2019 was definitely the year that the cloud computing race reached its peak. Headlined by a multi-cloud spin, the industry saw the injection of new players as well as the growth of those that are already existing. For those who carefully followed through, it was quite amazing to watch the cloud leaders stack up, see the hybrid market changing, and observe the SaaS players starting to compete with the IaaS leaders.
In a detailed recap, we’re going to take a look at all the strategic moves made in the industry. Finally, we’ll attempt to analyze how your 2020 might be shaped by the events that we witnessed in 2019.
Top Cloud Providers in 2019 – Modus Operandi
In 2019, the leading cloud providers changed how they approach the market, their strategies and the themes applied to their services. Through all these changes, they, however, managed to maintain their positions as the leaders on the market.
Due to the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the cloud environment opened up to new players. One such newbie that was in the pipeline for a while and has carved a niche for itself within a short time after being introduced is FileWhopper.
Not surprisingly, the top cloud providers who started the infrastructure-as-a-service war are none other than Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure.
How Hybrid Multi-Cloud Platforms Have Helped Improve File Sharing
In a hybrid multi-cloud setting, whatever data and applications you upload become stored and actively run in the most compatible environment. Unlike back in the day when they had to run wherever they were uploaded because that was what the situation demanded, hybrid multi-cloud configuration gives the option that is best suited.
Thanks to hybrid multi-cloud systems, in 2019, businesses experienced an improvement to their infrastructure as it was operating at the most optimized level, delivering the best performance at the least cost. To get these changes right, make sure that you get the difference between multi-cloud and hybrid multi-cloud systems. Whereas a multi-cloud system is where the company uses several different public cloud services, usually in the forms of multiple different providers to store data, a hybrid multi-cloud service ensures that public and private components work together. There are a lot of intersections whereby data meet, and there are common grounds when using a hybrid system.
The dynamics are sure to change in 2020, the major reason being the fact that there has been a hybrid shift in the industry. For instance, in July 2019, Dropbox added a new feature known as Dropbox Transfer, which can be used by Dropbox users to send and receive large files. When sending on this platform, there’s no 25MB size limit attached as you can now send up to 100MB.
Also, in July 2019, IBM acquired Red Hat. Thanks to this acquisition, IBM begins 2020 as the leading hybrid cloud provider. Since joining forces with Red Hat, IBM has continued to provide its customers with flexible choices and improved services. Through Red Hat’s commitment to hybrid cloud computing, the partnership has managed to help deliver a next-generation hybrid multi-cloud platform.
Power Shift from Hybrid Architecture to Infrastructure Management
The last half of 2019 experienced a lot of changes in the cloud environment. To track how these changes were affecting the system in place, Kentik did an inclusive study. The results clearly indicate that 97% of the study participants rely on AWS while about 35% rely on Azure. There is also a high number of those using Google Cloud Platform indicated by the 24% rating received. During the same study, other participants indicated that their companies didn’t just rely on one cloud provider but were happy to use two or three, such as AWS and Azure or Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
While considering the challenges presented by cloud environments, the other factors that were checked indicated that users were worried mostly about management, security, and control. All these factors can easily be solved by using FileWhopper, which charges a small one-off fee per upload, uses encryption and double protection and also gives the user full control of their data, which can be shared with whoever is interested in uploading it.
Struggles Met by Upcoming SaaS Players
The conversation around SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS has always been a hot one with cloud users wanting to understand their choices. There are three options to select from, namely Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Some of the top examples of IaaS include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Cisco Metapod. When using an IaaS platform, there’s no need to buy the platform, you can simply buy the resources you need when and as the need arises. The top examples of PaaS include Google App Engine, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Windows Azure. Developers using PaaS can use their own framework to come up with customized end products. And the top examples of SaaS platforms include Google Apps, Cisco WebEx, and Dropbox. Most SaaS apps function directly through your web browser and thus don’t normally require downloading and installing.
Based on the details above, you can determine which platform your business uses and know whether or not you’d like to change over to another platform. For most businesses, 2019 was a year of learning that they could meet all their cloud needs on SaaS platforms. Thus, the year ended with most cloud providers offering SaaS.
Choosing a Cloud Provider
There are a lot of options to consider on the market at the moment. But there are also a lot of factors to look into before selecting a cloud provider. Dynamics changed a lot in 2019. In a nutshell, here are some of the big changes we have realized:
Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform saw the biggest rise. Their revenues skyrocketed as they improved their services and signed up more clients. The likes of Alibaba and other vendors were left in the dust, thinking about what to do and what to focus on as the dynamics were shifting. Some cloud providers changed their prices. For example, Amazon Web Services used to be one of the cheapest providers but, with more success, increased its initial offerings. Microsoft Azure floated around its normal prices, and Google Cloud Platform received a lot of deals by making its services cheaper.
