Amazon Web Services (AWS) has updated its Elastic MapReduce console, making it easier to manage large amounts of data.

The update centers on providing better usability and access to new features that include resizing a cluster by adding or removing instances; cloning a cluster; running Hadoop 2; and targeting a specific availability zone.

The EMR console to configure clusters is now on one page:

A developer can choose between multiple versions of Hadoop and MapR:

The cluster list has also been improved:

AWS is notorious for its complexity and usability. The model is to provide the bare minimum and let the user add AWS or third-party services for their deployments. But with the acceptance of cloud computing from the overall market, there comes a higher bar for the way a service is presented.

“The new Elastic MapReduce console is a great step forward towards better usability, an area where AWS has struggled in the past,” said Jeff Martens, co-founder and CEO at CPUsage in an email interview with me today. CPUsage is a platform as a service that launched at TechCrunch Disrupt. “Kudos to the team in Seattle. I hope this is a sign of more to come, especially for some of the other products in their siloed eco-system which desperately need UI and UX improvements.”

AWS executives made a point last year at AWS re:Invent of stressing their commitment to the enterprise market. That’s a challenge for AWS as competing providers like Google offer managed services that abstract the complexity that comes with using cloud services.

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