Dive Brief:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to lead the global cloud infrastructure market, but its closest rivals are growing faster than it is, according to data from Canalys.
- AWS grew 43% in Q1 2017 compared to the same quarter last year. But Microsoft grew 93% and Google was up 74% comparatively. Only IBM grew less than AWS, at 38%.
- As a whole, the global cloud infrastructure services market grew 42% year over year in the first quarter of 2017. The market is now worth $11.4 billion, according to Canalys.
Dive Insight:
As Microsoft and Google continue their full-court press on the enterprise cloud market, their efforts are starting to make a dent.
Microsoft and Google have been consistently touting new features, lower costs and a variety of other benefits to differentiate themselves and bolster their cloud offerings. Experts say Microsoft is excelling in two specific areas: hybrid deployment and cloud migration.
In the area of cloud migration, the company is successfully using Office 365 to help lead companies into the cloud. Meanwhile, AWS is pouring money into data centers as it looks to maintain its cloud momentum. Last month, AWS announced it is opening a new AWS Region in Stockholm in 2018. AWS' infrastructure now comprises 42 "availability zones" across 16 geographic regions worldwide, with another three in France, China and Sweden coming online this year and next year.
A study released by Synergy Research Group in February found AWS controls about 40% of the cloud market, while Microsoft, Google and IBM together control about 23%. By the time the next study comes out, that gap could narrow.
