Magic Quadrant For Cloud Infrastructure As A Service Worldwide

6/12/2015
MagicQuadrantforCloudInfrastructureasaService,Worldwide
MagicQuadrantforCloudInfrastructureasa
Service,Worldwide
18May2015ID:G00265139
Analyst(s):LydiaLeong,DouglasToombs,BobGill
VIEWSUMMARY
ThemarketforcloudIaaSisinastateofupheaval,asmanyserviceprovidersareshiftingtheirstrategies
afterfailingtogainenoughmarkettraction.Customersmustexercisecautionwhenchoosingproviders.
ADDITIONALPERSPECTIVES
Industry:Government(Federal)
EVIDENCE
MarketDefinition/Description
CloudcomputingisastyleofcomputinginwhichscalableandelasticITenabledcapabilitiesaredelivered
asaserviceusingInternettechnologies.Cloudinfrastructureasaservice(IaaS)isatypeofcloud
computingserviceitparallelstheinfrastructureanddatacenterinitiativesofIT.CloudcomputeIaaS
constitutesthelargestsegmentofthismarket(thebroaderIaaSmarketalsoincludescloudstorageand
cloudprinting).OnlycloudcomputeIaaSisevaluatedinthisMagicQuadrantitdoesnotcovercloud
storageproviders,platformasaservice(PaaS)providers,softwareasaservice(SaaS)providers,cloud
servicebrokerages(CSBs)oranyothertypeofcloudserviceprovider,nordoesitcoverthehardwareand
softwarevendorsthatmaybeusedtobuildcloudinfrastructure.Furthermore,thisMagicQuadrantisnot
anevaluationofthebroad,generalizedcloudcomputingstrategiesofthecompaniesprofiled.
InthecontextofthisMagicQuadrant,cloudcomputeIaaS(hereafterreferredtosimplyas"cloudIaaS"
or"IaaS")isdefinedasastandardized,highlyautomatedoffering,wherecomputeresources,
complementedbystorageandnetworkingcapabilities,areownedbyaserviceproviderandofferedtothe
customerondemand.Theresourcesarescalableandelasticinnearrealtime,andmeteredbyuse.Self
serviceinterfacesareexposeddirectlytothecustomer,includingaWebbasedUIandanAPI.The
resourcesmaybesingletenantormultitenant,andhostedbytheserviceprovideroronpremisesinthe
customer'sdatacenter.(Formoredetails,see"TechnologyOverviewforCloudInfrastructureasa
Service").
CloudIaaSincludesnotjusttheresourcesthemselves,butalsotheautomatedmanagementofthose
resources,managementtoolsdeliveredasservices,andcloudsoftwareinfrastructureservices.Thelast
categoryincludesmiddlewareanddatabasesasaservice,uptoandincludingPaaScapabilities.However,
itdoesnotincludefullstandalonePaaScapabilities,suchasapplicationPaaS(aPaaS)andintegration
PaaS(iPaaS).
Wedrawadistinctionbetweencloudinfrastructureasaservice,andcloudinfrastructureasatechnology
platformwecallthelattercloudenabledsysteminfrastructure(CESI).IncloudIaaS,thecapabilitiesofa
CESIaredirectlyexposedtothecustomerthroughselfservice.However,otherservices,including
noncloudservices,maybedeliveredontopofaCESIthesecloudenabledservicesmayincludeformsof
managedhosting,datacenteroutsourcingandotherIToutsourcingservices.InthisMagicQuadrant,we
evaluateonlycloudIaaSofferingswedonotevaluatecloudenabledservices.(Formoreonthis
distinction,see"TechnologyOverviewforCloudEnabledSystemInfrastructure"[Note:Thisdocument
hasbeenarchivedsomeofitscontentmaynotreflectcurrentconditions],"TechnologyOverviewfor
CloudEnabledManagedHosting"and"Don'tBeFooledbyOfferingsFalselyMasqueradingasCloud
InfrastructureasaService"[Note:Thisdocumenthasbeenarchivedsomeofitscontentmaynotreflect
currentconditions].)
