1.1 Define the AWS cloud and its value proposition
Definition of the AWS Cloud
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a secure public services platform that offers a number of services including compute power (EC2), database (RDS), storage (S3), and other functionality to help businesses scale and grow without the need to own phyiscal hardware or expensive datacenters. Many customers currently leverage AWS cloud products and solutions to build sophisticated infrastructures and applications which have increased flexibility, scalability and reliability for their businesses.
AWS Cloud provides a broad set of infrastructure services (currently there are over 100 services are available),


such as computing power, storage options, networking and databases, delivered as a utility: on-demand, available in seconds, with pay-as-you-go pricing, there is also a free tier that give 750 hours of usage a month so that you can dip your toe in.
It is available with 44 availability zones within 18 geographic regions across the world (this includes the specialist GOV region, and the two Chinese only regions. – with 5 more regions announced.
AWS have a good standard of security certification and accreditation, with data encryption at rest and in-transit, hardware security modules and strong physical security which all contribute to a more secure way to manage a company’s business’ IT infrastructure.
With the built-in capabilities for controlling, auditing and managing identity, configuration and usage which come built into the platform. Will aid customers to meet their compliance, governance and regulatory requirements.
The AWS Value Proposition Edit
below is the synopsis of the AWS value proposition.
Principle | Concepts |
Agility | Speed
Experimentation Innovation |
Cost | Eliminate upfront investments
Economy of scale Only pay for what you use |
Elasticity | Scale on demand
Eliminate wasted capacity |
Flexibility | Broad set of products
Low to no cost to entry |
Security | Amazon has acquired many certifications
Shared responsibility model |
That said, unless so transformation is undertaken, the accounts department will be getting some nightmarish usage bills 😊