Top Cloud Service Providers in 2022: Choosing the Right One for Your Business

The cloud services market is constantly growing. By 2026 its size is expected to increase to USD 947.3 billion. According to TechJury, in 2020, 61% of businesses used cloud services. Today, this figure is even higher, as cloud computing has become one of the main trends in networking in recent two years. In this article, we will determine what providers are leading in the market and what to choose for your business to get the most from cloud technologies.

The main points you need to understand about cloud computing

Simply put, cloud computing delivers computing services — including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence — over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

Advantages of cloud computing

Many advantages of cloud computing make it a desirable option for businesses of all sizes. These benefits include:

• Scalability and flexibility: Cloud resources can be scaled up or down as needed, so businesses only pay for what they use. This makes responding to spikes in demand much easier without overspending on unnecessary resources.
• Cost savings: By using a pay-as-you-go model, businesses only need to pay for the resources they actually use, which can lead to significant savings compared to traditional on-premises solutions.
• Increased agility and speed: Cloud-based solutions can be deployed much faster than on-premises solutions so that businesses can benefit from new features and capabilities much sooner. This increased agility can help companies gain a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced marketplace.
• Improved security: Cloud providers invest heavily in security measures to protect their customers’ data, so businesses can benefit from high-level security when they move to the cloud.

Cloud services and cloud services delivery

Before choosing a provider, you need to clarify your needs: what service you want to get and what type of service delivery would be suitable for your business.

Types of cloud services

There are 3 broad types of cloud computing services:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): In this case, providers offer customers the ability to rent computing resources on demand. This includes everything from virtual machines and storage to networking and security. Customers can access these resources on-demand and pay only for what they use.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS providers offer customers a platform for developing, testing, and deploying applications in the cloud. This can include everything from a simple web hosting platform to a complete development stack. Customers can focus on developing their applications without worrying about managing the underlying infrastructure.

Software as a Service (SaaS): This means that providers offer customers access to software applications that are hosted in the cloud. This includes everything from productivity suites like Microsoft Office 365 to customer relationship management (CRM) tools like Salesforce. Customers can pay for what they use and don’t need to install or manage the underlying software or infrastructure.

Gartner predicts that IaaS and PaaS spending growth by the end of 2022 will be 30.6% and 26%, which proves their prospective.

Models of cloud services delivery

There are also three models of cloud services delivery (public, private, and hybrid), and it’s crucial to make up your mind on this topic if thinking about migrating to the cloud. 

A public cloud is owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider. It is available for everyone on the Internet, but it doesn’t mean everyone would have access to the infrastructure you deploy there. The main advantages of public clouds are that they are easy to set up and use and are often less expensive than private clouds.

A private cloud is owned and operated by a single organization. It can be deployed on-premises, off-premises, or in a hybrid environment. Private clouds offer more control and security than public clouds but are also more complex and expensive to set up and maintain.

A hybrid cloud (as you might guess) is a mix of public and private clouds that are connected together. Hybrid clouds allow organizations to move workloads between the two types of clouds depending on their needs.

The most used cloud service providers

Let’s understand the leaders in this market and discuss the features of these providers so that you can choose the right one. 

1. Amazon Web Services

AWS is the top-one cloud service provider in the market, with a 33% market share. It is the most widely used cloud service provider.

Pros of AWS cloud

• AWS has a large community. More than 1 million customers worldwide use AWS services to process and store billions of objects daily. 
• AWS offers over 200 fully-featured products and services that can be used to build just about any application or business.

An essential point of each provider is the number of availability zones (AZ). It is a physically separate data center connected to the other availability zones in the same region via low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity. Each AZ has its power source and network infrastructure. This allows you to deploy applications and services across multiple availability zones to achieve high availability and durability. AWS services are available in 84 AZ within 26 geographic regions, making creating highly functional and fault-tolerant applications accessible.

Cons of AWS cloud

Even such a giant has its flaws:

• Each AWS account has default limits on the resources that can be used. These limits are designed to help prevent new users from accidentally consuming too many resources. However, these limits can also impact experienced users who try to launch new applications or expand existing ones.
• To use AWS, you need to open up your security to Amazon. You need to give them access to your data and applications. This can be a problem for companies that have strict security requirements.
• AWS can be expensive if you use a lot of resources or leave them turned on all the time. There are ways to save money, but it can be a challenge to keep your costs under control.

2. Microsoft Azure

It is the second-biggest cloud computing provider in the world, with 22% of the market share. Azure offers a similar range of services to AWS, including storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence. 95% of companies from the Fortune 500 run on Azure cloud service. Many of them also use IBM Cloud, but we will talk about the multi-cloud strategy a bit later in this article.

