Study: Amazon and Google rule the cloud
If recent research is any indication, Amazon.com and Google are winning the cloud game.
Evans Data on Tuesday released a report (registration required) on how developers perceive cloud service providers related to cloud services offerings, including their completeness and the companies' ability to execute on the vision.
Janel Garvin, the founder of Evans Data and the author of the report, provides excellent insight into the current state of the market and how quickly things could change, if certain large vendors (notably AT&T and Microsoft) got their acts together more quickly.
Given their robust services, it isn't surprising that Amazon and Google top the list. And although IBM, VMware, and Microsoft trail, each offers important components of cloud infrastructure.
In relation to private clouds, Garvin writes:
For private clouds, IBM has already taken the lead perceptually and is in an excellent position to dominate the market, going into the future. This is especially true amongst the largest corporations, (which) are most likely already IBM customers, as well as those who want the security and reliability of a vendor with an established reputation for excellence in the large enterprise space.
I've argued a number of times that big vendors like IBM and Sun Microsystems need to step up to the cloud (and IBM recently has) in order to make CIOs more comfortable with moving their data outside of their firewalls.
Google got the top nod from developers for scalability, reliability, uptime, and best value, and Garvin states that Google "shows more strength in both perceived capabilities and perceived ability to execute, and the adoption patterns for Google are stronger, going into the future." However, Google's offering via AppEngine is nowhere near as robust as Amazon's Web Services capabilities.
The big vendor that continues to be late to the cloud game is Microsoft, which, despite an army of developers interested in Azure and other cloud services, has yet to offer a production-ready product. Says Garvin:
The two companies that truly straddle the cloud worlds, AT&T and Microsoft, both have excellent potential: through existing physical infrastructure in the case of AT&T or as in the case of Microsoft, by virtue of a prodigious developer network and well-known software capabilities. But, both are late to the party. And, in a market that's evolving as quickly as this one, that's a significant handicap.
Cloud computing continues to emerge as an enterprise option for many companies, and it's a certainty that more big vendors will join the fray. It remains to be seen if any vendor can catch up to the expertise and vision of Amazon and Google, both of whom designed their infrastructure to support infinite scale.
Dave Rosenberg dishes up "Software, Interrupted" with nearly 15 years of technology and marketing experience that spans from Bell Labs to multiple start-up IPOs to open-source enterprise software companies. He is co-founder of MuleSource and currently serves as the general manager of Hardy Way. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can contact Dave via e-mail at softwareinterrupted@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @daveofdoom. 
Microsoft relies heavily on proprietary technology, to lock consumers & businesses in to their ecosystem. That strategy demonstrates a lack of confidence, in their abilities to continuously innovate, to keep consumers & businesses interested.
Microsoft could change, but they appear to lack the will to do it.
Microsoft Online is full featured, production ready, cloud based platform that offers both dedicated and multi-tenant options. it also boasts a healthy ISV ecosystem.
So.. Amazon for the corporate cloud and Google for the personal cloud.
They have one foot in Cloud Computing in case it really takes off and they will then reluctantly compete if only to stay relevant.
Otherwise, they want to be seen as innovating, but want you to stick with what you know, so they can continue to rake in the dollars.
The reality is that Google alone will convert many to their service, and they will set the standard with service and price.
While latter conspiracy theory may sound far fetched I would not trust someone else with my existence or otherwise I would become their slave with no exit other than death (metaphorically spoken).
If, however, that theory actually becomes true only those operating and the ones not relying on the cloud will continue to exist.
That said: Nothing what I mentioned is current as of now and just theories, but it may become reality and hence, it may be a good idea to at least include those thoughts when thinking about such 'clouded' future.
- by DanKrave October 8, 2009 9:02 AM PDT
- IBM doesn't even have a public cloud... how can one consider their offer to be complete? Google doesn't support .NET... how is that complete?
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