6 AWS Services Most Businesses Use (And the Ones They Don't)

When people try out Amazon Web Services (AWS), they see an immediate realization that there are too many services to choose from! AWS has hundreds of cloud products and features - everything from compute and storage to Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing and satellite-based communications. For enterprises making a decision on the cloud, having so many options can be daunting. 

However, the truth is that even though there are many services listed on the AWS service list, most enterprises will only depend on a small set of services to run their applications, run their websites, store their databases, and run their digital operations. Even though AWS continues to innovate and launch new capabilities on its platform, most enterprises will accomplish what they are trying to accomplish without ever using most of the platform. 

To make better technology decisions and to keep their technology from becoming overly complex, organizations must first recognize which services are typical and which are reserved for specific use cases. 

Why Does AWS Have So Many Services?

AWS has transformed over the years from being just a cloud infrastructure provider to being an entire technology ecosystem. With AWS, organizations can host their websites, manage their databases, perform data analytics, build machine learning models, globally deploy their applications and automate an infinite amount of business processes. 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to be the leading provider of cloud computing services due to its extensive range of service offerings across multiple industries. AWS has a tailored service offering to suit the specific requirements of start-ups, enterprises, healthcare, manufacturing, banking and software companies. 

However, with so many options available within AWS, not all companies will use all of the services offered by AWS. 

Services You Will Most Likely Use When Setting Up AWS  

Amazon EC2 

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provides the foundations of many companies’ cloud infrastructure. It provides virtual servers for companies to run applications and/or host websites or business systems without the need to buy any physical equipment. 

As far as new applications are concerned or running existing applications in the cloud via migration, EC2 is typically amongst the very first AWS service to be implemented. 

Amazon S3

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is the most extensively used cloud storage solution globally. Organizations use S3 for storage of all documentation, application assets, backups through images, and even videos and large data sets. These three factors of scalability, durability and cost all make S3 a must-have in any modern cloud-based environment. 

Amazon RDS

There is a high volume of work and technical ability required to manage databases. Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) eliminates a lot of these requirements as it can automatically handle the majority of your database maintenance. 

Businesses have the option of utilizing RDS to operate databases without having to maintain servers, upgrade software, perform routine backups, etc., therefore allowing development teams to concentrate solely on creating applications versus managing the hardware required to deliver them. 

AWS IAM

Every organization operating within the cloud considers security extremely important. AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) enables organizations to manage who is able to gain access to their cloud resources and perform specific actions against those cloud resources. 

If adequate access controls are not in place, even the most advanced cloud environment can expose its organizations to security risk. 

Amazon CloudWatch

An essential element of maintaining the performance and reliability of an application is monitoring it. By using Amazon CloudWatch, businesses can monitor the health of their system along with its resource usage and operational metrics at any time. 

By being able to see the data associated with an application, teams can proactively identify potential issues prior to affecting customers, as well as allow the business to maintain smooth application operations. 

AWS Lambda

Serverless computing continues its rise in popularity, with AWS Lambda being one of the major drivers of this trend. By allowing developers to run their code based on an event, consumers are no longer responsible for managing their own servers; they only pay for the resources consumed in a given timeframe. 

Many businesses use Lambda for their automation projects, data processing, backend services and application integrations. 

Services Organizations Usually Adopt as They Expand

The number of services that an organization can use within the cloud expands as its footprint grows.

Amazon CloudFront

Businesses that have customers in multiple parts of the world can use Amazon CloudFront so that they can quickly deliver their content and improve their web performance.

Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS

Organizations that have moved toward containerization often will adopt Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) or Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) to allow them to effectively manage their containerized applications.

AWS Backup

Data protection is a key priority as workloads continue to increase; as a result, AWS Backup allows organizations to automate and centralize their entire backup management for multiple AWS services.

AWS Organizations

Large organizations with many AWS accounts will frequently leverage AWS Organizations to enhance their governance of multiple AWS accounts and to therefore better their security and operational controls.

The AWS Services Most Businesses Do Not Use

Although AWS has an extensive set of capabilities, many AWS services are geared toward highly specialized use cases. 

Quantum Computing Services

Quantum Computing is an exciting, emerging field. Most organizations will not require any quantum computing solutions at this time; these types of services are typically leveraged by researchers, educational institutions, or organizations that are seeking solutions to large compute-related problems. 

Specialized IoT Services

IoT platforms are capable of delivering a high degree of value for manufacturers, logistics companies, and smart device providers; however, companies that do not have connected device ecosystems have very limited need for IoT services offered by AWS. 

Services Designed Specifically for Various Industries

AWS offers numerous industry-specific services providing solutions for industries like healthcare, telecommunications and media. Although these solutions are very powerful, they are mostly designed to serve specialized or niche requirements compared to mainstream business needs. 

AI and Machine learning platforms constitute the fastest-growing segment of cloud services. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing quickly. However, most businesses are still in the early stages of implementing this technology. Businesses with a primary focus on building websites/ applications and more traditional digital operations typically do not have a real need for advanced machine learning solutions, even though these services can provide an incredible amount of functionality to an AI project. 

Number of Services Provided is NOT the Most Important Metric for Determining Success in the Cloud

One of the largest missteps organizations tend to make is assuming that cloud business maturity is based on how many services they have implemented. 

In actuality, a successful business in the cloud should be focused on providing its user(s) with a simple and easy-to-use experience. The addition of every service will add a whole host of new configuration requirements, security requirements, monitoring requirements and operational obligations. Adding services without a clear business reason will create unnecessary costs and complexities and deliver no real value to the business. 

Successful cloud platforms are built around business objectives, not around technology trends. 

Common Mistakes Made by Businesses During Cloud Adoption 

Many organizations begin their cloud journey excited, but without a plan for how to get there. 

Some organizations try to use all the new services they are exposed to, and others build overly complicated architectures before they need to. Many businesses do not focus on cost management or governance; they only focus on their technical capabilities.

Another challenge we see is that enterprises gain access to AWS through the console but do not implement their security and policy controls until it is too late. To mitigate risk, it is important to implement governance as soon as possible so that you don’t have to address operational and/or financial issues when you start to use different AWS offerings.

To begin using AWS, you first create your AWS account and log in to the AWS console. After you have successfully authenticated your account, you can provision resources, manage infrastructure and monitor workloads all from one location (the AWS console login).

Although there are literally hundreds of services on the AWS platform, most organizations can successfully begin using a few foundational AWS cloud services such as compute, storage, network, database and security.

Companies should not use all available services; instead, they should use services that are most relevant for their business growth and operational efficiencies.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, although cloud adoption may appear to an enterprise to be complex because of the sheer size of the overall AWS ecosystem, most enterprises operate using only a small subset of core AWS web services to run their businesses.

FAQs

What Services Does AWS Provide? 

AWS offers a wide variety of cloud-based tools and services to provide your business with solutions for Computing, Storage, Networking, Databases, Security, & Application Development.

Which AWS Services are Widely Used By Companies? 

Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, AWS IAM, & Amazon CloudWatch are some of the most widely used AWS services.

Do All Business Need To Use All Services To Succeed? 

No, most companies use only a fraction of the services that are applicable to their specific requirements.

How Do I Gain Access To Services?

Once you log in to AWS, you will be able to access and manage services through the AWS Console.

Why Do Companies Choose AWS? 

There are many reasons as to why companies choose AWS, including scalability, reliability, availability of a worldwide infrastructure, security features, and a pay-as-you-go method of payment.