AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: a UK SMB comparison

For most UK small and mid-sized businesses already running Microsoft 365, Azure is the most practical cloud choice, because it shares the same identity, licensing and management as the tools your team already uses. AWS has the broadest catalogue of services and tends to suit engineering-led or product businesses. Google Cloud is strongest for data and analytics-heavy work.

This guide explains the differences in plain English, for Managing Directors, Finance Directors and Operations Directors rather than IT specialists. Lanmark is a Microsoft Direct CSP partner.

The three platforms are often called hyperscalers, meaning cloud providers operating at enormous global scale. All three are capable, secure and used by serious organisations. The right answer depends less on which is best in the abstract and more on what you already run, how predictable you need your costs to be, and how much in-house technical resource you have.

What are AWS, Azure and Google Cloud?

A public cloud is computing power, storage and software that you rent over the internet instead of buying and running your own servers. You pay for what you use, and the provider looks after the underlying hardware, power and physical security.

AWS is the longest-established of the three and has the widest range of services. Microsoft Azure is built around the same Microsoft technologies most businesses already use, including Microsoft 365, Windows and Entra ID (the sign-in system formerly known as Azure Active Directory). Google Cloud is the smallest of the three by market presence but has a strong reputation for data, analytics and machine learning.

The three platforms at a glance

All three can do the job. The differences that matter most to an SMB are integration with what you already own, how easily a small team can manage the platform, and how predictable the bill is.

Cost and predictability

The most common reason a Finance Director becomes uneasy about cloud is the billing model. All three platforms charge on consumption. In theory that is efficient. In practice, an unmanaged cloud account can produce a bill that swings month to month, because every running service, gigabyte of storage and data transfer adds to the total.

Here the choice of platform matters less than how you run it. An estate that is sized correctly, monitored and reviewed regularly behaves very differently to one that is switched on and left. Our guide to Azure cost optimisation for UK SMBs covers the practical controls.

Microsoft 365 integration and identity

If your business already runs Microsoft 365 for email, Teams and Office, Azure gives you an advantage that AWS and Google Cloud cannot easily match. The reason is identity. Your staff already sign in to Microsoft 365 using Entra ID. Azure uses the same system, which means one set of accounts, one place to manage who can access what, and one set of security policies such as multi-factor authentication and conditional access (rules that decide when and how someone is allowed to sign in).

Running AWS or Google Cloud alongside Microsoft 365 is entirely possible, but it usually means maintaining a second identity system and a second set of security controls. For a small team without a dedicated IT department, that is more to manage and more that can go wrong.

UK data residency and compliance

Data residency means where your data physically lives. For many UK businesses, particularly in financial services, legal and other client-data-heavy sectors, being able to say with confidence that client data is held in the UK matters for both compliance and client trust.

All three platforms operate UK data centre regions. The practical difference is how easily a small team can configure that correctly and evidence it when a regulator or client asks. Azure’s shared management with Microsoft 365 makes this more straightforward for firms already in the Microsoft ecosystem. The National Cyber Security Centre publishes clear guidance on cloud security that applies whichever platform you choose.

Where data security extends to active threat monitoring, Lanmark’s managed detection and response service provides 24x7x365 cover.

Which cloud is right: three scenarios

A professional services or finance firm on Microsoft 365. Azure is almost always the right answer. You already own the identity, the licensing and the management tooling, and Azure reuses all three. Adding a second cloud platform would create work and risk for little benefit.

A software or product business with its own engineering team. AWS deserves serious consideration. Its breadth of services and mature developer tooling are genuine strengths, and an in-house engineering team has the skills to manage the platform and control costs. Azure remains a strong alternative, especially if the business also runs on Microsoft 365, but the decision is closer and should follow your engineers’ expertise.

A data and analytics-led business. Google Cloud has a strong reputation for data warehousing, analytics and machine learning. In practice, many SMBs here run a primary platform for everyday operations, usually Azure if they are on Microsoft 365, and use a second platform selectively for specialist data work. Running more than one cloud is legitimate, provided you are clear about why and have the support to manage both.

You do not have to choose alone

Choosing a cloud platform is a commercial decision as much as a technical one, and it is easy to be steered by whoever is selling. A sensible starting point is our Microsoft 365 licence review, which establishes what you already own before you commit to any cloud spend. If artificial intelligence is part of your cloud plan, see our AI consultancy work.

Lanmark’s deepest expertise is in the Microsoft estate, including Azure and Microsoft 365. Our advice is platform-honest: if Azure is not the right fit for your business, we will tell you so.

If Azure is the right fit, see our Microsoft Azure services and get in touch. If you already run Azure and want someone to look after it, see Azure managed support.