Survey: Amazon Beats Out Google as Best Cloud Provider

Amazon.com bested Google in a survey as the company cloud watchers expect to play the largest role in the future of cloud computing.

Appistry and "unconference" organization CloudCamp have announced findings from the first of a series of surveys the two organizations are conducting among CloudCamp participants. For the first Appistry/CloudCamp "Inside the Cloud" survey, (PDF) conducted at CloudCamp Silicon Valley in September, Amazon.com was chosen over Google by a nearly two-to-one margin, 62 percent to 33 percent, as the company expected to have the largest impact on cloud computing.

Sixty-six percent of the survey's respondents said they expect current market conditions to provide fertile ground for cloud computing and expect to see an increase in cloud projects. However, 15 percent predicted that projects will stall.

Security, reliability and scalability were perceived as the top three challenges to greater adoption of cloud computing, according to the survey. And infrastructure and applications—39 percent and 30 percent, respectively—were cited as the areas where the most innovation in cloud computing is happening.

In addition, respondents ranked cost reduction and increased scalability as the top business drivers for their company's or customers' adoption of cloud computing.

"Amazon has been one of the most aggressive cloud infrastructure providers and the survey findings indicate that people believe it will continue to drive the market," said Sam Charrington, CloudCamp co-organizer and vice president of product management and marketing for Appistry. "It not only received twice as many votes as Google, but the combined percentages of Google, Microsoft and IBM couldn't equal the Amazon believers."

Regarding the survey participants, 62 percent represented cloud providers, 24 percent represented cloud consultants and 20 percent indicated that their companies are considering cloud computing technology.

Appistry CEO Kevin Haar highlighted the study on Nov. 19 as part of a presentation on "Cloud Computing and the Data Center of the Future" at Sys-Con's Cloud Computing Expo in Santa Jose, Calif. Appistry co-founder and Chief Strategist Bob Lozano discussed "The New Meaning of Application Virtualization: Cloud-Enabling Applications" on Nov. 20 at the Sys-Con conference.