Part 1. Getting started

Have you watched a blockbuster on Netflix, bought a gadget on Amazon.com, or booked a room on Airbnb today? If so, you have used Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the background. Because Netflix, Amazon.com, and Airbnb all use Amazon Web Services for their business.

Amazon Web Services is the biggest player in the cloud computing markets. According to analysts, AWS maintains a market share of more than 30%.^[1] Another impressive number: AWS reported net sales of $4.1 billion USD for the quarter ending in June 2017.^[2] AWS data centers are distributed worldwide in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. But the cloud does not consist of hardware and computing power alone. Software is part of every cloud platform and makes the difference for you, as a customer who aims to provide a valuable experience to your services’s users. The research firm Gartner has yet again classified AWS as a leader in their Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service in 2017. Gartner’s Magic Quadrant groups vendors into four quadrants: niche players, challengers, visionaries, and leaders, and provides a quick overview of the cloud computing market.^[3] Being recognized as a leader attests AWS’s high speed and high quality of innovation.

¹Synergy Research Group, “The Leading Cloud Providers Continue to Run Away with the Market,” http://mng.bz/qDYo.

²Amazon, 10-Q for Quarter Ended June 30 (2017), http://mng.bz/1LAX.