Microsoft Azure Stack Now Has Support For Apps Service And Azure Functions, Also Emerged As ‘Formidable Competitor’ To AWS

Microsoft has just provided an update to the technical preview of the Azure Stock and it now shows support for Azure Functions, which is the company's take on "serverless" event-driven computing. Moreover, a study claims the Azure is now considered as a "formidable competitor" to the Amazon Web Service (AWS).

According to a report from the EnterpriseTech, market analyst 451 Research released a study about cloud transformation and found that the AWS customer ratings had slipped due to "value for money/cost." That category is now being led by the Google Cloud Platform.

Fifty-five percent of the public cloud adapters still went with AWS, but Google's expansion of its cloud offering has been getting some public attention. Meanwhile, the study showed that the IBM SoftLayer and the Microsoft Azure rated the highest when it comes to the "understands my business" category.

451 Research also noted in their study that enterprises have shifted to a multi-cloud strategy, which makes the Azure the main beneficiary of this. The report said that Microsoft's Azure has now emerged as a serious competitor for the AWS. The survey still has AWS as the top choice with 39 percent, while the Azure follows closely with 35 percent.

What's more, 451 Research noted that the launch of the Azure Stack could further propel Microsoft forward and lessen the AWS' dominance in the cloud segment. And with Microsoft providing some update with the technical preview of the Stack, it just adds to the company's offerings.

TechCrunch reports that the update shows the Stack is first to be able to support Microsoft's Azure Functions. Microsoft's Azure App Service, the company's cloud tools that can quickly develop applications that are cloud-centric, is also supported in the new update.

These updates, basically allow Microsoft to achieve its goal with the Azure Stack, which is to bring many of the Microsoft Azure's features into the enterprise data center. The report said that the company plans to role out the Stack at some point this year. Check out more about the Microsoft Azure Stack in the video below.