Special Feature
The Art Of The Hybrid Cloud [1]
Cloud computing is insatiably gobbling up more of the backend services that power businesses. But, some companies have apps with privacy, security, and regulatory demands that preclude the cloud. Here's how to find the right mix of public cloud and private cloud.
The top cloud providers for 2019 have maintained their positions, but the themes, strategies, and approaches to the market are all in flux. The infrastructure-as-a-service wars have been largely decided, with the spoils going to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, but new technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning have opened the field up to other players.
Meanwhile, the cloud computing market in 2019 will have a decidedly multi-cloud spin, as the hybrid shift by players such as IBM, which is acquiring Red Hat, could change the landscape. This year's edition of the top cloud computing providers also features software-as-a-service giants that will increasingly run more of your enterprise's operations via expansion.
One thing to note about the cloud in 2019 is that the market isn't zero sum. Cloud computing is driving IT spending overall. For instance, Gartner predicts that 2019 global IT spending will increase 3.2 percent to $3.76 trillion with as-a-service models fueling everything from