ThisMagicQuadrantcoversallthecommonusecasesforcloudIaaS,includingdevelopmentandtesting,
productionenvironments(includingthosesupportingmissioncriticalworkloads)forbothinternaland
customerfacingapplications,batchcomputing(includinghighperformancecomputing[HPC])and
disasterrecovery.Itencompassesbothsingleapplicationworkloadsand"virtualdatacenters"(VDCs)
hostingmanydiverseworkloads.Itincludessuitabilityforawiderangeofapplicationdesignpatterns,
includingboth"cloudnative"applicationarchitecturesandenterpriseapplicationarchitectures.
CustomerstypicallyexhibitabimodalITsourcingpatternforcloudIaaS(see"BimodalIT:HowtoBe
DigitallyAgileWithoutMakingaMess"and"BestPracticesforPlanningaCloudInfrastructureasa
ServiceStrategyBimodalIT,NotHybridInfrastructure").MostcloudIaaSisboughtforMode2agileIT,
emphasizingdeveloperproductivityandbusinessagility,butanincreasingamountofcloudIaaSisbeing
boughtforMode1traditionalIT,withanemphasisoncostreduction,safetyandsecurity.ThisMagic
Quadrantconsidersbothsourcingpatternsandtheirassociatedcustomerbehaviorsandrequirements.
ThisMagicQuadrantprimarilyevaluatescloudIaaSprovidersinthecontextofthefastestgrowingneed
amongGartnerclients:thedesiretohavea"datacenterinthecloud,"wherethecustomerretainsmost
oftheIToperationsresponsibility(evenifthecustomersubsequentlychoosestooutsourcethat
responsibilityviathirdpartymanagedservices).Gartner'sclientsaremainlyenterprises,midmarket
businessesandtechnologycompaniesofallsizes,andtheevaluationfocusesontypicalclient
requirements.
ThisMagicQuadrantstronglyemphasizesselfserviceandautomationinastandardizedenvironment.It
focusesontheneedsofcustomerswhoseprimaryneedisselfservicecloudIaaS,althoughthismaybe
supplementedbyasmallamountofcolocationordedicatedservers.Organizationsthatneedsignificant
customizationormanagedservicesforasingleapplication,orthatareseekingcloudIaaSasa
supplementtoatraditionalhostingsolution("hybridhosting"),shouldconsulttheMagicQuadrantsfor
http://www.gartner.com/technology/reprints.do?id=12G2O5FC&ct=150519&st=sb
Gartnerclientinquiriesin2014and2015(currently
morethan1,000cloudIaaSrelatedinquiriesper
quarter)
Serviceproviderinterviewsandproduct
demonstrationsin2014and2015
Surveysofmorethan75cloudIaaSprovidersin
2014and2015
Customerreferencesfromtheserviceprovidersin
2014and2015
Handsontrialsofserviceofferingsin2014and
2015
PublicinformationfromsourcessuchasU.S.
SecuritiesandExchangeCommissionfilings,press
releases,vendorwebsitesandcommunitysupport
forums
NOTE1
SSAE16
StatementonStandardsforAttestationEngagements
(SSAE)16thatis,ServiceOrganizationControl
(SOC)1.See"SOCAttestationMightBeAssuranceof
SecurityorItMightNot."
NOTE2
ISO27001
InternationalOrganizationforStandardization
(ISO)/InternationalElectrotechnicalCommission(IEC)
27001.See"SecurityResearchRoundupforISO27001
Compliance."
EVALUATIONCRITERIADEFINITIONS
AbilitytoExecute
Product/Service:Coregoodsandservicesofferedby
thevendorforthedefinedmarket.Thisincludes
currentproduct/servicecapabilities,quality,feature
sets,skillsandsoon,whetherofferednativelyor
throughOEMagreements/partnershipsasdefinedin
themarketdefinitionanddetailedinthesubcriteria.
OverallViability:Viabilityincludesanassessmentof
theoverallorganization'sfinancialhealth,thefinancial
andpracticalsuccessofthebusinessunit,andthe
likelihoodthattheindividualbusinessunitwillcontinue
investingintheproduct,willcontinueofferingthe
productandwilladvancethestateoftheartwithinthe
organization'sportfolioofproducts.
