Physical servers used to have numerous tasks, such as Exchange Server, SQL Server, File server, and so on, before the arrival of cloud platforms and virtually hosted servers. You couldn’t access these servers remotely because they were on-premises, resulting in prolonged service disruptions, especially if you didn’t back up the data. Due to these limitations, a strong solution was required, something that could be accessed from any location at any time. We’ll go over the foundations of cloud computing in this article, then show you 10 of the providers who inspired us.
What exactly are cloud service providers?
You can design, manage, and deliver small and large-scale online and mobile applications with the help of cloud providers. To streamline development, virtual server hosting provides you with a variety of internet-based tools, such as big data analytics, IoT, computation, and more.
The top ten cloud service providers in 2021
With over 800 suppliers throughout the world, each with their own set of perks and objectives, we’ve selected a few that have had the most influence in the run-up to 2021.
1- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
In 2008, AWS became the first company to offer cloud computing infrastructure as a service, and it hasn’t looked back since. It’s introducing new services at a rapid rate and building its own compute stack with the goal of becoming more efficient and passing those savings on to customers. That strategy is unlikely to change now that Adam Selipsky has returned to AWS as CEO, and Andy Jassy has taken over Amazon from Jeff Bezos. AWS’s capabilities have grown far beyond cloud computing and storage. AWS, which unveiled a second-generation Graviton processor and instances based on it, can thank the industry’s gravitational pull if processors based on Arm become the norm in the data centre. Graviton and the Nitro abstraction layer, if successful, might be the difference for AWS in the cloud wars. With over 200 integrated features and services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s top cloud vendor. AWS has a free tier that allows you to try out various services without having to commit to anything. AWS controls about 30% of the cloud market share, with 77 Availability Zones and 24 geographic regions.
2- Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure, like AWS, provides a plethora of on-demand computing capabilities geared at cloud building efficiency. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and serverless are the four types of cloud computing offered by Azure. Microsoft Azure, combined with the company’s software-as-a-service strategy and enterprise footprint, makes it a solid number two to AWS. Microsoft will be an option as businesses choose their preferred cloud vendors. The easy and cheap tale is that Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services are battling it out to be the best cloud service provider. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, stated that the company’s cloud division is in the midst of digital transformation efforts. “In just two months, we’ve witnessed two years’ worth of digital transformation. We work with customers every day to help them stay open for business in a world of remote everything, from remote teamwork to sales and customer support to crucial cloud infrastructure and security “Nadella remarked.
3- Google Cloud Platform
The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a collection of services that run on the same infrastructure as Google Search, Youtube, and a number of other tech behemoths.The Anthos technology from Google Cloud Platform is attempting to crack into digital transformation budgets. In the meantime, the cloud provider is trying to expand in important verticals like retail and financial services. Google Cloud Platform has finished a year in which it expanded its strategy, sales team, and differentiated offerings while simultaneously experiencing performance issues. However, Google Cloud is gaining traction thanks to COVID-19 and Google Meet, as well as a multi-cloud workload management strategy. In 2021, Google Cloud is expected to continue to grow its footprint by adding additional regions and data centres.
4- Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba is a worldwide cloud leader with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and security. Alibaba Cloud is the world’s second-largest cloud service provider, powering nearly half of China’s 4.97 million websites. Alibaba has grown quickly thanks to the business partners.The yearly revenue run rate of Alibaba’s cloud division was approximately $10 billion at the end of the most recent quarter. The fact that Alibaba Cloud is used by 59 percent of Chinese enterprises listed on the stock exchange was perhaps the most eye-catching revelation. Meanwhile, Alibaba is expanding its next-generation cloud as well as capacity in China, Europe, and other parts of the world. While Alibaba Cloud may go unnoticed by consumers primarily focused on the EU and US, it may be a preferred cloud vendor for Chinese businesses. To that purpose, Alibaba Cloud is forming strategic partnerships with major corporate vendors and is widely regarded as Asia’s leading cloud service provider.
5- Salesforce
Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform that includes customer support, marketing automation, sales, and more. Their customer relationship tools suite can assist you in developing a data-driven strategy for your company. Salesforce aspires to be the epicentre of all your customer data. Salesforce’s goals are unmistakable. The business aims to give its customers the ability to use their data to offer personalised experiences, sell you its cloud portfolio, and put its Salesforce Customer 360 effort in the spotlight. Salesforce increased its reach in 2020 with Work.com, a suite that allows people to return to work during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Salesforce is also focusing on vaccine management. More than 150 government agencies and healthcare organisations use Salesforce’s vaccine management products, according to the company. The Vaccination Cloud from Salesforce is being used to develop and manage COVID-19 vaccine initiatives as well as track outbreaks.
