AWS, Microsoft or Google: Which cloud computing giant is growing fastest?

Cloud computing and data warehousing spur research
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Cloud computing infrastructure spending continues to grow at a fast pace, but cloud vendors will now have to work harder for their profits.

The global market for cloud infrastructure services grew 42% in the first quarter of 2019, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) posting the largest gain in dollar terms with sales up $ 2.3 billion (41%). ) in the first quarter of 2018, according to the data. from the Canalys technological analysis company. This performance allowed AWS to beat Microsoft, which ranks second, even though its sales increased by $ 1.5 billion, or 75%. Google had the fastest growth of the top three categories in percentage terms, rising from $ 1.2 billion to $ 2.3 billion, up 83%.

A 42% year-over-year market (although slightly lower than the 46% recorded in the fourth quarter of last year) is quite remarkable. But, according to Canalys, the battle for corporate customers will intensify this year, as major cloud computing companies seek to maintain this growth.

Many companies have already migrated to the cloud with easy-to-move apps and are improving their approach to cloud computing. This involves moving to multi-cloud and hybrid IT strategies to leverage the strengths of different cloud service providers and deployment models, based on the requirements of their applications and data, compliance, cost, and cost. their performance, said the analysis firm.

SEE: Cloud v. Data Center Decision (ZDNet Special Report) | Download the report in PDF format (TechRepublic)

"The cloud infrastructure market is entering a new phase of hybrid IT adoption as companies demanding cloud services can be more easily integrated into their local environments," said Alastair Edwards, Chief Analyst at Canalys.

"As organizations increasingly choose cloud-based workloads and those that remain in their own data centers, cloud service providers need to develop new strategies to ensure their continued relevance." added Edwards.

Edwards said most cloud service providers are now looking for ways to access their customers' existing data centers. For example, AWS will begin delivering its first appliance, Outposts, later this year, which will see AWS hardware at the customer, primarily to solve the problem of latency. Other vendors are studying how to integrate multiple clouds, such as Google Anthos, an application management platform that supports multiple clouds. Adding new partners or integrating cloud computing into a broader business transformation strategy is another means by which IT vendors in cloud will try to increase their sales this year.

Most companies will end up using a combination of internal data centers, as well as cloud computing technologies from many vendors. Few choose to choose a single provider for each service. This means that cloud computing companies will have to create more alliances to sell their services. Canalys expects that a growing proportion of sales in the cloud will be achieved through indirect partners in 2019 and beyond.