Amazon is the market-cap giant that operates the AWS cloud-computing platform.
Amazon Web Services, usually called AWS, began offering services in 2006. It provides computing power, storage, databases, networking, machine learning tools, and other technology services on demand. Customers include start-ups, governments, universities, and major corporations.
Amazon itself began as an online bookstore founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. It expanded into general e-commerce, logistics, digital entertainment, devices, advertising, and cloud computing. AWS became one of the company’s most important businesses and helped establish Amazon as more than a retailer.
A common mix-up is confusing AWS with Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. Those are competing cloud platforms operated by Microsoft and Alphabet, respectively. Amazon’s retail website and AWS are parts of the same corporation, but they serve very different customer needs.