party offerings. In many ways, this is how they have been able to succeed at selling their own services so inexpensively. They remain focused on Infrastructure as a Service, and continue to emphasize their price advantage.”
However, lowering prices might be attractive on the surface, but Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is realizing that many enterprises need more than just low prices – they need to understand that the cloud services need to understand the needs of the enterprise. Why? “(T)he more that companies build in an environment like AWS, the more locked in they get,” Kaplan said. This means, the decision is a big one for enterprises, so it’s not just about cost.
What do you think about Amazon and its AWS services? Does your firm use it, or do you know a company that does? What about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and its Azure services? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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