DevOps is transforming the development, testing, and deployment of software. It performs better in cloud environments, where automation, scaling, and continuous delivery can occur without the limitations of traditional infrastructure.
Globally, AWS, Azure, and GCP are the leading cloud providers. AWS offers depth and maturity; Azure provides easy integration with enterprise software, and GCP is strong in data and AI.
In Africa, the adoption of cloud computing is growing, but is often shaped by infrastructure constraints, regulatory demands, and budgetary pressures.
Local operators, such as Africa Data Centres (ADC), are helping to counter these facts with low-latency solutions and metered pricing. As demand for DevOps engineers rises, the choice of a cloud platform to specialise in is both strategic and technical.
Why Cloud Infrastructure Matters in DevOps?
Cloud platforms enable the core activities of DevOps, including automation, integration, and continuous deployment. CI/CD pipelines run smoothly in the cloud with the assistance of tools like Jenkins, Azure Pipelines, and AWS CodeBuild.
Automation extends beyond deployment. Terraform and Ansible simplify provisioning and remove human error with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools. Azure Monitor and Application Insights provide real-time performance feedback using monitoring tools.
Using managed services, pay-as-you-go architectures and elastic scalability, cloud computing also makes cost-effectiveness possible. DevOps is more dependable, quicker and simpler to expand thanks to the cloud.
Why Does DevOps Look Different Across AWS, Azure, and GCP?
While DevOps principles are consistent, their implementation differs by platform. Each provider offers distinct tools, architecture, and integrations.
AWS has the broadest service range. Azure integrates tightly with Microsoft products, making it ideal for enterprise IT. GCP stands out in data processing and machine learning. Differences in networking, permissions, and regional availability necessitate adjustments to practices across various platforms.
In Africa, these differences are magnified by regional availability and connectivity. Local cloud providers, such as ADC, play a critical role in bridging service gaps.
Why Should You Specialise?
Platform expertise leads to faster deployments and fewer errors. Workflows for automated DevOps can cut downtime during migrations by more than 70% and setup time by 79%.
Teams that specialise can diagnose more quickly, optimise services, and integrate platform-specific tools more thoroughly. However, mastering a cloud platform requires training, especially for African teams with limited support resources. That’s where providers with localised services and education offerings are gaining ground.
AWS for DevOps
AWS is the leading cloud platform for DevOps, offering a comprehensive suite of tools to facilitate code integration, automated deployment, monitoring, and infrastructure management. Services such as CodePipeline, CodeDeploy, EC2, Lambda, CloudWatch, S3, and IAM work together to simplify delivery. It is easily compatible with offerings like Terraform, Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes, and can manage pipelines across environments with ease.
AWS is widely utilised in various industries, including government, e-commerce, media, and finance. AWS is used by businesses such as Netflix, Adobe, BMW, and United Airlines to reduce costs and accelerate deployment. For example, United Airlines achieved over $500,000 in savings on testing and improving code coverage by 85%. The United States alone accounts for over 40% of the global DevOps market.
In Africa, AWS boasts a regional data centre in Cape Town that improves latency for Southern Africa. Enterprise adoption on the continent continues to grow, with organisations utilising AWS in education and training programs through AWS Educate and AWS Academy. These programs provide students with access to genuine tools, credits, and laboratories that help them develop practical skills.
The AWS DevOps certification is quite well-known among professionals. Its scale and ecosystem make it a very good choice for teams needing flexibility, automation, and an enormous support community. However, few regional data centres may pose a difficulty for African companies that need local compliance or multi-country rollouts.
Azure DevOps
Microsoft Azure offers an extensive, fully integrated set of DevOps services designed to enhance the creation, deployment, and management of applications. Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Repos, Boards, and Artefacts are core services that help with collaborative development and the execution of CI/CD processes.
Azure’s wide integration with Visual Studio, GitHub, and Active Directory provides developers with an accessible and flexible platform for delivering applications from start to finish.
Through Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Log Analytics, Azure enables advanced monitoring and performance management, allowing teams to proactively identify irregularities and enhance system health. Infrastructure as code (IaC) is enabled by Terraform and Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates. Scalable, serverless, and containerised applications are facilitated by Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), App Services, and Azure Functions.
Azure’s platform is especially ideal for hybrid environments, enterprise workloads, and companies with existing Microsoft investments. Its high-security functionalities, including Azure Security Centre, Sentinel, and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), are especially useful to sectors that experience high compliance requirements.
Companies such as Walmart, EY, Coca-Cola, GE and BMW use Azure in industries including finance, manufacturing and government to modernise legacy infrastructure and automate software development.
