How to: When to Use AWS
-	[AWS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Web_Services) is the dominant public cloud computing provider.
	-	In general, “[cloud computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing)” can refer to one of three types of cloud: “public,” “private,” and “hybrid.” AWS is a public cloud provider, since anyone can use it. Private clouds are within a single (usually large) organization. Many companies use a hybrid of private and public clouds.
	-	The core features of AWS are [infrastructure-as-a-service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing#Infrastructure_as_a_service_.28IaaS.29) (IaaS) — that is, virtual machines and supporting infrastructure. Other cloud service models include [platform-as-a-service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing#Platform_as_a_service_.28PaaS.29) (PaaS), which typically are more fully managed services that deploy customers’ applications, or [software-as-a-service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing#Software_as_a_service_.28SaaS.29) (SaaS), which are cloud-based applications. AWS does offer a few products that fit into these other models, too.
	-	In business terms, with infrastructure-as-a-service you have a variable cost model — it is [OpEx, not CapEx](http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/020915/what-difference-between-capex-and-opex.asp) (though some [pre-purchased contracts](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/purchasing-options/reserved-instances/) are still CapEx).
  - AWS’s TTM revenue was [**$37.549 billion**](https://ir.aboutamazon.com/news-release/news-release-details/2020/Amazoncom-Announces-First-Quarter/default.aspx) as of Q1 2020 according to their earnings results (slide 14 in the linked deck), or roughly **14%** of Amazon.com’s total revenue (slide 11 in the same deck) for the same TTM period.
-	**Main reasons to use AWS:**
	-	If your company is building systems or products that may need to scale
	-	and you have technical know-how
	-	and you want the most flexible tools
	-	and you’re not significantly tied into different infrastructure already
	-	and you don’t have internal, regulatory, or compliance reasons you can’t use a public cloud-based solution
	-	and you’re not on a Microsoft-first tech stack
	-	and you don’t have a specific reason to use Google Cloud
	-	and you can afford, manage, or negotiate its somewhat higher costs
	-	... then AWS is likely a good option for your company.
-	Each of those reasons above might point to situations where other services are preferable. In practice, many, if not most, tech startups as well as a number of modern large companies can or already do benefit from using AWS. Many large enterprises are partly migrating internal infrastructure to Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS.
-	**Costs:** Billing and cost management are such big topics that we have [an entire section on this](#billing-and-cost-management).
-	🔹**EC2 vs. other services:** Most users of AWS are most familiar with [EC2](#ec2), AWS’ flagship virtual server product, and possibly a few others like S3 and CLBs. But AWS products now extend far beyond basic IaaS, and often companies do not properly understand or appreciate all the many AWS services and how they can be applied, due to the [sharply growing](#which-services-to-use) number of services, their novelty and complexity, branding confusion, and fear of ⛓lock-in to proprietary AWS technology. Although a bit daunting, it’s important for technical decision-makers in companies to understand the breadth of the AWS services and make informed decisions. (We hope this guide will help.)
-	🚪**AWS vs. other cloud providers:** While AWS is the dominant IaaS provider (31% market share in [this 2016 estimate](https://www.srgresearch.com/articles/aws-remains-dominant-despite-microsoft-and-google-growth-surges)), there is significant competition and alternatives that are better suited to some companies. [This Gartner report](https://www.gartner.com/doc/reprints?id=1-2G2O5FC&ct=150519&st=sb) has a good overview of the major cloud players :
	-	[**Google Cloud Platform**](https://cloud.google.com/). GCP arrived later to market than AWS, but has vast resources and is now used widely by many companies, including a few large ones. It is gaining market share. Not all AWS services have similar or analogous services in GCP. And vice versa: In particular, GCP offers some more advanced machine learning-based services like the [Vision](https://cloud.google.com/vision/), [Speech](https://cloud.google.com/speech/), and [Natural Language](https://cloud.google.com/natural-language/) APIs. It’s not common to switch once you’re up and running, but it does happen: [Spotify migrated](http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-cloud-lures-amazon-web-services-customer-spotify-1456270951) from AWS to Google Cloud. There is more discussion [on Quora](https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-reasons-to-choose-AWS-over-Google-Cloud-or-vice-versa-for-a-high-traffic-web-application) about relative benefits. Of particular note is that VPCs in GCP are [global b