Salesforce’s strategy to investing during a downturn has been highlighted by recent events. Salesforce has recently announced that it will purchase Slack in order to link its multiple clouds.
6- IBM
IBM combines PaaS and IaaS to deliver a complete cloud experience. IBM, like AWS and Microsoft Azure, offers a slew of services to make many software development processes easier.
IBM is betting $34 billion on the Red Hat acquisition to boost its sales growth. IBM explained why it paid $34 billion for Red Hat and what it plans to do with the company’s future growth.
IBM is doubling heavily on Red Hat in 2020, and its managed services unit will be spun out in 2021. Here’s how IBM plans to operate in 2021:
- IBM is putting together a leadership team for its managed services spin-off.
- Delta will be based on IBM’s Red Hat OpenShift platform.
- IBM will spin off its managed infrastructure unit to focus on Red Hat and hybrid cloud; Q3 sales are expected to be higher than expected.
- Martin Schroeter has been named CEO of IBM’s NewCo spinoff.
- IBM purchases Instana and expands its application monitoring capabilities.
- IBM’s Cloud Paks for data, automation with RPA technologies, and industry accelerators have all been updated.
- Nordcloud, a cloud managed services provider, has been acquired by IBM.
7- Next cloud
Technically, Nextcloud is not a stand-alone online cloud storage service. Rather, it’s a self-hosted file sync and content collaboration platform that gives you free software to install on your own server and manage your own cloud storage services.
A self-hosted solution has the advantage of allowing you to store your data on your own servers, giving you complete control and better speed. While this may appear daunting to newcomers or fruitless to serverless users, the service provides preconfigured hardware that runs Nextcloud right out of the box.
You can download and install it for free as open-source software, but you must figure in the expense of setting up, running, and administering your own servers. However, if you already have infrastructure in place, you might be able to save money by using Nextcloud instead of a commercial cloud storage option.
8- Dell
Dell technology blends VMware software and Dell Technologies infrastructure to deliver a multi-cloud approach that is fully integrated. Dell’s key product as a hybrid, the multi-cloud provider is storage and data security. Dell Technologies is relying on VMware, a portfolio business, to connect its product lines and act as the glue in multi-cloud installations.
VMware has a strong presence, a strategic alliance with AWS, and a parent company in Dell Technologies that uses VMware’s cloud management platform to power its own platform. VMware has a talent for adapting to changes in the cloud ecosystem. VMware, for example, was originally focused on virtualization but has since completely embraced containers. After establishing itself as a pioneer in private cloud deployments, VMware has expanded its role to include connecting older enterprise data centres to public cloud providers. VMware has relationships with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform in addition to its profitable AWS alliance. VMware also has integrated system collaborations with numerous hardware vendors for good measure.
9- Adobe
Adobe Creative Cloud is unique among cloud computing companies in that it concentrates on the creative sector. Adobe offers a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) service that includes tools for graphic design, video editing, photography, and more. As content and data mix, Adobe’s cloud goals focus upon growing its customer base and total addressable market. Adobe has a strong reputation among content creators and marketers, but a strategy to focus on digital experiences and data management would place it in direct competition with Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP in areas like marketing.
10- Oracle
Oracle is migrating its on-premises clients to the cloud while simultaneously attracting new customers. Oracle is in charge of infrastructure. Oracle is a platform company. Oracle specialises in database management, which is becoming increasingly independent. When it comes to the cloud, Oracle is largely a software provider, despite its IaaS and PaaS footprint. With NetSuite, the organisation can now serve small, mid-sized, and large businesses.
While Oracle entered 2020 as an afterthought in the IaaS space, the second half of the year has been eventful for the company. Zoom has signed on as a reference customer for Oracle’s cloud, and the company expects to grow until 2021.
Oracle’s chief corporate architect, Edward Screven, stated in an interview that the company is increasing its hyperscale IaaS footprint, with 36 facilities planned by the end of the year. Oracle is attracting new users with infrastructure and a free tier, in addition to SaaS. “We have a lot of discussions about SaaS, but businesses need to construct SaaS with the tools we have so they can look at the platform. And everyone is seeking for a computer that is quick, dependable, and cost-effective “Screven stated.