In Africa, Azure is expanding its presence in education and digital transformation in the public sector through data residency capabilities, hybrid cloud support, and increased regional presence.
To enable workforce expansion, Microsoft offers multiple streams of training and certification under its Azure Fundamentals, Azure Administrator, and DevOps Engineer Expert certifications. Initiatives like Microsoft Learn, Azure for Students, and Visual Studio Dev Essentials provide learners and professionals with cloud credits, developer tools and learning portals, which make Azure a contender for developing DevOps skills and careers globally.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for DevOps
Google Cloud Platform’s automation-first strategy, data integration expertise, and containerisation capabilities set it apart in the DevOps market. With technologies like Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Cloud Run, App Engine, and Cloud Functions, which provide scalable, event-driven applications, it boasts a new generation of cloud-native development tools. Infrastructure is automated by a suite of tools like Terraform and Cloud Deployment Manager, with CI/CD pipelines optimised by Cloud Build and integration with GitHub and Jenkins.
GCP is particularly robust in terms of analytics and observability. Features like BigQuery, Stackdriver, and Cloud Monitoring enable organisations to assess the health of their systems and make informed decisions in real-time. The platform’s strong emphasis on reliability engineering, based on Google’s own Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles, makes it a great choice for companies that value automation, speed, and resilience.
GCP is gaining momentum in Africa. Fintech founders like Nomanini in South Africa have leveraged the platform to streamline development cycles and roll out solutions more quickly. Jaguar Land Rover’s South African division revamped its data architecture using GCP, enhancing data accuracy and informed decision-making. Google’s cloud region launch in Johannesburg in 2024 marks a significant milestone for the continent, offering lower latency and enhanced service reliability for local companies.
GCP also offers a well-defined path for skill development. The Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer certification enables students to validate their expertise in CI/CD, service performance, monitoring, and automation. Students work with real-world, hands-on labs that mirror actual DevOps environments, ensuring career growth in both African and global markets.
By combining intelligent automation, robust analytics, and an expanding geographic footprint, GCP is positioning itself as a visionary choice for DevOps teams seeking to scale efficiently and innovate rapidly.
Comparative Analysis: AWS vs Azure vs GCP for DevOps
In the global cloud cosmos, AWS dominates with Azure and GCP following in the second and third places, respectively. The three of them together have around 70% of the global market share. AWS is predominantly known for its size, depth of service, and usage by large enterprises.
Azure continues to grow at a rapid pace, particularly among established organisations in the Microsoft universe.
GCP, although smaller, is expanding rapidly through innovation, especially in AI, data analytics, and open-source integration.
In Africa, all three providers have taken tangible steps to increase local relevance. As described above, AWS’s Cape Town region, Azure’s South Africa North and South Africa West regions, and GCP’s new Johannesburg opening all share a similar strategy: reducing latency, improving performance, and addressing compliance needs on the continent. However, local operators like Africa Data Centres continue to offer a local presence advantage in data residence and localisation in terms of infrastructure that covers South, East, and West Africa.
Although platform-specific compensation data for DevOps professionals, both globally and in Africa, is scarce, all three ecosystems offer tremendous career opportunities. Each of AWS, Azure, and GCP has stringent learning paths and well-established certification programs.
On each of the three platforms, ecosystem maturity is crucial for developer action and tool integration. AWS excels with its massive DevOps service catalogue, Azure captures enterprise developers already in Microsoft’s ecosystem, and GCP excels by innovating and simplifying adoption, particularly in AI and education.
Choosing the right cloud platform on which to specialise as a DevOps practitioner depends on your goals, regional needs, and the types of organisations you want to work with. AWS leads globally and excels in service reach; Azure leads in enterprise usage and hybrid support; and GCP leads with pioneering AI-friendly technologies. Each of the three offers valuable opportunities. Your best bet is to align your skills with those that address both your professional objectives and the digital agenda of your region.
WRITER’S BIO
Inioluwa Shittu is a certified AWS DevOps Engineer and Solutions Architect with years of experience building, deploying, and managing scalable cloud environments.
He is also a graduate of the University of South Wales, combining a strong academic background with hands-on expertise in cloud computing (IaaS), CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure automation.
He has worked across various systems, including Windows, Ubuntu, Red Hat Linux, and CentOS, utilising tools such as Chef and Ansible for configuration management. Skilled in Bash and Python scripting, Inioluwa is passionate about cloud architecture that is cost-efficient, resilient and scalable.
