---
title: AWS vs Azure for Indian SMEs: the licence question decides it
description: For most Indian SMEs the cloud choice comes down to existing Microsoft licences and team skills, not benchmarks. Plus where 20–40% of spend leaks.
source: https://samuelmarndi.com/blog/aws-vs-azure-for-indian-businesses/
site: https://samuelmarndi.com
author: Samuel Marndi
contact: +91 82803 20550 · samuelmarandi6@gmail.com
updated: 2026-08-22
---


# AWS vs Azure for Indian SMEs: the licence question decides it

*Comparison · Updated 2026-05-30 · By Samuel Marndi*

## Short answer

**If you already pay for Microsoft 365 or Windows Server, Azure is often cheaper overall because of licence benefits. If you want the widest service catalogue and the deepest hiring pool, choose AWS.** For data and analytics workloads, Google Cloud is a legitimate third answer.

For a typical Indian SME the technical differences between the three barely register. What registers is licensing, what your team already knows, and whether the specific managed services you need are mature on that platform.

## How to choose in five minutes

| If this is true… | Choose |
| --- | --- |
| You already pay for Microsoft 365 or Windows Server licences | Azure |
| You want the largest service catalogue and easiest hiring | AWS |
| Your workload is analytics and data warehousing | Google Cloud |
| You run a few predictable servers and want simple billing | DigitalOcean or Hetzner |
| You have huge data volumes and expensive bandwidth | Hybrid — keep bulk local |
| Compliance requires data to stay in India | Any of the three; all have Indian regions |

## Where 20–40% of cloud spend leaks

A cost audit at ₹25,000–₹75,000 usually finds more than it costs, which is why it is the right first engagement rather than a migration.

- Instances sized for a launch-day guess and never revisited
- Dev and staging environments running 24×7 for a team working 40 hours
- Orphaned disks, snapshots and load balancers from deleted projects
- On-demand pricing where reserved capacity or savings plans would cut 30–50%
- Cross-region data transfer nobody intended to architect
- Backup retention with no policy, keeping every snapshot indefinitely

## Related questions

### Is the cloud cheaper than our own server?

Not automatically. Cloud wins on elasticity, resilience and not owning hardware; on-premises can win on raw cost for steady, predictable, data-heavy workloads. Run the comparison over three years including power, cooling, replacement and someone's time.

### How long does migration take?

Small estates move in a weekend. Mid-size estates move in waves over weeks, so no single cutover carries the whole business.

### Should we use a reseller?

Only if they add real service. Buying capacity through someone who takes a margin on your consumption gives them a financial reason not to help you shrink it.

## Related service

- [Cloud consulting](https://samuelmarndi.com/services/cloud-consulting/) — AWS & Azure architecture, migration, cost cuts


---

*Published by [Samuel Marndi](https://samuelmarndi.com), independent IT consultant, Bengaluru, India.
Source page: https://samuelmarndi.com/blog/aws-vs-azure-for-indian-businesses/
Enquiries: +91 82803 20550 (phone and WhatsApp) · samuelmarandi6@gmail.com · Mon–Sat, 9am–7pm IST
Quotes are written and itemised, issued within 24 hours.*