AWS vs GCP vs Azure vs OpenStack – Which One Should I Learn?

Ready to dive into the world of cloud computing but not sure which cloud computing platform is best to learn? With the ever-increasing demand for cloud computing skills, a career in cloud computing is a safe bet, but the decision of which platform to learn can be overwhelming for anyone planning a career in cloud computing. In this article, I will compare AWS vs Azure vs GCP vs OpenStack and explore their pros and cons along with why you may want to pursue a career working on one of these cloud platforms.

Amazon Web Service (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and OpenStack are all popular cloud computing platforms that offer a wide range of services and products. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to features, pricing, performance, scalability, and security. I will look at each platform in detail and help you decide which platform you may want to work on. But, keep in mind that we now live in a world where more companies are adopting a multi-cloud model, so you may not want to get certified in one platform. 

Here’s why I decided to compare these platforms:

• Strong global presence: Many companies around the world use these cloud providers, making the demand for engineers high in most countries. 
• Similar services: They are all technologies that will allow you to do the same things, though they may name their services differently. At the end of this article you will find a table that lets you know what each cloud platform calls their feature that provides you with each service.

Now while OpenStack is currently not as visible as these mega cloud providers, OpenStack is open source and is used by many large providers around the world behind the scenes.  Marquee names like CERN and NASA to corporate giants like WalMart and T-Mobile all use OpenStack Clouds.  In addition, its recent growth since 5G on OpenStack exploded plus Kubernetes integration would make it unwise to exclude from this comparison. OpenStack is making waves and currently on track to disrupt the entire cloud landscape; if you read to the end, you’ll understand why.

AWS Certification

Let’s start with the most popular cloud platform. AWS pretty much established the cloud scene and has since maintained its position as a key player in cloud computing. Being one of the oldest cloud providers, there has been time for the development of many AWS certification courses. In fact, AWS partners with many colleges on cloud computing courses.

Let’s look closer at the AWS platform:

Pros

• Leading Cloud Innovator.
• Broad Global Presence.
• Mature and Feature-rich Cloud Technologies.
• Good Documentations of Services.
• Extensive Training Materials.

Cons

• Complex Billing System.
• EC2 Limits – your service comes with volume, image, and snapshot limits.
• Proprietary Storage Solutions – makes it daunting to switch cloud providers.
• Ease of Use – often leads to clients experiencing bill shock.

Who is Using AWS

• Netflix
• Twitch
• Adobe

There are many skilled AWS engineers who have emerged from various AWS training programs. While it’s easy to follow trends, there’s always a pivot point where labor supply will soon meet or exceed demands, especially with heavy efforts from AWS grassroots campaigns.

High and unpredictable cloud bills are leading organizations to seek alternative cloud solutions. This can be seen as we look at AWS market share in 2022 which was 34%, down from 2021 where they had 38.9%, and further down from 2020 where they dominated the industry with a whopping 40.8%.  It is quite popular now for companies to migrate from AWS to on-premise or to hosted private cloud.

You can bet that AWS having dominated the industry for so many years makes it a safe bet. But decline in market share and consistent increase in labor supply makes guaranteed competitive salaries questionable in your future. Currently AWS Cloud Architect is the highest paid job title in the industry.

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