{"id":5964,"date":"2016-01-06T07:00:40","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T15:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/?p=5964"},"modified":"2015-11-17T08:44:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T16:44:21","slug":"cloud-computing-amazon-microsoft-ibm-and-google-lead-the-pack-as-competitors-consolidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/cloud-computing-amazon-microsoft-ibm-and-google-lead-the-pack-as-competitors-consolidate\/","title":{"rendered":"Cloud Computing: Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Google Lead the Pack as Competitors Consolidate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been ten years since Amazon AWS launched in 2006 and pioneered cloud computing as we know it. \u00a0During that time many\u00a0other vendors have tried to jump in and claim part of the cloud market share, but going into 2016 there are really only four major cloud vendors: \u00a0Amazon, Microsoft, Google and IBM.<\/p>\n<p>As the market becomes more mature, consolidation is inevitable. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.networkworld.com\/author\/Brian-Heder\/\" target=\"_blank\">Brian Heder<\/a>\u00a0in a piece for NetworkWorld <a href=\"http:\/\/www.networkworld.com\/article\/2952714\/cloud-computing\/cloud-consolidation-nation.html\" target=\"_blank\">notes that<\/a> there are two types of cloud consolidation happening:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Consolidation and centralization of content<\/li>\n<li>Consolidation of cloud providers via M&amp;A activity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For example, this past year vendors like Hewlett Packard have tried to catch up via acquisitions. \u00a0HP, for example bought <a href=\"http:\/\/www8.hp.com\/us\/en\/hp-news\/press-release.html?id=1790521\" target=\"_blank\">Eucalyptus <\/a>in late 2014, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www8.hp.com\/hpnext\/posts\/hp-contextream-accelerate-nfv#.VktUYHarSXI\" target=\"_blank\">ContexStream<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/Aruba Networks\" target=\"_blank\">Aruba Networks<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www8.hp.com\/hpnext\/posts\/hp-acquire-voltage-security-expand-data-encryption-security-solutions-cloud-and-big-data#.VktUvnarSXI\" target=\"_blank\">Voltage Security<\/a> in 2015. Microsoft bought <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.microsoft.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/08\/microsoft-acquires-adallom-to-advance-identity-and-security-in-the-cloud\/\" target=\"_blank\">Adallom<\/a>.\u00a0 Similarly, IBM&#8217;s purchases last year were even more cloud-specific, buying <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/11\/03\/ibm-buys-gravitant\/\" target=\"_blank\">Gravitant<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www-03.ibm.com\/press\/us\/en\/pressrelease\/47030.wss\" target=\"_blank\">Blue Box<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/10\/05\/ibm-buys-cleversafe\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cleversafe<\/a> to help with their cloud capabilities. \u00a0The purchase of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2015-10-12\/dell-to-acquire-emc-for-67-billion-to-add-data-storage-devices\" target=\"_blank\">EMC by Dell<\/a> is also a move towards focusing a strategy around virtualization with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.barrons.com\/articles\/vmware-looks-like-a-risky-bet-in-dell-emc-deal-1445665424\" target=\"_blank\">VMware<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fortune cites a Forrester <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/11\/16\/cloud-consolidation-2016\/\" target=\"_blank\">report that predicts\u00a0that<\/a> &#8220;the consolidation and shakeout [of the cloud computing market] will accelerate in 2016, which will force many current providers to refocus on a narrower field, retreat from cloud, or exit. 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