SalesExecution/Pricing:Thevendor'scapabilitiesin
allpresalesactivitiesandthestructurethatsupports
them.Thisincludesdealmanagement,pricingand
negotiation,presalessupport,andtheoverall
effectivenessofthesaleschannel.
MarketResponsiveness/Record:Abilitytorespond,
changedirection,beflexibleandachievecompetitive
successasopportunitiesdevelop,competitorsact,
customerneedsevolveandmarketdynamicschange.
Thiscriterionalsoconsidersthevendor'shistoryof
responsiveness.
MarketingExecution:Theclarity,quality,creativity
andefficacyofprogramsdesignedtodeliverthe
organization'smessagetoinfluencethemarket,
promotethebrandandbusiness,increaseawareness
oftheproducts,andestablishapositiveidentification
withtheproduct/brandandorganizationintheminds
ofbuyers.This"mindshare"canbedrivenbya
combinationofpublicity,promotionalinitiatives,
thoughtleadership,wordofmouthandsalesactivities.
CustomerExperience:Relationships,productsand
services/programsthatenableclientstobesuccessful
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ManagedHostinginstead("MagicQuadrantforCloudEnabledManagedHosting,NorthAmerica,""Magic
QuadrantforCloudEnabledManagedHosting,Europe"and"MagicQuadrantforCloudEnabledManaged
Hosting,Asia/Pacific").Organizationsthatwantafullycustombuiltsolution,ormanagedserviceswithan
underlyingCESI,shouldconsulttheMagicQuadrantsfordatacenteroutsourcingandinfrastructure
utilityservices("MagicQuadrantforDataCenterOutsourcingandInfrastructureUtilityServices,North
America,""MagicQuadrantforDataCenterOutsourcingandInfrastructureUtilityServices,Europe"and
"MagicQuadrantforDataCenterOutsourcingandInfrastructureUtilityServices,Asia/Pacific").
ThisMagicQuadrantevaluatesallindustrializedcloudIaaSsolutions,whetherpubliccloud(multitenantor
mixedtenancy),communitycloud(multitenantbutlimitedtoaparticularcustomercommunity),or
privatecloud(fullysingletenant,hostedbytheprovideroronpremises).ItisnotmerelyaMagic
QuadrantforpubliccloudIaaS.Tobeconsideredindustrialized,aservicemustbestandardizedacrossthe
customerbase.AlthoughmostoftheprovidersinthisMagicQuadrantdooffercustomprivatecloudIaaS,
wehavenotconsideredthesenonindustrializedofferingsinourevaluations.Organizationsthatare
lookingforcustombuilt,custommanagedprivatecloudsshoulduseourMagicQuadrantsfordatacenter
outsourcingandinfrastructureutilityservicesinstead(seeabove).
UnderstandingtheVendorProfiles,StrengthsandCautions
CloudIaaSprovidersthattargetenterpriseandmidmarketcustomersgenerallyofferahighquality
service,withexcellentavailability,goodperformance,highsecurityandgoodcustomersupport.
ExceptionswillbenotedinthisMagicQuadrant'sevaluationsofindividualproviders.Notethatwhenwe
say"allproviders,"wespecificallymean"alltheevaluatedprovidersincludedinthisMagicQuadrant,"not
allcloudIaaSprovidersingeneral.Keepthefollowinginmindwhenreadingthevendorprofiles:
AlltheprovidershaveapubliccloudIaaSoffering.Manyalsohaveanindustrializedprivatecloud
offering,whereeverycustomerisonstandardizedinfrastructureandcloudmanagementtools,
althoughthismayormaynotresembletheprovider'spubliccloudserviceineitherarchitectureor
quality.Asinglearchitectureandfeaturesetandcrosscloudmanagement,forbothpublicand
privatecloudIaaS,makeiteasierforcustomerstocombineandmigrateacrossservicemodelsas
theirneedsdictate,andenabletheprovidertouseitsengineeringinvestmentsmoreeffectively.
Mostoftheprovidersalsooffercustomprivateclouds.
