AWS offers a far broader selection of services along with much deeper functionality within most of these services than any other cloud provider. We have the widest selection of cloud services, including 48 services where comparable options are simply not available on the next largest cloud provider, including deeper functionality for Windows such as the AWS Deep Learning AMI for Microsoft Windows Server and the first and only fully managed native-Windows file system available in the cloud with FSx for Windows File Server.

We have the best global infrastructure for running workloads that require high availability with 66 Availability Zones (AZ) across 21 Regions. The AWS Region/AZ model has been recognized by industry analysts as the recommended approach for running enterprise applications that require high availability and AWS provides >2x more regions with multiple availability zones than the next largest cloud provider (21 vs. 8). This is one of the reasons why the next largest cloud provider had 7x more downtime hours than AWS in 2018*.

AWS offers 210 security, compliance, and governance services and key features which is about 40 more than the next largest cloud provider. We also support 89 security standards and compliance certifications including PCI-DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, FedRAMP, GDPR, FIPS 140-2, and NIST 800-171, which is meaningfully more than any other cloud provider. For encryption, all AWS services that store customer data offer the ability to encrypt that data and we offer encryption across 116 different AWS services which is 5X more than the next largest cloud provider.

Testing from DBBest found that SQL Server on AWS consistently shows a 2x-3x better performance using HammerDB, a TPC-C-like benchmark tool compared to the next largest cloud provider. ZK Research also points out that AWS has at least a 2X price/performance advantage over the next largest cloud provider when comparing the price of a workload, including storage, compute and networking.

AWS helps customers lower their overall costs of running Windows in the cloud with the most comprehensive family of EC2 instances and unique pricing models like Spot which can help customers save up to 90% on their Windows compute costs. Customer can also save money by moving their Microsoft Licenses to dedicated hosts on AWS like Xero did with their SQL Server migration. Dedicated hosts are also a great option for Windows or SQL Server instances that don’t have software assurance. You can’t bring those licenses to the next largest provider.

AWS has unmatched experience over the last 10 years, helping thousands of organizations, including global enterprises such as Sysco, Hess, Sony DADC, Ancestry and Expedia migrate their Windows workloads to the cloud. AWS has translated this experience in our Migration Acceleration Program (MAP), a proven methodology of best practices that is recognized by IDC** as the most extensive library of cases covering thousands of successful migrations. Customers follow this methodology and apply a combination of unique tools and deep expertise from our partners, professional services and support teams to help assess, right size, and move their Windows and SQL Server workloads to AWS.