The worldwide spending on cloud infrastructure services rose 37.6 percent to $26.3 billion in Q2 2019, the latest research report from Canalys said.
The latest analysis report said Amazon Web Services (AWS) has the leadership position in the market for public cloud infrastructure with 31.5 percent share, staying ahead of Microsoft with 18.1 percent share, Google with 9.5 percent share, Alibaba Cloud with 4.6 percent share and others.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) generated revenue of over $8.3 billion (+36.1 percent) with a 31.5 percent share of the total Cloud services market.
Microsoft Azure revenue reached nearly $5 billion (+63.6 percent) for a Cloud market share of 18.1 percent.
Google Cloud also gained share slightly to take 9.5 percent of the market, followed by Alibaba Cloud in fourth position.
Total cloud infrastructure revenue grew by US$7.2 billion against a year ago, the biggest ever quarterly increase in terms of value.
Canalys Chief Analyst Alastair Edwards said: “The cloud providers’ channel strategies are increasingly important for tactical advantage and growth, particularly as more customers adopt multi-cloud.”
Microsoft recently highlighted Azure migration as one of its strategic partner priorities and announced new Azure incentives, with a focus on partner managed services, marketplaces and consumption.
AWS is focusing on Windows workload migration as it strengthened its recruitment of new channel partners, introducing partner initiatives aimed at ISVs and MSPs helping to convert Windows workloads to AWS.
Google Cloud launched its Partner Advantage program in July as it begins a global channel recruitment drive to fuel Google Cloud Platform growth among enterprises, with a focus on specific workloads in six key verticals: finance, public sector, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and media and entertainment.
The report said Microsoft remains the leader in the cloud channel, backed by its established Cloud Solution Provider program.
Microsoft reversed unpopular changes to channel partner benefits to balance cloud growth with the increased costs of serving partners.
IBM has an opportunity to reanimate its own cloud business after completing the acquisition of Red Hat in July. This will help to strengthen its relevance to both partners and enterprise customers as they embrace hybrid IT models.
Businesses are turning to channel partners to help them define the right clouds for different workloads, to manage and secure their complex multi-cloud environments, as well as overcome the challenges of cloud governance, cost control, compliance and integration,” said Canalys Research Analyst Daniel Liu.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has decided to put on hold its decision to award a $10 billion cloud computing contract – after shortlisting Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) for the deal, Wall Street Journal reported.
The development follows aggressive lobbying by Oracle, one of the bidders of the big Cloud deal. Oracle expressed concerns about the award process for the contract, including asking about the role of a former Amazon employee who worked on the project at the Defense Department but then recused himself, then later left the Defense Department and returned to Amazon Web Services.
Pentagon did not shortlist Oracle and IBM for the competition, leaving Amazon and Microsoft as finalists.
Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith said Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who assumed his role on July 23, was reviewing accusations of unfairness. “No decision will be made on the program until he has completed his examination.”
