Gartner: Amazon King of IaaS, But Competition on the Rise

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is still clearly the dominant infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) player, but according to the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant report, maybe Amazon’s leadership in the space isn’t a sure thing. Although Amazon still owns the space, Microsoft Azure is catching up and is now a definite No. 2 in the market.

The Gartner Magic Quadrant has its fans and detractors, but the research firm does aim to provide what it considers a currently realistic model of the market—from leaders to challengers, visionaries and niche players. And the only two vendors to make it into the “leaders” category are Amazon Web Services and Microsoft (MSFT).

Microsoft has made some significant gains in the IaaS market, but it will still likely be some time before it has a chance of catching the incumbent AWS. Will it happen? Difficult to tell, of course, but Gartner noted that Amazon is now facing serious challenges from the likes of Microsoft and Google (GOOG) in the IaaS space.

And although Microsoft has secured a leadership position in the Magic Quadrant, Google is a strong contender within the “visionaries” segment, which also includes cloud providers such as CenturyLink, CSC, IBM/SoftLayer and Verizon Terremark.

But according to Gartner, Google currently lacks a successful operational track record. It has suffered operational glitches from the start, but the company is still a relatively new cloud player. Gartner noted Google’s innovative and aggressive road map, as well as its rapid introduction of new capabilities. Gartner also noted Google’s lack of a hybrid cloud approach, but Google hasn’t had any notion toward playing in the hybrid cloud space. Instead, it has a very cloud-focused agenda. Not surprising, considering Google’s entire history has been in the public Internet and it has no legacy in the traditional IT world.

As for Microsoft, Gartner considers some of the company’s strengths to be around its brands and existing customer relationships. You can’t argue numbers, and Microsoft has those. Gartner also noted Microsoft’s deep investments in engineering and its aggressive road map.

Microsoft is a distant second in IaaS market share, Gartner wrote, but it’s “far ahead of its smaller competitors.”

“Microsoft has pledged to maintain AWS-comparable pricing for the general public, and Microsoft customers who sign a contract can receive their enterprise discount on the service, making it highly cost-competitive,” Gartner wrote in its Magic Quadrant report.