Cloud provider platforms and tools
When a business is ready to proceed with a cloud migration, it's prudent to consider which cloud provider platforms and tools meet business objectives and align with a staff’s skills. Hyperscale providers AWS, Azure and Google lead the market, offering ever-expanding portfolios of tools and services, but other providers deliver competitive offerings as well.
Top Stories
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Video
27 Jun 2025
Host a static website on AWS with Amazon S3 and Route 53
Want to quickly and affordably get your website hosted in the cloud? If you don't need advanced services such as EC2 or Fargate, a simple S3-hosted website might be the answer. Continue Reading
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Opinion
09 Jun 2025
FinOps X 2025: IT cost management evolves for AI, cloud
FinOps is evolving beyond cloud cost management to include AI, SaaS and IT asset management, offering new frameworks for measuring and optimizing IT spending. Continue Reading
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Definition
28 Sep 2018
CAIQ (Consensus Assessments Initiative Questionnaire)
The Consensus Assessments Initiative Questionnaire (CAIQ) is a survey provided by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) for cloud consumers and auditors to assess the security capabilities of a cloud service provider. Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2018
Microsoft embraces Azure cloud platform as its strategic heart
Microsoft's showcase of Azure-based offerings asserts the cloud at the heart of the company's future, and further cements its position against cloud archrival AWS. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Sep 2018
How Azure Cloud Shell can streamline resource management
Azure Cloud Shell's browser-based model frees IT teams from installation headaches but presents some formatting and timeout issues that admins need to watch for. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Aug 2018
Azure management groups ease policy enforcement
It isn't easy to manage Azure subscriptions, but with management groups, admins can now simplify policy enforcement on a larger scale. Continue Reading
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Opinion
28 Aug 2018
Machine learning services in cloud aim for AI accessibility
Machine learning is a complex technology that requires data science skills. Cloud providers have tried to change that and make AI more accessible. But are those efforts working? Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2018
VMware swallows CloudHealth with eye on multi-cloud market
VMware wants to simplify management of complex multi-cloud environments -- this time through the acquisition of third-party SaaS provider CloudHealth. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Aug 2018
Legacy roots still hinder Oracle and IBM cloud strategies
As IBM and Oracle look to shift away from legacy systems and hone in on IaaS, it won't be a clean cut. Still, each vendor has its sweet spot in the overall cloud market. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jul 2018
Google seeks enterprise nod with GCP services in IoT, security
Google continues to make strides to catch AWS and Microsoft Azure, with upgrades around edge computing and security. But it won't unseat either competitor anytime soon. Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2018
Google's partner ecosystem remains a work in progress
The Google Cloud ecosystem continues to expand, as Google improves its relationships with third-party vendors and tries to translate its technology to traditional IT shops. Continue Reading
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Blog Post
06 Jun 2018
JEDI cloud contract looms large for customers, providers
Public sector IT and private sector IT can be very different animals, but a looming decision by the Department of Defense has the potential to send shock waves through both sides of the IT world. ... Continue Reading
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News
06 Jun 2018
Success of GitHub deal hinges on Azure's open source appeal
Microsoft's ongoing détente with the open source community advances with a deal to purchase GitHub, the world's largest open source code repository. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 May 2018
Azure Availability Zones enable more resilient cloud apps
'Downtime' is a dreaded word for mission-critical applications. Learn how availability zones in Azure can promote uptime and keep your workloads running. Continue Reading
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Tip
23 May 2018
Are AWS certificate authority services trustworthy?
