Global IaaS market worth $44.5 billion in 2019, says Gartner

The infrastructure as a service (IaaS) space keeps on growing: new data from Gartner has argued the global market was worth $44.5 billion last year, with the hyperscalers further entrenching their positions.

The analyst firm said in a note the worldwide IaaS market grew 37.7% in 2019, with the top five players accounting for 80% of the market, up from 77% the year before.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained top of the shop as of the end of 2019, with Gartner estimating a...

By | 10 August 2020 | IaaS

Privacy Shield ruling could lead to dark clouds ahead for hyperscalers, advocates warn

The ending of the Privacy Shield agreement by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could have serious ramifications for the major hyperscale cloud providers, according to privacy activists.

Privacy Shield is an EU-US agreement which 'provides companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements in support of transatlantic commerce', in the words of the framework's website statement.

Max Schrems, a leading privacy advocate,...

By | 7 August 2020 | Data & Analytics

Gartner: How and why cloud providers need to support their customers through Covid-19

Cloud providers need to proactively support their customers through the tail end of the Covid-19 pandemic. They can do this by demonstrating the strength and adaptability of their service offerings.

Covid-19 has left many organisations unsure if their business continuity strategy is sufficiently robust, particularly when it comes to cloud services. The reliance on videoconferencing and collaboration tools has stressed the limits of back-end supporting...

By | 21 May 2020 | Infrastructure

Pentagon rules that Microsoft’s $10bn JEDI cloud contract award was fair

Updated A report from the Inspector General at the US Department of Defense (DoD) has ruled that the DoD's award of the JEDI $10 billion cloud computing contract to Microsoft was fair.

Following the announcement that Microsoft had won the contract back in October, Amazon Web Services (AWS), seen by many in the industry as the favourite, said it would appeal the ruling.

This duly happened; in November reports came that AWS had filed the paperwork, while in February AWS...

By | 16 April 2020 | Amazon

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna cites ‘essential, ubiquitous hybrid cloud’ in first missive

IBM's new CEO Arvind Krishna has written of the importance of hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) in the company's roadmap going forward.

In a letter to all employees dated April 6, Krishna's first day in charge - and published on LinkedIn - the IBM chief executive noted that an 'essential, ubiquitous hybrid cloud platform' was key to making the company 'the most trusted technology partner of the 21st century.'

Krishna also cited IBM's leading...

By | 14 April 2020 | Applications

Cloud IT infrastructure spending stormed back in Q4 to secure modest yearly growth, says IDC

Total end user spending on IT infrastructure products for cloud environments recovered significantly in the most recent quarter bringing overall 2019 levels above the red line, according to IDC.

Following two consecutive quarters of spending decline for server, enterprise storage and Ethernet switch for cloud, Q419 saw $19.4 billion (£x) in spending at a 12.4% year-over-year growth. Total spending for the year, at $66.8bn, saw 2.1% annual growth.

IDC noted that, aside...

By | 3 April 2020 | Infrastructure

Hyperscale operators invest hard in data centres amid modest overall capex, says Synergy

In the land of the hyperscale cloud operators, all remains relatively rosy in the garden. New data from Synergy Research shows that hyperscale operator capex set a new record in the most recent quarter.

In total, more than $32 billion was laid down in the fourth quarter of 2019, beating the previous record set by Q418. Synergy noted that a lot of spend – and strategy – was going into data...

By | 26 March 2020 | Data & Analytics

Gartner’s cloud AI developer services Magic Quadrant sees AWS edge out Microsoft and Google

The hyperscalers continue to lead where others fear to tread – or at least those without the cavernous pockets of the biggest cloud players, at least. Gartner has gazed into its crystal ball and ranked the main vendors for cloud AI developer services, and it’s a 1-2-3 for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and Google.

In its latest Magic Quadrant, Gartner defines ‘cloud AI developer...

By | 6 March 2020 | Amazon

Partnerships key for public cloud vendors to succeed in IoT analytics, says ABI Research

The hyperscale cloud providers are looking at Internet of Things (IoT) offerings and connectivity amid a swath of emerging technologies – and according to a new note from ABI Research, cloud suppliers will grow their share of IoT data and analytics management revenues from $6 billion (£4.6bn) to $56bn (£43bn) in the next six years.

The way to do this, the analyst firm notes, is through...

By | 19 February 2020 | Data & Analytics

Onecloud.com domain up for sale – but who could the prospective buyers be?

Exclusive The domain onecloud.com is up for sale – and the upcoming battle for its signature could attract a seven-dollar sum.

That is the verdict of Andrew Miller, president at ATM Holdings. Miller is helping conduct the transaction having been contacted by an individual seller. The seller, who has owned the domain since the early 1990s and has worked as a senior technology executive, ‘had a...

By | 11 February 2020 | Consumer