Microsoft Azure vs OpenShift vs Salesforce Platform comparison

Windows Azure is Microsoft's cloud platform, where developers can create, deploy, and maintain their apps. This cloud application platform allows developers to concentrate on the actual applications, while it takes care of all the elements behind the apps.

Windows Azure works across multiple frameworks and languages. It is fully scalable, localized in that it is hosted globally in many datacenters, and has widespread capabilities with elements of application development, deployment, and management.

Azure is comprised of several different service modules, including Infrastructure; Web; Mobile; Dev & Test; Big Data; Media;Storage, Backup & Recovery; and Identity & Access Management.

Microsoft Azure works as a:

1. Platform as a service (PaaS)
2. Software as a service (SaaS)
3. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

Microsoft Azure is available:

• On-premises
• Hybrid
• Multi-cloud
• At the edge

Compared to its competitors, Microsoft Azure:

• Has more affordable features
• Has easier migration for organizations already using other Microsoft tools
• Has several educational resources available
• Provides robust support
• Is ideal for small and large businesses

Microsoft Azure Features:

• Scalability
• Stability
• Flexibility
• Azure Site Recovery
• Active Directory
• Monitoring features
• Cloud-based
• Automated tasks
• Change capability cadence
• Showback capabilities
• Information protection
• Azure Data Lake
• Excellent portal
• Intuitive user interface
• Remote desktop
• Fast provisioning
• Data security
• Data resiliency
• Speed of service
• Integrated delivery pipeline
• Disaster recovery
• Robust templates
• Flexible coding languages
• Virtual systems testing

Benefits of Microsoft Azure:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Because Microsoft Azure is an IaaS, organizations can deploy as well as manage applications easily and quickly. Azure also provides you with the ability to customize the cloud software to meet your specific business needs.
• Seamless integration: Microsoft Azure is built to seamlessly integrate with existing IT departments via hybrid databases, secure private connections, and storage solutions.
• Cost-effective: Because Azure can harmoniously exist in your business environment with your data center, it is a very cost-effective solution.
• Analytics support: Azure is designed with built-in support that is used to analyze data and provide key insights. Azure offers Cortana Analytics, Stream Analytics, Machine Learning, and SQL services.
• Unique storage system: Compared to other cloud services, Microsoft Azure has more data centers and delivery points, which helps create an optimal user experience and also helps deliver content faster. In addition, Microsoft Azure makes it possible for organizations to exchange content across several virtual machines.
• Enhanced flexibility: Azure provides extreme flexibility by allowing you to choose any level of functionality you require. It also supports many of the same technologies IT teams and developers usually depend on, making it easier for them to manage.
• Easy implementation: Microsoft Azure is easy and quick to deploy. If necessary, you can change web apps to Azure with almost zero downtime.

Reviews from Real Users:

"It is a flexible solution that is straightforward to use," says the principal consultant at a computer software company.

OmarJ., future datacenter consultant: Microsoft Azure Cloud at a tech company, adds that "The user interface is very nice and makes everything easy to use."

“You can build an environment in minutes. It's very good in terms of being an infrastructure as a service, and I found that really fascinating,” says an information technology consultant at a computer software company.

"I think Azure's level of automation to achieve efficiency or agility is valuable. I also like the change capability cadence, the showback capabilities, and understanding what our costs are," says an enterprise architect at an energy/utilities company.

Marco C., Ing. at Wolters Kluwer, says "The valuable features of Microsoft Azure are that it is cloud-based and has good storage. The storage is completely managed by Azure. We do not need to do any patching of security because it is handled by Azure which is a benefit. The solution is fully compatible with the Microsoft technology stack and is very scalable."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure is it has everything together in one place. It is one large tool with lots of small tools that are updated often," says the owner of a media company.

OpenShift is Red Hat's Kubernetes platform that provides a cloud environment for development, hosting, and scaling applications. The solution enables a cloud-like experience regardless of the location where it has been deployed, including in the cloud, on premises, or at the edge. It allows developers to select where to build, deploy, and run applications through a consistent experience, supported by full-stack automated operations, and self-service provisioning.

OpenShift employs an open hybrid cloud strategy which is built on the foundation of technologies including Linux, containers, and automation. This approach provides clients with a flexible selection of where to run their applications. Applications can be built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and are automatically compatible with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. OpenShift enables automation inside and outside clients' Kubernetes clusters.

The solution works with traditional, modernized, and cloud-native applications. It supports a wide variety of workloads, including Java, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), and databases. Due to the vast ecosystem of technology partners that OpenShift supports, clients can benefit from automated deployment and life-cycle management. This product improves the security of the full application life cycle by decreasing operational risk. This is achieved by shifting security left and automating development, security, and operations (DevSecOps).

OpenShift Features

OpenShift facilitates clients’ application-running processes through various features. Some of the product’s features include:

• Backup and recovery: This feature ensures logical and physical protection through containers, Kubernetes, and serverless present opportunities. It is used to meet recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO).
  
  
• CI/CD pipelines: This feature of OpenShift automates the continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, accelerating the time for application development.
  
  
• GitOps: The GitOps feature increases security and reliability for applications through tools like Git repositories, Kubernetes, and CI/CD. The product includes this feature to allow developers more freedom in app development through tracing and accounting for the application life cycle in the Git repository.
  
  
• Helm: Helm is a package and installs manager that simplifies the deployment of containerized apps. It is included in the features of OpenShift to assist users with interoperability and support cloud-native applications from independent software vendors (ISVs).
  
  
• Sandboxed containers: OpenShift offers sandboxed containers based on Kata Containers to provide an additional layer of isolation for applications while meeting high-security requirements.
  
