AWS CloudServices

AWS is Amazon's cloud computing platform. Instead of buying and running your own servers, storage and networks, you rent them from AWS over the internet and pay only for what you use.

AWS launched in 2006 and is the largest cloud platform in the world. It offers more than 200 services, from basic computing and storage to databases, networking, security, analytics and artificial intelligence. AWS runs these services from data centres around the world, including regions in India and the United States.

Businesses use AWS to host websites and applications, store and back up data, run databases, analyse information and build new products, without having to manage the physical hardware underneath.

AWS offers hundreds of services, but most businesses rely on a core set.

For computing, Amazon EC2 provides virtual servers and AWS Lambda runs code without servers to manage. For storage, Amazon S3 stores files and backups, and Amazon EBS provides disks for servers. For databases, Amazon RDS runs managed relational databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server, and Amazon DynamoDB offers a fast non-relational database.

For networking and security, Amazon VPC creates your private network in the cloud, AWS IAM controls who can access what, and Amazon CloudWatch monitors your systems. Most environments start with these services and add others, such as analytics or machine learning, as needs grow.

Organisations of every size use AWS, from startups to large enterprises and government agencies. Well-known companies such as Netflix run large parts of their business on it, alongside millions of smaller businesses.

Startups use AWS because they can start small, pay only for what they use and scale quickly as they grow. Large enterprises use it to replace ageing data centres, reach customers worldwide and build new digital services. Banks, healthcare providers and other regulated organisations use it too, because AWS offers the security and compliance controls they need.

AWS also works well for small businesses. You don't need a large IT team or budget to start, although a well-planned setup matters more when you don't have in-house cloud experts.

Yes. AWS mainly charges on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you pay for the resources you use, with no upfront hardware costs.

Different services charge in different ways. Servers are billed by the time they run, storage by the amount of data you keep, and data transfer by the volume that leaves AWS. Many services also charge per request or per transaction.

If you run workloads continuously, you can lower costs by committing to a certain level of usage for one or three years through Savings Plans or Reserved Instances. AWS also offers a free tier for new customers to try some services. Because every service bills differently, costs can grow quickly without monitoring, so it pays to set budgets and alerts from the start.

AWS works with a network of partner companies, called the AWS Partner Network, that help businesses plan, build and run their AWS environments. AWS now groups consulting firms under its services partners.

Procain is an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner and an AWS Authorized Commercial Reseller. Our AWS partner profile lists more than 20 customer launches and more than five AWS certifications across our team. We help businesses at every stage of their AWS journey: we design secure, reliable and cost-effective environments, migrate existing systems, set up security and compliance controls, and monitor and manage environments after launch.

Because we are an Authorized Commercial Reseller, you can also buy your AWS usage through us. Our services are also available through AWS Marketplace.

AWS has recently restructured its support plans. It now offers four tiers: Basic Support, which comes free with every AWS account, and three paid plans called Business Support+, Enterprise Support and Unified Operations. AWS will discontinue the older Developer, Business and Enterprise On-Ramp plans on January 1, 2027.

Business Support+ offers AI-powered assistance with 24/7 access to AWS experts, starting at $29 a month per account. Enterprise Support includes a designated Technical Account Manager, 15-minute response times and AWS Security Incident Response at no extra cost, with a minimum of $5,000 a month. Unified Operations adds proactive monitoring and deeper operational involvement for the most critical workloads.

AWS support helps you with AWS's own services. It doesn't design your environment, run your day-to-day operations or fix problems in your applications. That's where our team comes in. We help you choose the AWS plan that fits your workloads, and we handle the hands-on work that AWS support doesn't cover.

The AWS Well-Architected Framework is AWS's set of best practices for designing and running cloud environments. It covers six areas, which AWS calls pillars: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimisation and sustainability.

We use the framework to design every AWS environment we build. For existing environments, we run Well-Architected reviews that check your setup against each pillar, identify risks and give you a prioritised list of fixes.

A review often uncovers issues that nobody noticed, such as missing backups, overly broad access permissions or servers that cost far more than they need to. Fixing them early prevents outages, security incidents and wasted spending.

