Cloud services sector scorecard - Thematic Research

Cloud services sector scorecard - Thematic Research

Summary

Five giants dominate the cloud services sector: Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba, Google, and IBM. In 2020, it is unlikely that any new entrants will significantly disrupt the status quo as the capital cost involved in building the necessary infrastructure presents a very high barrier to market entry. For established players, the ability to integrate data from more sources through hybrid cloud services and to offer services that support artificial intelligence (AI) workflows will be key to meeting customer demand for variety at low cost.

The need to offer flexibility, due in part to new DevOps strategies, will drive adoption of software-defined data center tech and new partnerships with companies in different parts of the cloud value chain. The extent of 5G’s impact on cloud computing is unclear. If it lives up to expectations, China will be the first to reap the rewards due to large-scale state investment in 5G infrastructure. Cloud gaming will also see rapid growth, thanks to the faster transmission speeds available with 5G.

This report provides information on key themes that will impact the cloud services sector over the next two years, including Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS), hybrid cloud, data centers, 5G, and AI.

Scope

• This report is a sector scorecard, which identifies those companies most likely to succeed in a world filled with disruptive threats. Inside, we predict how each theme will evolve and identify the leading and lagging companies.
• It includes a theme map that shows the 50 biggest themes driving growth in the cloud services sector.
• It explains how some of the largest listed players in the sector have performed over the last three years.
• It looks at major technology and macro-economic trends impacting cloud services.

Reasons to buy

• Companies who invest in the right themes become success stories; those who miss the big themes end up as failures. Corporate executives and investors who want to outperform their competitors need to understand all the themes that impact their sector. However, many of these themes are, by definition, outside of the core competencies of company boardrooms because they typically originate from external industries.
• This cloud services sector scorecard provides a top-down, comprehensive outlook for the key players in the industry over the next two years, based on the key themes set to transform their market."