Three Kings Conquering the Cloud: AWS, Azure, and Alibaba Cloud in the Turkish Market

Cloud computing has fundamentally changed how everyone, from individuals to global corporations, accesses technology. It’s no longer just about storing data; developing artificial intelligence applications, hosting enterprise applications, or delivering global content is now possible with the capabilities offered by these infrastructures. The three major players in this field—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Alibaba Cloud—play significant roles both globally and in Turkey. Let’s explore the services each provider offers, their user profiles, and their impact in Turkey.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Foundation and Ecosystem: Launched by Amazon in 2006, AWS was one of the first platforms to popularize cloud computing. Today, it is a massive ecosystem offering over 200 services.

Service Categories: AWS provides services in many critical areas, including cloud infrastructure, data analytics, artificial intelligence, security, and network management. It offers comprehensive tools for developers to simplify application development and deployment processes.

  • Compute: With Amazon EC2, virtual machines can be created, while AWS Lambda allows for developing serverless applications. Container solutions like ECS (Elastic Container Service) and EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) enable easy management of microservice architectures.
  • Storage: Amazon S3 offers unlimited scalability for object-based data storage. EBS (Elastic Block Store) provides block-level storage for virtual machines, while EFS (Elastic File System) meets file-based shared storage needs.
  • Database and Analytics: Amazon RDS manages relational databases; DynamoDB offers fast and scalable solutions in a NoSQL structure. Redshift provides a data warehouse for big data analytics. Athena allows direct SQL analysis on S3.
  • Artificial Intelligence: SageMaker is a comprehensive platform for developing, training, and deploying machine learning models. Services like Rekognition for image analysis, Comprehend for text analysis, and Polly for speech generation can be used in various scenarios.
  • Security: IAM (Identity and Access Management) controls user access. AWS Shield protects against DDoS attacks. KMS can be used to manage encryption keys.
  • Networking and Delivery: VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) allows for creating isolated networks. CloudFront enables fast global content delivery. Route 53 is used for DNS services, and ELB (Elastic Load Balancing) for distributing traffic.

User Profile: AWS has a wide range of users, from startups to government agencies. Institutions like Netflix, Airbnb, and NASA also use AWS infrastructure. Furthermore, it offers specialized solutions in sectors such as healthcare, finance, and education, providing infrastructure to meet both security and data processing needs.

AWS in Turkey: AWS opened its Istanbul office in 2015. It has major users in Turkey such as Yemeksepeti, Digitürk, and Arçelik. In 2024, AWS Outposts and the first Edge location in Istanbul were launched. Although there is no regional data center yet, it offers a local experience with Outposts and CDN. This approach, which allows for hybrid systems to be established with local infrastructures for KVKK (Personal Data Protection Law) compliance, is critically important for companies looking to develop solutions that comply with regulations.

Microsoft Azure

Foundation and Ecosystem: Launched by Microsoft in 2010, Azure has evolved into an end-to-end platform offering over 600 services today. Azure has found widespread use, especially due to its ability to integrate with Microsoft products.

Service Categories: Azure offers comprehensive solutions that accelerate digital transformation for both developers and businesses.

  • Compute: Azure Virtual Machines offer customizable virtual servers. Azure App Service provides a PaaS service for web and mobile applications. Azure Functions is designed for serverless architectures. AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service) provides container orchestration for Kubernetes-based applications. “Container orchestration is the automated management of numerous containers. With tools like Kubernetes, the deployment, scaling, and communication of containers are easily managed.”
  • Storage: Azure Blob Storage enables the storage of large amounts of unstructured data. Azure Files is a file sharing service that uses the SMB protocol. Azure Disk Storage offers high-performance disk storage.
  • Database and Analytics: Azure SQL Database provides a fully managed SQL database. Cosmos DB is a globally distributed NoSQL database with multi-model support. Azure Synapse Analytics offers a powerful solution for big data analytics. HDInsight provides a Hadoop/Spark infrastructure.
  • Artificial Intelligence: Azure Cognitive Services offers ready-to-use APIs for visual recognition, speech, and language processing. Azure Machine Learning is a powerful platform for developing and deploying machine learning models.
  • Security: Azure AD provides identity management. Azure Firewall, DDoS Protection, and Defender for Cloud services strengthen the security infrastructure.
  • Networking: Azure Virtual Network allows for network isolation and VPN connections. Azure CDN, Front Door, and Traffic Manager can be used for content and traffic management.