We recommend that your AWS account belongs to your company, whether you pay AWS directly or buy your AWS usage through us as an AWS Authorized Commercial Reseller.

When your company owns the account, you keep full control of your data and systems. We access your account through secure roles with only the permissions our work requires, and you can review or remove that access at any time. All our actions are logged, so you can see exactly what we do.

This setup protects you if your needs change later. If you decide to bring management in-house or work with someone else, you keep your environment exactly as it is.

AWS and Microsoft Azure are the two largest cloud platforms, and both can run almost any business workload securely. The differences lie in their strengths.

AWS has the longest track record, the broadest range of services and the largest community of engineers and partners. It's popular with startups, technology companies and organisations building cloud-native applications.

Azure integrates closely with Microsoft products such as Microsoft 365, Windows Server, SQL Server and Active Directory. Organisations that already rely on Microsoft often find Azure easier to adopt, and they can use existing Microsoft licences to reduce costs. Azure is also strong in hybrid setups that connect cloud services to your own data centre. Both platforms have data centre regions in India and the US. The right choice depends on your existing systems, your team's skills and the services your applications need.

AWS is the largest cloud platform, with the broadest range of services, the most regions and the biggest ecosystem of partners and trained engineers.

Google Cloud is smaller but strong in specific areas. It's known for data analytics, with tools such as BigQuery, for artificial intelligence and machine learning, and for Kubernetes, the container technology that Google originally created. Many organisations also find its pricing simpler.

Organisations that need a wide range of services or plan to hire engineers with cloud skills often choose AWS. Organisations focused on large-scale data analysis or machine learning often look closely at Google Cloud. Some use both, running each workload where it fits best.

Both give you lower prices in return for a one- or three-year commitment, but they work differently.

A Reserved Instance is a commitment to a specific type of server in a specific region. You get a discount on that exact configuration, but if your needs change, the discount may no longer match what you run.

A Savings Plan is a commitment to spend a set amount per hour on computing, rather than on a specific server. Compute Savings Plans apply automatically across server types, regions and some other services, which makes them much more flexible. For most businesses, Savings Plans are the simpler choice for computing costs. Before committing to either, check which services each option covers and base your commitment on steady, predictable usage, not on your busiest periods.

AWS offers several programmes that help reduce the cost of moving to and building on AWS.

The largest is the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP). It supports larger migrations through three stages: assessing your environment, preparing for the move and carrying out the migration. Eligible projects can receive AWS credits or funding that offsets part of the migration cost. AWS also runs programmes that support proofs of concept and new workloads.

Eligibility depends on factors such as the size of your planned AWS spending and the type of project. We check which programmes your project may qualify for and help you apply, so you don't miss support that can lower your costs.

Yes. AWS releases new services and features constantly, and we keep track of the ones that matter to your environment.

We don't adopt new services just because they're new. When AWS releases something that could lower your costs, improve performance or strengthen security, we assess it against your setup and recommend it only when the benefit is clear.

We also watch for the other side of AWS updates: older software versions and services that AWS plans to retire. We warn you ahead of time and plan the upgrade, so an end-of-support date never catches your team by surprise.

Ongoing cost optimisation is part of how we manage AWS environments. It isn't a one-time exercise at setup.

Your AWS bill changes as your usage changes. We review your spending regularly using AWS tools such as Cost Explorer, AWS Budgets and Trusted Advisor, and we act on what we find. That means resizing oversized servers, shutting down idle resources, moving rarely used data to cheaper storage and recommending Savings Plans where your usage is steady.

Our optimisation work typically reduces clients' AWS spending by about 30%. You receive regular reports that show what we changed and how much it saved.

The engineers who build your AWS environment stay involved after launch. They know your setup best, so we don't hand you over to a team that's seeing it for the first time.

You have a named lead at Procain throughout the engagement and afterwards. If your environment moves into our ongoing managed support, the engineers who built it take part in the handover and stay available for questions, changes and reviews.

We also document everything we build, so knowledge about your environment never depends on one person.