Pros of Microsoft Azure

• Azure provides tools and services for developers, so it’s an excellent option for businesses that want to build their applications.
• Azure services are available in 113 availability zones within 59 geographic regions, with announced plans for 51 more AZ and 19 more regions.

Cons of Microsoft Azure

• Azure can be complex to use, especially for users who are not familiar with the Microsoft platform.
• The provider does not offer as many services as AWS. This can be a problem for businesses that need a specific service that Azure doesn’t provide.

3. Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

GCP is the third-largest CSP in the market, with a 9% market share. GCP services are available in 73 availability zones and 24 regions worldwide.

Pros of Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud is distinguished from competitors by four things:

• a strong security posture;
• a managed Kubernetes service;
• many services for working with big data;
• an extensive partner ecosystem.

Cons of Google Cloud Platform

• GCP is one of the more expensive CSPs, although it offers many discounts and pricing options.
• GCP does not offer as many services like AWS or Azure.

4. Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba is the largest cloud provider in China and the fourth largest worldwide. It offers a comprehensive suite of cloud services, including storage, databases, networking, analytics, and intelligence. Its services are available in 19 regions around the world. The best choice is if you want to target the Chinese market. But this focus on the Chinese market will negatively affect other markets.

5. DigitalOcean

A relatively small cloud provider. DigitalOcean offers a simple and straightforward cloud platform that is easy to use and well-suited for development environments.

Pros of DigitalOcean

• High-performance machines. Independent performance tests place DigitalOcean nodes among the fastest in the industry.
• This provider has a minimum of services, but the most profitable pricing, so it will be an excellent solution for a small project with a small budget.

Cons of DigitalOcean

• Limited services. DigitalOcean does not offer as many services like AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• No SLAs. DigitalOcean does not offer any Service Level Agreements (SLAs), so there is no guarantee of uptime or performance.

6. IBM Cloud

It is a set of cloud computing services offered by the technology giant IBM. It is available in 19 availability zones and six regions. It is a worthy competitor for AWS, Azure, or GCP, but not as popular as they are due to three main reasons:

• poor marketing;
• focus on Fortune 500 companies instead of less substantial businesses;
• has its own engineers who do implementations for their clients. It may be costly for customers.

7. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Although Oracle is not one of the top three, it is a reliable and promising solution, and the provider has a lot to offer to compete even with AWS.

Pros of Oracle Cloud

• Oracle provides many services and products that are combined in one set. This allows you to save on third-party services.
• The provider offers high customization of products, which simplifies use.
• Instead of expanding the number of solutions, the provider has focused on improving them, so this is a good choice if you need a limited number of services.

Cons of Oracle Cloud

It has its disadvantages as any other cloud service provider. The main three are:

• a limited number of products;
• solutions based on .NET have poor performance;
• a poor low-end offering.

How to choose a cloud provider for your business

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best cloud provider for your business will depend on your specific needs. According to RightScale’s report, 84% of respondent companies follow a multi-cloud strategy. They use two or more cloud providers to meet their needs. The most popular reasons for using multiple cloud providers are:

• To avoid vendor lock-in.
• To take advantage of different providers’ strengths.
• To hedge against outages.

So, the best way to choose a cloud provider is to evaluate your specific needs and then select the provider (or providers) that best meet those needs. However, you should keep a few things in mind when making your decision.

First, consider what services you need and whether a CSP can provide them. For example, if you need storage, ensure the provider you’re considering offers storage services.

Second, look at the pricing models of each CSP and decide which one is best for your business. For example, if you know you’ll be using many resources, you may want to choose a provider that offers discounts for pre-paying services.

Finally, consider the security and compliance offerings of each CSP. Make sure the provider you choose has a robust security offering and is compliant with any industry-specific standards that apply to your business.

Most providers can consult you, and their support team will try to understand how well their services meet your requirements and needs. But if the best solution for you is a multi-laud system, it is better to turn to individual professionals engaged in cloud consulting. This will save you time and money. Contact us, and our cloud engineers will find the perfect solution for your business.

Summary

There is no one “best” provider that is perfect for everyone. It all depends on your business-specific needs. However, the most important thing is to do your research before you commit to any provider. Consider what services you need, what your budget is, and what security and compliance requirements you have. Then, select the provider (or providers) that can best meet those needs. If you have any questions or need help selecting a CSP, drop us a message, and our cloud experts will assist you. In the case of custom software development and product maintenance, we do deep research and analysis and select the cloud provider that best suits the project.

Read also: Cloud Security In 2022: All You Need to Know to Protect Your Business