Looking at the May 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant vs the August 2013, it quite evident that Microsoft Azure IaaS is catching AWS in terms of functionality, automation and innovation. They are not quite there yet but at the very least they are putting pressure on AWS and AWS is responding in parts by reducing their prices and
I recently read the SQL Server Blog article Data-intensive Applications in the Cloud Computing World by Mark Souza, General Manager, Windows Azure Customer Advisory Team and it really drove home the concept that moving applications into the Cloud is not just about moving an application and related database to respective virtual
A Microsoft representative mentioned in conversation that the Azure IaaS cloud VM provides better bang for buck than Amazon Web Services (AWS) when using your own SQL Server licenses.