  
• Windows containers: The product offers this feature to facilitate users when running their Windows applications by providing them a scheduled, orchestrated, and managed environment.
  
  
• Security: OpenShift offers various operations through which clients can ensure the safety of their data and applications. They include container host and platform multitenancy, security and trusted content sources, security of the container registry, the build pipeline, and data, managing security container deployments, and more.
  
  
• Service Mesh: This feature provides a uniform way for clients to connect, manage, and observe microservices-based applications. It also provides detailed behavioral insight.
  
  
• Operators: This feature automates the development, configuration, and management of Kubernetes-native applications.
  
  
• Virtualization: OpenShift allows users to run and manage virtual machine (VM) and container workloads side by side.

OpenShift Benefits

OpenShift provides the companies and users utilizing it with various benefits. These benefits include the following:

• OpenShift provides scalability for applications, allowing them to run across hundreds of nodes in seconds.
  
  
• The product offers flexibility by simplifying the deployment and management of hybrid infrastructure and providing self-managed or fully-managed service.
  
  
• OpenShift incorporates open-source technologies alongside its native components and features.
  
  
• The product enhances the developer experience by offering a variety of tools, multi language support, and integrated development environment (IDE) integrations.
  
  
• The solution supports automated installation and over-the-air platform upgrades in the cloud with Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform, IBM Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, as well as various on-premise platforms.
  
  
• OpenShift includes streamlined and automated container and app builds, as well as health management and scaling.
  
  
• The solution enhances the support of smaller-footprint topologies in edge scenarios.
  
  
• OpenShift provides easy multiple cluster management through Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes.
  
  
• The product has enhanced security capabilities that include access controls, an enterprise registry with a built-in scanner, and networking.
  
  
• The solution supports a wide spectrum of enterprise storage solutions for running stateful as well as stateless apps.

Reviews from Real Users

An executive head of department - M-PESA Tech at a comms service provider gives OpenShift a high rating because its automation can go a long way in reducing time to market and the time required to fix issues that arise from deployment.

Vikram C., head of infrastructure & cloud ops at a comms service provider, rates highly three qualities of OpenShift, summarizing them to mature, seamless integration, and easy setup.

Salesforce Platform is a tool that provides application building with open application programming interfaces (APIs), integration tools, back-end services, starter templates, and developer environments. With a low-code interface, users are able to build applications and benefit from automated processes. The product helps customers to increase work productivity and save on IT costs through efficient, easy-to-understand, methods for creating applications.

Salesforce Platform allows companies to build and operate intelligent applications at scale and share them with employees and customers in real time. The tool secures companies' data while connecting and synchronizing it simultaneously across their Customer 360 accounts. The main components of the product are:

• Application development: With low code, companies can build applications faster and automate their businesses.
  
  
• Automation: The product can connect with Salesforce Genie, allowing employees to create seamless processes.
  
  
• Security: The Shield component allows companies to secure their data and build applications.
  
  
• Hyperforce: Companies have the option to scale globally and serve customers locally, providing secure, private, and agile solutions.
  
  
• Einstein Intelligence: Organizations can utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to create personalized experiences for customers, potentially increasing companies’ growth.
  
  
• Sandboxes: Salesforce Platform offers developers secure development environments where they can test, build, and deploy changes before rolling out final products.

Salesforce Platform Features

Also referred to as a “drag and drop app builder," this solution offers various features for customers to create intelligent applications and build personalized services for clients, partners, and employees within the apps.

• Mobile feature: The mobile feature of Salesforce Platform allows users to build applications for mobile as well as turn already-made apps into mobile apps instantly.
  
  
• AI: Through AI, users are able to personalize their applications, utilizing the smart assistant of the platform (called Einstein). The creation of customized services for clients can drive engagement and scale customer experience.
  
  
• Vision feature: The Vision feature also utilizes Einstein Platform, where users can take advantage of Einstein Prediction Builder, Bots, Vision, and Language to create AI-powered applications.
  
  
• Data protection: Salesforce Platform offers a data protection feature called Salesforce Shield. With it, companies can monitor app and data use, automate security policies, run compliance audits, and encrypt sensitive data.
  
  
• Privacy and identity feature: Salesforce Customer Identity is a feature for privacy that offers user access through a single login. The feature provides a seamless user experience while maintaining a high level of security.
• Community feature: The community feature of the product offers a digital experience platform where companies can create secure portals, applications, and websites.
  
  
• Builder feature: The application building feature of Salesforce Platform offers various ways for users to create apps, including through low-code builders and pro-code tools.

Salesforce Platform Benefits

The benefits of using Salesforce Platform include:

• Compared to manual coding products, Salesforce Platform is simpler for beginner users who want to develop a product.
  
  
• The tool requires a low amount of coding, making it a quick and agile way to develop applications.
  
  
• The adaptable design of the platform offers multi-layered security which maintains data accessible to users while protecting it from outside sources.
  
  
• The product can be incorporated with various platforms and coding languages for application development.
  
  
• The platform can be used to create applications compatible with large database systems like MySQL and Oracle.
  
  
• Salesforce Platform allows collaboration between users, as it offers simultaneous access to various users at the same time.
  
  
• Salesforce Platform is compatible with desktop databases such as Microsoft Access.

Reviews from Real Users

A vice president at a healthcare company values Salesforce Platform because it is flexible and user-friendly with helpful pre-built schemas.

Peter G., a senior technical consultant at a tech services company, rates Salesforce Platform highly because it is intuitive, quite easy to learn, and stores all kinds of relevant sales information.