It is no surprise that Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, are some of the leading public cloud vendors today. Recent shifts in market leadership could provide some important lessons for the IT channel.
According to research firm KeyBanc, Amazon AWS lost market share in Q4 2017 while Microsoft gained. Specifically, AWS had 62% market share in Q4 2017 (down from 68% in Q4 2017) and Microsoft had 20% market share (up from 16% same time last year). What do these numbers mean?
Is Channel Behavior Taking a Toll on Amazon?
I’ll begin this by saying that this is pure speculation; although, speculation based on informed analysis and understanding of the IT channel. While there are many reasons which could explain why Amazon is dropping and Microsoft gaining in public cloud market share, one explanation could be how each of the two companies is approaching the channel.
Amazon recently announced a significant push into managed services, signaling its intention to compete with some of its channel community, at least at some level. The move caused a lot of noise in the channel as many MSPs openly questioned whether they would now have to begin watching Amazon more carefully.
This in no way excuses some of the channel mistakes Microsoft has made in the past. But, it may explain why MSPs could be re-evaluating who they use when it comes to public cloud platforms. As of right now though, Amazon clearly has a competitive edge over Microsoft. Will it change? Will it change for the reasons I gave? We shall see.
What do you think?