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According to IDC research, 4 U.S. public cloud providers have hit 40% market share within Europe in 2015. While demand for private cloud services continues to rise, privacy and security in the cloud continue to dominate our daily news, this data point is important as it reflects both European as well as broader global views about cloud security and privacy.
The 4 companies, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and IBM, have increased their European market share amidst NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's alarming claims, as well as the initiation of the GDPR, Europe's response to security and privacy fears arising chiefly from Snowden's claims.
What, if anything, can we deduce from this?
Are Europeans Really Concerned About Cloud Security & Privacy?
Yes. If you examine European behavior since 2008, passage of GDPR, legal actions taken against several US cloud companies (including a few mentioned above), and even the latest Brexit vote by the UK to leave the EU, all point towards a high level of concern over European data privacy and security.
So, why the increase in market share by US cloud companies who are largely providing "public" cloud solutions?
Public cloud is becoming more private...to a certain point. As companies like IBM's SoftLayer, Amazon, and Microsoft, all develop more data centers within Europe (and the rest of the world), these more regional touch points help assuage European fears about US cloud companies having access to customer data.