For those of you that follow the news at all, you will no doubt have heard a lot of stories about Facebook. Unfortunately for the world’s most used social network, very few of these stories could be considered positive. From fake news swaying elections, to the Cambridge Analytica scandal exposing how reckless Facebook can be with our data, there’s been little to shout about over at the social network.
With so many 'clouds', it can be hard to work out which one is best. Read our White Paper 'Are all clouds the same?' for the facts >>
For those of you that follow the news at all, you will no doubt have heard a lot of stories about Facebook. Unfortunately for the world’s most used social network, very few of these stories could be considered positive. From fake news swaying elections, to the Cambridge Analytica scandal exposing how reckless Facebook can be with our data, there’s been little to shout about over at the social network.
After a disappointing Q2, Facebook’s share price plummeted, wiping 20 percent of its value overnight. With Facebook being such an important company in the tech space, the stock fall damaged other tech stock around it.
You might be wondering why a blog with a positive title has started so negatively. To answer that, we must look to history. When Microsoft lost its antitrust case in 2001, it wiped 15 percent off its share price which, in turn, knocked 8 percent off the NASDAQ. Many signalled this as being bad for technology in general and it occurred right in the middle of the bursting of the dotcom bubble.
In this case, the loss at Facebook has not dragged down the technology industry as Microsoft’s loss in 2001 did. This is because cloud companies and cloud technology continue to show enviable growth and drive exciting innovation.
Let’s have a brief overview of the key players in the cloud space:
Amazon
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Amazon’s cloud services business. It recently grew 49 percent to $6.11bn in revenue. The company is projected to reach revenue of $42bn by 2020. AWS leads the way in business public cloud services, despite growing competition from Microsoft and Google.
The reason for Amazon’s strong results, according to John Dinsdale, a Synergy Research group senior analyst is down to a head start "building out data centers, operations, international expansion, staffing and a partner network"
Microsoft
Microsoft is a household name in traditional computing, but had been relatively behind when it comes to cloud services. That is changing now, with Azure, Microsoft’s business public cloud service growing by 53 percent to $6.9bn.
According to the New York Times, Microsoft is now the clear number two in the Cloud Computing space. Microsoft’s cloud platform growth is likely to increase too, with the recent release of Microsoft 365 Enterprise, a beefed up version of Office 365 designed for large enterprise businesses.
We all know of Google’s power and prominence in online search and in the smartphone market with its hugely successful Android software. However, Google’s business cloud tools are far less well known.
Nevertheless, G Suite - Google’s answer to Office 365 - has quietly amassed 4 million paying customers. Google CEO Sundar Pichai commented recently that Google are “increasingly doing larger, more strategic deals with customers. In fact, the number of deals worth over $1 million across all cloud products more than tripled from 2016 to 2017.”
Google have also just released a number of exciting new Cloud Services at their recent Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco, including the ability to run Google’s business public cloud services on privately owned servers - potentially game changing for large enterprise businesses skeptical of cloud security.
Put all that growth together, and it is more than enough to carry Facebook’s turbulent period. There is no evidence that the Cloud industry is going to settle down any time soon.
How to leverage this cloud revolution
We all use the cloud in some form in our lives, and no doubt many will have used some form of Office 365 or Google Application. However, this cloud world can be daunting for new businesses looking to dip their toes in the water.
With so many ‘clouds’ it can be hard to be certain which one works best for your business.
As a result, many are choosing to partner with a Managed Service Provider (MSP), allowing their experience to dictate which cloud service is the best fit. Despite the big players offering more and more ‘off-the-shelf’ cloud services, the MSP market is projected to grow to $193.34 billion by 2019.
Businesses choose MSPs for their consultancy and customer-centric support, which many view to far exceed that given by the likes of Microsoft and Google. The MSPs job is to act as the middle-man between Cloud Service providers and the customer, enriching their experience with support and project management, to help maximise the return on investment.
The bottom line
Despite Facebook’s poor quarter causing ripples through the technology sector, it is clear that those ripples are not turning into waves. The cloud technology industry is growing as fast as it ever has and is bringing with it a number of exciting innovations.
As people demand more and more cloud services in order to simplify their lives, it is right to expect that businesses that resist these new changes will get left behind, possibly unable to increase efficiency and attract top talent.
Studies clearly indicate that the cloud revolution will continue, and whilst it is a complex market to navigate, an MSP is a perfect partner to help you navigate it.
With well over a decade’s experience in providing pure cloud IT solutions to businesses, entrustIT could just be that perfect partner for your business!
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