The winners and losers of infrastructure clouds revealed: AWS, Microsoft, Google and Alibaba get fatter
AWS remains the biggest provider of infrastructure clouds with a revenue haul of $34.6bn in 2019 but for the first time it has pulled in less than double that of nearest rival Microsoft, which inhaled $18.1bn.
That's according to the latest figures from research company Canalys, which said worldwide cloud computing spending grew 37.6 per cent to US $107.1bn in 2019.
Google takes the prize for fastest growth, swelling by 87.8 per cent in 2019, albeit from a relatively low base, to $6.2bn. Microsoft was in second place growth-wise, up 63.98 per cent to $18.1bn; Alibaba grew 63.8 per cent to $5.2bn; and AWS grew 36 per cent to $34.6bn. Although AWS' market share slipped fractionally, from 32.7 per cent to 32.3 per cent, it still posted the biggest increase in absolute terms, $9.2bn versus Microsoft's $7.1bn.
All four giants made their gains at the expense of "Others", whose share of the pie shrank from 44.8 per cent to 40.1 per cent.
The figures for Q4 '19 paint a similar picture, with combined annual growth of 37.2 per cent, though Google's year-on-year growth for the three months was a mere 62.3 per cent, behind Alibaba's 71.1 per cent and Microsoft's 67.6 per cent but ahead of AWS, which grew 33.2 per cent.
Alibaba commanded a 5.4 per cent global market share in the fourth quarter, thanks to its strength in China and the Asia-Pacific region. Google Cloud amassed 6 per cent.
Canalys attributes the growth of cloud to "analyse and interpret growing datasets", as well as DevOps requirements for new applications.
The researcher expects AWS to continue piling on the pounds following the launches of Outposts and Local Zones; Microsoft is credited with strong channel relations and enterprise accounts; and Google's progress is based on a larger internal enterprise salesforce and an improved network of resellers.
Canalys expects to see a further 32 per cent IaaS growth in 2020 to $141bn, rising in coming years to $284bn in 2024.
The cloud spend figures from Canalys are for infrastructure services, not productivity services like Office 365 or G Suite. These distinctions can blur, and some companies do not break out their figures in this way, making exact comparisons difficult.
Physical infrastructure to support cloud services is growing correspondingly, and the research team identifies "super seven cloud builders": Alibaba, Amazon, Baidu, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Tencent, which in 2019 spent over $60bn between them on data centres, an increase of 8 per cent from 2018.
While there are no big surprises in the Canalys figures, Microsoft's achievement in growing Azure to more than half the revenue of AWS is notable. All the cloud giants can take some comfort from the figures – AWS for sustained growth and maintained market share, Microsoft for growing faster, and Google for showing that it cannot be counted out.
The big losers? "Others", down from 44.8 per cent share in 2018 to just 38.5 per cent in the last quarter, a trend that we can expect to continue as consolidation increases in the sector.
source theregister
Industry: Cloud Computing
Latest Jobs
-
- Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK
- England
- N/A
-
Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK UK | Remote / Hybrid A cyber security provider is seeking a Public Sector Sales professional to drive growth across UK government and public sector organisations. Must have current Cyber Security sales experience. Responsibilities Generate new business selling cyber security solutions into UK public sector Build relationships with CIO, CISO and senior technology stakeholders Manage the full sales cycle from opportunity to contract close Develop pipeline across central government, local government and public sector bodies Support bids, tenders and framework opportunities Experience Proven cyber security sales experience in the UK Track record selling into public sector organisations Familiarity with CCS, G Cloud or other government frameworks Strong stakeholder engagement and deal management skills Location UK based Security Requirements Eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance
-
- Security Architect | MoD - Security Cleared. OUTSIDE IR35 | Hampshire
- N/A
- Outside IR35
-
Security Architect | MOD | Security Cleared | Outside IR35 | Hampshire Commutable The successful candidate must be willing to undergo DV Clearance, ideally already holding active clearance. You will produce high and low level security architecture documentation, guiding and validating designs for systems deployed within sensitive environments. The role requires providing specialist security input into solution design, service transition and change initiatives, working closely with engineering, operations, client and third party stakeholders. You must have current hands on architectural experience, including VMware secure platform design and virtualisation architecture, alongside AWS expertise. This is an outside IR35 contract- 6 month rolling. Part of a longer term MoD project
-
- Active Directory | RBA engineer | UK Remote | SC Clearable
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Technical Active Directory (AD) and RBA specialist needed to play a key part in complex, enterprise scale Active Directory and access transformation programmes. You will work alongside senior team, helping reshape access models, modernise legacy directory structures and strengthen security posture across secure environments. This is hands on delivery within high impact projects where your work directly improves access control, compliance and operational resilience. Active UK Security Clearance required. This is a remote role with client travel. Implementation of Role Based Access Control across large AD estates Restructuring complex permission models, security groups and delegated access Supporting domain controller upgrades and core directory improvements Applying security hardening standards and remediating audit findings Enhancing authentication, policy and access governance frameworks Troubleshooting and resolving technical AD challenges within live environments Producing robust technical documentation and identifying project risks You must have the following technical experience Enterprise Active Directory administration Role Based Access and permission remediation OU design and governance Group Policy management Security group delegation models DNS and DHCP services Kerberos authentication / NTLM PowerShell scripting and automation Azure AD | Entra ID Hybrid identity environments Identity Governance PAM