Microsoft’s Azure and general cloud performance is helping the company to new heights. We already know it spurred the company beyond the $100bn revenue mark for the first time last year. However, how does the success of Azure shape up in the general market?
Well, analyst firm Canalys has published a report detailing how much organizations spent on cloud infrastructure during the second quarter of 2018.
Interestingly, it makes good reading for all the leading cloud providers. A total of $20bn was spend in the last frame. The situation is something I have discussed before… this is a good time to be a cloud provider. All major players in the market are growing, but each is fairly secure in their current market position.
This is best emphasized by the fact Google Cloud (third-placed market position) is growing, but not catching Microsoft Azure (second-place), which is also growing but now catching Amazon (first-place).
Indeed, Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounted for the largest chunk of the money spent with 31 percent ($6.2bn). Microsoft does not detail specific revenue information for Azure, but Canlys estimates second quarter the platform took in 18 percent (3.6bn).
The most recent evidence shows Azure is growing faster than AWS. Microsoft reported this month its cloud infrastructure saw revenue grow 89 percent in the second quarter when compared to last year. Amazon’s latest year-on-year rise was 48 percent. It is worth noting Microsoft’s cloud output also includes Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Windows cloud.
Google Cloud
As mentioned, Google’s position as third largest cloud provider seems locked in without putting much pressure on Microsoft. The company took an 8 percent share last quarter, or $1.6bn. Still, Canalys says Google Cloud improved 108 percent year-on-year.
Showing the overall health of the cloud market, the top three providers accounted for 57 percent of the $20bn spent last frame.
