AWS vs Azure: which should I learn first?

For a networking professional, either works - pick based on your target market.

• AWS: largest global market share, strongest in product/startup companies, excellent networking depth (VPC, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect).
• Azure: dominant in enterprises already using Microsoft, very strong in Indian enterprise and services companies, hybrid connectivity via ExpressRoute and Azure Virtual WAN.

Practical guidance If you work in (or want to work in) large enterprises, banks or IT services, Azure often opens more doors. If you target product companies or global startups, choose AWS.

What to actually learn (either provider) Virtual networks and subnets, route tables, security groups/NSGs, NAT and internet gateways, load balancers, DNS, VPN and dedicated interconnect, peering and hub-and-spoke design, IAM basics.

Certifications AWS: Solutions Architect Associate, then Advanced Networking. Azure: AZ-104, then AZ-700 (Network Engineer).

Next step: learn one deeply for 3-4 months; the second becomes easy because the concepts map almost one-to-one.