AI is a game changer. Since IBM is big on AI, the company has experienced serious growth selling AI as a cloud service. The same goes for Microsoft and Amazon. Due to the staying power of AI, whoever has AI at their disposal easily experiences big changes and improvements, and this is wonderful news for those looking for a cloud service as it means that the competition is steep and they will get better deals than before.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
For AWS, 2019 was a year for investments. It added the elements of sales personnel and increased its technology buildout. According to statistics, in the third quarter of 2019, AWS’s revenue grew by 35% compared to the second quarter. And AWS has done even better growing 45% in the last quarter of the year. Amazon’s ecosystem and developers make it increasingly challenging to beat AWS so far.
If we are to throw AI, AR, and the Internet of Things into the mix, AWS outperforms every other IaaS on the market. It also has a hybrid system. Partnering with SAP, VMware and C3 helps further improve the processes for growing the ecosystem. The challenge would be seeing how far the AWS will go in the new year. For now, we observe and wait for the year to roll by.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is doing very well. Closely behind AWS, the platform enjoyed a really profitable 2019 and looks to an even better 2020. The Azure cloud business is recognized as a commercial cloud and encompasses many of Microsoft’s projects from Office 365 to Dynamics 365, LinkedIn and Azure. With Microsoft’s software stack, enterprise relations and data center tools, Azure gets a hybrid feel at the end of the day.
The direction taken by Microsoft enables the platform to focus on analytics, the Internet of Things, and AI. The Microsoft cloud unit also focuses on other similar ventures, including finance, retail, and healthcare.
Google Cloud Platform
Google is a large provider with more than one stream of income and focus avenue. The last half of the year saw Google Cloud Platform becoming a serious, heavyweight contender against AWS and Azure. Given the move to integrate business ethics and guidance as part of their offered services, the Google Cloud Platform services have improved. Their revenue also soared high, such that their last annual revenue run rate was recorded at $8 billion.
Google Cloud is also growing in its collaboration with SAP by pairing AI with machine learning services together with SAP’s C4/HANA and S4/HANA. Experts remain ever ready to observe just how well Google Cloud Platform will perform in the near future with all other activities and services put into consideration.
Alibaba
This Asian cloud provider has contributed to the Chinese economy in recent years. Most companies looking to build a solid online presence are considering the Alibaba service. Thus, it’s interesting to also put it in the spotlight and see how far they will go in 2020. The approach taken by Alibaba is set to expand its services and provide partners with a bigger piece of the pie through new software offerings.
Alibaba has a serious yearning for growth outside of China and beyond Asia. With their expansion and the introduction of more markets, 2020 can only be better for Alibaba, and shoppers can observe and see where the future takes them.
Meet FileWhopper, a Game Changer
FileWhopper came as a game changer. Without even knowing it, the industry had a tight competitor requiring the leaders to pull up their socks. The platform is a child project of an Australian software company and was designed by a team of brilliant IT professionals. FileWhopper came at the right time, just when the leading cloud storage platforms were running amok with their prices for file sharing.
The cloud provider solves the major issue faced by other platforms – the inability to send large files. If you have ever experienced the FILE TOO LARGE issue, now you know that there’s a solution to it in the form of FileWhopper. In their own words, “FileWhopper helps when you need to send a very big file to someone, and no other service lets you do it without having to buy a monthly storage plan.”
It is the company’s mission to make sending large files online an easy thing, a task that can be easily completed without feeling robbed. And in case you’re not ready to take our word for it, check out the Trust Pilot reviews to find out what other users have to say about their experience using FileWhopper to send large files. Previously, the platform allowed users to send large files of up to 1TB for free on their Beta version. But now, you pay a one-off fee for every upload depending on the size of the data you want to transfer. The cost is actually small enough to be negligible and allows companies to use this service time and again without experiencing financial strain.
Here’s a summary of FileWhopper and why you need to use the platform in 2020 for all your file transfer needs:
- Super-fast upload and transfer speeds – as soon as you select the file or folder that you would like to share, the FileWhopper app helps you upload it fast. The recipient will get the transferred data just as fast. FileWhopper uses multi-threaded data transfer technology to make sure transfer speeds are fast.
- You determine how much data you will send – the service is open to any size data. You can transfer files without any limits, and the best part is that the process will always go smoothly.
- All-around safety and security – FileWhopper makes sure to emphasize the safety of their platform. If you would like to share highly confidential files, then this is where to do that. There is double protection for every piece of data alongside thorough encryption.
- Data integrity is maintained – don’t fret about your data getting corrupted. In the event that there’s a power cut or some sort of interruption, FileWhopper keeps the uploaded data so you just continue from where you left off. No data is lost as the system ensures the integrity of transferred files.
- A really low one-time transfer fee – unlike other platforms that require subscriptions, FileWhopper only charges a one-off fee. Once the site’s app helps you upload, it also automatically calculates the size of data being transferred, then provides you with a quotation based on the size calculated. The minimum fee payable on site is $0.99.
There are a lot of other benefits of using FileWhopper. Give it a try and send the same link to up to eight recipients.
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