Cloud computing is a computer system that operates through the joint action of diverse elements grouped together regardless of their geographical location and underlying infrastructure. In other words, it is the delivery of computing services (servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics) to the Internet to provide more flexible resources to people and businesses.
The cloud allows you to rent your IT instead of buying it. Instead of investing heavily in databases, software and hardware, companies choose to access this computing power through the Internet and pay for it based on usage. When a company “goes to the cloud,” it means that its IT infrastructure is stored off-site in a datacenter managed by the cloud provider. Instead of spending money and resources on legacy IT systems, customers can focus on more strategic tasks. Without making a large initial investment, companies can quickly access the IT resources they need and only pay for what they need.
The cost, scaling, performance and reliability advantages of cloud computing over a traditional approach are driving companies around the world, large and small, to move to cloud solutions.
The distinction is typically made between a public cloud owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider that offers computing resources such as servers and storage, and a private cloud used exclusively by a company or organization. The hybrid cloud is a symbiosis of two powered technologies that allow for data sharing and applications.
Solutions as a service
Most cloud services can be classified into four broad categories: IaaS (infrastructure as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), SaaS (software as a service) and serverless computing. IaaS allows you to rent IT infrastructure from a cloud service provider for a fee based on usage. PaaS are services that provide an on-demand environment for developing, testing, delivering and managing software applications (developers can quickly create web or mobile applications without the need for a server). configuring or managing the server, storage, network and database infrastructure required for development.) In SaaS, cloud service providers host and manage software applications and underlying infrastructure, and manage maintenance, such as software upgrades and security patches. Users connect to the application via the Internet, usually via a web browser on their phone, tablet or PC. Finally, serverless computing overlaps with PaaS by focusing on developing application functionality without consuming time and ongoing management of servers and the infrastructure required to do so.
As you can see, cloud computing offers many functions to individuals but especially to companies, whether it is to create native cloud applications, store, back up and manage recover data, share content, and more. It can be used to create native cloud applications. , store, backup and retrieve data, deliver content or software on request, test and develop applications, analyze data or incorporate smart models to interact with customers.
This market is expected to grow strongly over the next ten years. Ark Invest predicts this market will be worth nearly $ 10 trillion by 2030.
Here is a projection of the combined market capitalization of all public cloud services combined (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS, serverless computing) for 2022:
Source: Statistician
A projection of the aggregate market capitalization of cloud applications in 2025:
Source: Statistician
The cloud war has begun:
In this little game, the web giants, including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Apple have already positioned themselves as specialists. Their Chinese counterparts (Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com) have also joined the race. We also saw Salesforce, IBM and Oracle well placed in the rankings. They all want to come first and invest heavily in their infrastructures. In fact, impact size is important to reduce costs and offer a solution that becomes standard for companies (as Microsoft did with its Office suite). The most successful solution is likely to win the largest market share in each industry, as customer retention is the driver of profitability in a scalable cloud -like business. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the competitor to beat so far with 32% market share and still ahead of its rivals. The top 8 cloud providers control 80% of the market share.
Source: Synergy Research Group
We can also mention smaller (and more dangerous) players, each with their own particularities but with great long-term potential, such as ServiceNow and Intuit.
If you want to consult the themed list of cloud computing players, MarketScreener experts have identified for you the major cloud computing players on a global scale. This list is limited to 100 companies selected according to basic criteria and capitalization filters.
Click here to discover the thematic list