User Profile: Due to Microsoft’s history, it is widely used among enterprise customers. Companies using Windows Server, Office, and SQL Server infrastructure particularly benefit from licensing advantages and ease of management when migrating to Azure. Additionally, credits, technical support, and integration tools are offered for startups.

Azure in Turkey: Corporate companies in Turkey are more inclined towards Azure due to Microsoft’s history. Azure solutions are actively used in areas such as banks, public institutions, and the education sector. Despite the absence of a local data center, the ability to provide services through local data centers with Azure Stack offers a significant advantage for ensuring compliance with KVKK and sectoral regulations.

Alibaba Cloud

Foundation and Ecosystem: Established by Alibaba Group in 2009. It is the largest provider in the Asia-Pacific region, operating in 29 regions worldwide. Alibaba Cloud is known for its ability to successfully manage large-scale e-commerce traffic.

Service Categories: Alibaba Cloud stands out especially with high-traffic online transactions, e-commerce solutions, and Asia-focused data services.

  • Compute: With ECS (Elastic Compute Service), users can create virtual machines by specifying resources like CPU and RAM. Function Compute enables serverless application development. Kubernetes Service supports container-based management.
  • Storage: OSS (Object Storage Service) is equivalent to Amazon S3, designed for large-scale data storage. Cloud disk and file systems offer various options tailored for performance.
  • Database and Analytics: PolarDB is a high-performance relational database; AnalyticDB is a solution optimized for OLAP analysis. MaxCompute provides a scalable infrastructure for big data processing.
  • Artificial Intelligence: ET Brain solutions (City Brain, Industrial Brain) enable the use of artificial intelligence in areas such as urban management and industry. The PAI platform offers developers the ability to create AI models.
  • Security: It offers a strong security infrastructure with Anti-DDoS, CloudMonitor, and Web Application Firewall.
  • Networking: It provides a high-availability infrastructure with VPC, global CDN, and traffic routing services.

User Profile: Popular among China-based companies, e-commerce platforms, and SMEs in Asia. Alibaba Cloud is a strategic choice for companies looking to enter the Chinese market in terms of providing infrastructure. Additionally, its price/performance balance makes it a preferred choice for small and medium-sized businesses transitioning to the cloud.

Alibaba Cloud in Turkey: Entered Turkey in 2018 through a partnership with e-Glober. Trendyol is a significant example benefiting from Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure. In 2023, a $1 billion investment plan for Turkey was announced, aiming to establish a data center in Ankara and a logistics center in Istanbul. These investments can reduce data security and latency issues, facilitating the widespread adoption of services compliant with Turkish regulations.

Future Outlook: The Evolution of Cloud Computing in Turkey

The future of cloud computing in Turkey is shaped by both local infrastructure investments and the flexibility of regulatory frameworks. In the mid-2020s, data security, localization, and low-latency service delivery became critical factors in companies’ provider preferences.

  • Regulation and Compliance: Legal obligations like KVKK compel global providers to develop local solutions. Solutions such as Outposts (AWS), Azure Stack, and Alibaba’s planned data center directly address this need.
  • Local Ecosystem Development: Cloud technologies are being adopted earlier in Turkey thanks to software developer communities, startup incubators, and university collaborations. Microsoft’s training programs, AWS’s events, and Alibaba Cloud’s e-export supports foster this transformation.
  • Sectoral Focus: Increased cloud usage in sectors such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, media, and public services necessitates specialized solutions. These three providers tend to offer Turkey-specific solutions in line with the needs in artificial intelligence, big data, and edge computing.
  • Competition and Cost: The real gain for users will be access to more cost-effective, faster, and secure services as competition increases. With growing investments, expansion of the local partner ecosystem, and clarification of regulations, Turkey is likely to become a regional cloud computing hub.

In summary, the evolution of cloud computing in Turkey is not just a technological process, but also a strategic and legal transformation. In this process, the investments of global actors like AWS, Azure, and Alibaba Cloud in Turkey will continue to play a decisive role in the maturity of the market.

References

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Microsoft Azure

Alibaba Cloud

  • Alibaba Cloud — Wikipedia
  • Anadolu Ajansı — ATP & Alibaba Cloud Türkiye İş Ortaklığı ve ENS Yatırımı
  • Alibaba Cloud Türkiye Edge Node Hizmeti ve Stratejik Yorumlar — Anadolu Ajansı
  • Türkiye Bulut Pazarı ve Alibaba Cloud’un Vizyonu — Anadolu Ajansı