A New IDC MarketScape Assesses Eight Global Public Cloud IaaS Providers

International Data Corporation (IDC) today published a new assessment of eight global public cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers. The IDC MarketScape report uses a comprehensive framework to assess these vendors relative to a set of criteria that explain both short-term and long-term success in the public cloud IaaS market. The results placed Amazon Web Services and Microsoft in the Leaders category. The other companies evaluated in this MarketScape report are: Alibaba, Google, IBM, Oracle, OVHcloud, and Tencent.

Over the past several years, public cloud IaaS has become the preferred infrastructure backbone for digital transformation (DX) initiatives and IT modernization. As enterprises execute on their DX strategy, they are deploying new technologies that extend the digital reach of the enterprise and increase the business value of data. Public cloud will continue to be an agile, accessible source for these technologies for most enterprises, which will result in a greater share of DX spending being earmarked for public cloud IaaS. IDC estimates that enterprise IT spending on public cloud IaaS will exceed spending on traditional infrastructure and private cloud infrastructure systems within the next five years.

“The use of public cloud IaaS by enterprises has rapidly increased in the past two years, creating new demands and new expectations of services,” said Deepak Mohan, research director, Cloud Infrastructure Services at IDC. “Cloud providers have been quick to respond, with partnerships, service expansions, and easier onboarding, to better enable workload transition and digital transformation for enterprises. The effectiveness of each provider’s response, and the ability to continue addressing new demands from enterprises, is emerging as a critical determinant of success in this market.”

Three developments have helped propel the public cloud IaaS market to its current state over the past several years:

• Deep partnerships between public cloud IaaS providers and traditional enterprise technology providers that facilitate easier adoption of public cloud IaaS alongside existing IT assets.
• Growth in cloud offerings from traditional infrastructure systems providers to better serve enterprise IT customers as they explore paths to modernize their IT systems.
• A shift in mainstream IT customer perception around cloud usage from “opportunistic cloud usage” to “cloud first” to “cloud everywhere.”

As the market continues to evolve and grow, several new trends are emerging that are likely to shape the future direction of public cloud IaaS. These include: a growing focus on the edge and edge solutions enabled by 5G; greater interest in automation and intelligence, especially as it relates to infrastructure operations, governance, and security; and the need for a holistic approach to enterprise data management. In addition, the market is seeing increased use of multiple public cloud IaaS by enterprises, with the mix of cloud providers often determined by the best fit for workload, use case, or industry-specific requirements.

“The consolidation in the public cloud IaaS market has made it easier for customers to quickly determine the vendor that is best for their workload or use case and begin their evaluation without having to solicit information from dozens of providers. But it also increases the direct competition between the major players, particularly in key enterprise verticals that are driving cloud growth such as healthcare, government, and financial services. The next several years will be interesting as IaaS providers strive to differentiate their offerings in the battle for market share,” added Mohan.

The report, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Public Cloud Infrastructure as a Service 2020 Vendor Assessment (IDC #US46795720), provides an assessment of eight global public cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers. The assessment is based on their current capabilities and future plans for delivering public cloud IaaS.