Mostoftheprovidershaveofferingsthatcanservetheneedsofmidmarketbusinessesand
enterprises,aswellasothercompaniesthatusetechnologyatscale.Afewoftheprovidersprimarily
targetindividualdevelopers,smallbusinessesandstartups,andlackthefeaturesneededbylarger
organizations,althoughthatdoesnotmeanthattheircustomerbaseisexclusivelysmall
businesses.
MostoftheprovidersareorientedtowardtheneedsofMode1traditionalIT,especiallyIToperations
organizations,withanemphasisoncontrol,governanceandsecuritymanysuchprovidershavea
"rentedvirtualization"orientation,andarecapableofrunningbothnewandlegacyapplications,but
areunlikelytoprovidetransformationalbenefits.Amuchsmallernumberofprovidersareoriented
towardtheneedsofMode2agileITtheseproviderstypicallyemphasizecapabilitiesfornew
applicationsandaDevOpsorientation,butarealsocapableofrunninglegacyapplicationsandbeing
managedinatraditionalfashion.
AlltheprovidersofferbasiccloudIaaScompute,storageandnetworkingresourcesasaservice.A
fewoftheprovidersofferadditionalvalueaddedcapabilitiesaswell,notablycloudsoftware
infrastructureservicestypicallymiddlewareanddatabasesasaserviceuptoandincluding
PaaScapabilities.Theseservices,alongwithIToperationsmanagementcapabilitiesasaservice
(especiallyDevOpsrelatedservices)areavitaldifferentiatorinthemarket,especiallyforMode2
agileITbuyers.
withtheproductsevaluated.Specifically,thisincludes
thewayscustomersreceivetechnicalsupportor
accountsupport.Thiscanalsoincludeancillarytools,
customersupportprograms(andthequalitythereof),
availabilityofusergroups,servicelevelagreements
andsoon.
Operations:Theabilityoftheorganizationtomeet
itsgoalsandcommitments.Factorsincludethequality
oftheorganizationalstructure,includingskills,
experiences,programs,systemsandothervehicles
thatenabletheorganizationtooperateeffectivelyand
efficientlyonanongoingbasis.
CompletenessofVision
MarketUnderstanding:Abilityofthevendorto
understandbuyers'wantsandneedsandtotranslate
thoseintoproductsandservices.Vendorsthatshow
thehighestdegreeofvisionlistentoandunderstand
buyers'wantsandneeds,andcanshapeorenhance
thosewiththeiraddedvision.
MarketingStrategy:Aclear,differentiatedsetof
messagesconsistentlycommunicatedthroughoutthe
organizationandexternalizedthroughthewebsite,
advertising,customerprogramsandpositioning
statements.
SalesStrategy:Thestrategyforsellingproductsthat
usestheappropriatenetworkofdirectandindirect
sales,marketing,service,andcommunication
affiliatesthatextendthescopeanddepthofmarket
reach,skills,expertise,technologies,servicesandthe
customerbase.
Offering(Product)Strategy:Thevendor'sapproach
toproductdevelopmentanddeliverythatemphasizes
differentiation,functionality,methodologyandfeature
setsastheymaptocurrentandfuturerequirements.
BusinessModel:Thesoundnessandlogicofthe
vendor'sunderlyingbusinessproposition.
Vertical/IndustryStrategy:Thevendor'sstrategy
todirectresources,skillsandofferingstomeetthe
specificneedsofindividualmarketsegments,including
verticalmarkets.
Innovation:Direct,related,complementaryand
synergisticlayoutsofresources,expertiseorcapital
forinvestment,consolidation,defensiveorpre
emptivepurposes.
GeographicStrategy:Thevendor'sstrategytodirect
resources,skillsandofferingstomeetthespecific
needsofgeographiesoutsidethe"home"ornative
geography,eitherdirectlyorthroughpartners,
channelsandsubsidiariesasappropriateforthat
geographyandmarket.
WeconsideranofferingtobepubliccloudIaaSifthestorageandnetworkelementsaresharedthe
computecanbemultitenant,singletenantorboth.PrivatecloudIaaSusessingletenantcompute
andstorage,butunlessthesolutionisonthecustomer'spremises,thenetworkisusuallystill
shared.