AWS now operates as its own CA. What are the potential risks of the new AWS certificate authority services? Expert Dave Shackleford outlines the pros and cons of this new setup. Continue Reading
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News
18 May 2018
Google acquisition aims to simplify big data projects
Google Cloud analytics tools are well-regarded for their technology, but not necessarily for their ease of use. Google's acquisition of Cask Data could solve that shortcoming. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2018
Red Hat OpenShift tie-ups target hybrid cloud portability
Partnerships with major cloud providers help position Red Hat OpenShift as a hybrid cloud management platform that customers hope can solve lock-in troubles. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2018
Azure Cosmos DB flexes joints for multiple data stores
Microsoft added multi-master write replication and more granular cost controls to Cosmos DB to cover the broadest number of uses in the hotly competitive managed database market. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2018
Microsoft showcases Azure DevOps Project enhancements
Microsoft continues to reach out to developers with an updated tool to help them configure a DevOps pipeline and connect it to the cloud, regardless of the app dev platform. Continue Reading
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News
18 Apr 2018
Microsoft takes holistic approach to IoT security concerns
Azure Sphere extends security from the cloud to the device. It's the most holistic approach on the market and provides another example of Microsoft abandoning its insular past. Continue Reading
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News
21 Mar 2018
IBM cloud tools aim to woo the unconvinced
IBM's latest batch of cloud tools aims to help customers deploy and manage workloads on private and public clouds and keep the company at the center of their cloud strategies. Continue Reading
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News
15 Mar 2018
Analysts: How to make IBM Cloud services more competitive
To make IBM Cloud more competitive, Big Blue must stand by its enterprise base, while it also satisfies the developer community and expands its infrastructure tools. Continue Reading
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Opinion
12 Mar 2018
Alibaba Cloud services become strong IaaS contender
Alibaba continues to gain traction in the IaaS market, and despite not having the same breadth of services as some of its rivals, it could lure some smaller shops away from AWS. Continue Reading
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News
08 Feb 2018
The window to be a hyperscale cloud provider is closing
A handful of companies will control the majority of the public cloud. Is there still room for big-name companies to join the club, or are they already too late? Continue Reading
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Blog Post
26 Jan 2018
Cloud conferences to check out in the first half of 2018
For beginners and experts alike, cloud conferences are a good way to gain industry knowledge and sharpen your skills. Here are some to pencil in over the next several months. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jan 2018
Azure networking feature addresses latency, performance
An Accelerated Networking upgrade to Microsoft Azure reduces latency and improves performance for newer VMs, as Microsoft tries to keep pace with AWS. TEST Continue Reading
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Tip
23 Jan 2018
Google cloud features evolve to turn up the heat on AWS
Google made several moves in 2017 in an attempt to close the gap between itself and market leader AWS. But will those efforts be enough to win over new customers? Continue Reading
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News
08 Jan 2018
Microsoft advances Azure hybrid strategy with Avere deal
Microsoft's acquisition of Avere Systems addresses a shortcoming in Azure storage services and could help steal some business from AWS and GCP. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Feb 2017
Compare offline data migration services from AWS, Azure and Google
Sending a storage disk to a cloud provider seems like an antiquated data-migration method, but it's a common choice. Here's how AWS, Azure and Google manage the process. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Dec 2016
Choose the best Google cloud instance types for your workloads
Not all workloads are the same -- some require more CPUs, while other require more memory. Fortunately, Google's range of cloud instance types offers enterprises a lot of options. Continue Reading
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Answer
16 Mar 2016
What cloud security controls are best for due diligence?
With increasing use of cloud sending more enterprise data outside of the organization's control, due diligence is crucial. Expert Dan Sullivan offers advice on how to get it right. Continue Reading
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News
16 Jul 2015
Microsoft cloud strategy turns competitors into partners
For a company once known for its closed ecosystem, the Microsoft cloud strategy is increasingly reliant on the competition. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 May 2015
Exploring capabilities, costs of Microsoft Azure cloud
Microsoft Azure targets enterprises that want to connect their existing data centers to the cloud. But is Azure the best bet for your organization? Continue Reading
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Feature
08 May 2015
Getting a handle on Google Cloud Platform options
With a range of options for big data, storage and more, Google Cloud Platform has become the public cloud of choice for many enterprise users. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 May 2014
Sizing, pricing Amazon Web Services EC2 instance types
Bill Claybrook compares complex sizing and pricing issues when choosing EC2 instance types. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Jan 2014
Is Amazon CloudSearch superior to do-it-yourself search tools?
Big data can be incredibly valuable for enterprise business intelligence. But to extract that value, you must choose the most appropriate search tool. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Jun 2013
Windows Azure Media Services gives YouTube junkies a new outlet
Enterprises need only look to YouTube's stats to see the value of video. Windows Azure Media Services has the benefits of video with more control. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Jun 2011
Three questions to ask when considering Microsoft Azure
Is Microsoft Azure a no-brainer cloud choice or impossible to adopt? Ask these three questions to determine if the cloud platform is right for you. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Jul 2009
Running a Web service on Google App Engine
Google's App Engine for building Web applications in the cloud is beginning to support Java servlet-based Web services. It's still under development, but you can experiment using Eclipse support or command-line utilities in the SDK. Continue Reading