Ingeneral,monthlycomputeavailabilitySLAsof99.95%andhigherarethenorm,andtheyare
typicallyhigherthanavailabilitySLAsformanagedhosting.Servicecreditsforoutagesinagiven
montharetypicallycappedat100%ofthemonthlybill.Thisavailabilitypercentageistypicallynon
negotiable,asitisbasedonanengineeringestimateoftheunderlyinginfrastructurereliability.
MaintenancewindowsarenormallyexcludedfromtheSLA.
SomeprovidershaveacomputeavailabilitySLAthatrequiresthecustomertousecompute
capabilitiesinatleasttwofaultdomains(sometimesknownasavailabilityzonesoravailabilitysets)
anSLAviolationrequiresbothfaultdomainstofail.ProviderswithanSLAofthistypeareexplicitly
notedashavingamultifaultdomainSLA.
VeryfewoftheprovidershaveanSLAforcomputeorstorageperformance.However,mostofthe
providersdonotoversubscribecomputeorRAMresourcesprovidersthatdonotguaranteeresource
allocationsarenotedexplicitly.
ManyprovidershaveadditionalSLAs,coveringnetworkavailabilityandperformance,customer
serviceresponsivenessandotherserviceaspects.
Infrastructureresourcesarenotnormallyautomaticallyreplicatedintomultipledatacenters,unless
otherwisenotedcustomersareresponsiblefortheirownbusinesscontinuity.Someprovidersoffer
optionaldisasterrecoverysolutions.
Allprovidersoffer,atminimum,perhourmeteringofvirtualmachines(VMs),andsomecanoffer
shortermeteringincrements,whichcanbemorecosteffectiveforshorttermbatchjobs.Providers
chargeonaperVMbasis,unlessotherwisenoted.Someprovidersoffereitherasharedresource
pool(SRP)pricingmodelorareflexibleabouthowtheypricetheservice.IntheSRPmodel,
customerscontractforacertainamountofcapacity(intermsofCPUandRAM),butcanallocate
thatcapacitytoVMsinanarbitraryway,includingbeingabletooversubscribethatcapacity
voluntarilyadditionalcapacitycanusuallybepurchasedondemandbythehour.
Someoftheprovidersareabletooffer"baremetal"physicalserversonadynamicbasis.Duetothe
longerprovisioningtimesinvolvedforphysicalequipment(twohoursiscommon),theminimum
billingincrementforsuchserversisusuallydaily,ratherthanhourly.Providerswithabaremetal
optionarenotedassuch.
Alltheprovidersofferanoptionforcolocation,unlessotherwisenoted.Manycustomershaveneeds
thatrequireasmallamountofsupplementalcolocationinconjunctionwiththeircloudmost
frequentlyforalargescaledatabase,butsometimesforspecializednetworkequipment,software
thatcannotbelicensedonvirtualizedservers,orlegacyequipment.Colocationisspecifically
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mentionedonlywhenaserviceprovideractivelysellscolocationasastandaloneservicea
significantnumberofmidmarketcustomersplantomoveintocolocationandthengraduallymigrate
intothatprovider'sIaaSoffering.Ifaproviderdoesnotoffercolocationitselfbutcanmeetsuch
needsviaapartnerexchange,thisisexplicitlynoted.
Alltheprovidersclaimtohavehighsecuritystandards.Theextentofthesecuritycontrolsprovided
tocustomersvariessignificantly,though.Alltheprovidersevaluatedcanoffersolutionsthatwill
meetcommonregulatorycomplianceneeds,unlessotherwisenoted.AlltheprovidershaveSSAE
16auditsfortheirdatacenters(seeNote1).Somemayhavesecurityspecificthirdparty
assessmentssuchasISO27001orSOC2fortheircloudIaaSofferings(seeNote2),bothofwhich
providearelativelyhighlevelofassurancethattheprovidersareadheringtogenerallyaccepted
practiceforthesecurityoftheirsystems,butdonotaddresstheextentofcontrolsofferedto
customers.Securityisasharedresponsibilitycustomersneedtocorrectlyconfigurecontrolsand
mayneedtosupplyadditionalcontrolsbeyondwhattheirprovideroffers.
Someprovidersofferasoftwaremarketplacewheresoftwarevendorsspeciallylicenseandpackage
theirsoftwaretorunonthatprovider'scloudIaaSoffering.Marketplacesoftwarecanbe
automaticallyinstalledwithaclick,andcanbebilledthroughtheprovider.Somemarketplacesalso
containotherthirdpartysolutionsandservices.
Allprovidersofferenterpriseclasssupportwith24/7customerservice,viaphone,emailandchat,
alongwithanaccountmanager.Mostprovidersincludethiswiththeiroffering.Someofferalower
levelofsupportbydefault,butallowcustomerstopayextraforenterpriseclasssupport.
Alltheproviderswillsigncontractswithcustomers,caninvoice,andcanconsolidatebillsfrom
multipleaccounts.Whilesomemayalsoofferonlinesignupandcreditcardbilling,theyrecognize
thatenterprisebuyersprefercontractsandinvoices.Somewillsign"zerodollar"contractsthatdo
notcommitacustomertoacertainvolume.
Alltheprovidersevaluatedarebelievedtobefinanciallystable,withbusinessplansthatare
adequatelyfunded.However,manyoftheprovidersareundergoingsignificantreevaluationoftheir
cloudIaaSbusinesses.Existingandprospectivecustomersshouldbeawarethatsuchprovidersmay
makesignificantchangestothestrategyanddirectionoftheircloudIaaSbusiness,including
replacingtheircurrentofferingwithanewplatform,orexitingthisbusinessentirelyinfavorof
partneringwithamoresuccessfulprovider.
Manyoftheprovidershavewhitelabelorresellerprograms,andsomemaybewillingtolicense
theirsoftware.Wementionsoftwarelicensingonlywhenitisasignificantportionoftheprovider's
businessotherserviceproviders,notenterprises,areusuallythelicensees.Wedonotmention
channelprogramspotentialpartnersshouldsimplyassumethatallthesecompaniesareopento
discussingarelationship.
MostoftheprovidersofferoptionalmanagedservicesonIaaS.However,notallofferthesametype
ofmanagedservicesonIaaSastheydointheirbroadermanagedhostingordatacenter
outsourcingservices.Somemayhavemanagedservicesprovider(MSP)orsystemintegrator(SI)
partnersthatprovidemanagedandprofessionalservices.
Alltheevaluatedprovidersofferaportal,documentation,technicalsupport,customersupportand
contractsinEnglish.SomecanprovideoneormoreoftheseinlanguagesotherthanEnglish.Most
providerscanconductbusinessinlocallanguages,evenifallaspectsofserviceareEnglishonly.
Customerswhoneedmultilingualsupportwillfinditverychallengingtosourceanoffering.
Inpreviousyears,thisMagicQuadranthasprovidedsignificanttechnicaldetailontheofferings.These
detailedevaluationsarenowpublishedin"CriticalCapabilitiesforPublicCloudInfrastructureasaService,
Worldwide"instead.
FormatoftheVendorDescriptions
Whendescribingeachprovider,wefirstsummarizethenatureofthecompanyandthenprovide
informationaboutitsindustrializedcloudIaaSofferingsinthefollowingformat:
Offerings:AlistoftheindustrializedcloudIaaSofferings(bothpublicandprivate)thataredirectly
offeredbytheprovider.Alsoincludediscommentaryonthewaysinwhichtheseofferingsdeviatefrom
thestandardcapabilitiesdetailedin"UnderstandingtheVendorProfiles,StrengthsandCautions,"above.
Wealsolistrelatedcapabilitiesofinterest,suchasobjectstorage,contentdeliverynetwork(CDN)and
managedservices,butthisisnotacomprehensivelistingoftheprovider'sofferings.
Locations:CloudIaaSdatacenterlocationsbycountry,languagesthatthecompanydoesbusinessin,
andlanguagesthattechnicalsupportcanbeconductedin.
Recommendedmode:Wenotewhetherthevendor'sofferingsarelikelytoappealtoMode1traditional
IT,Mode2agileIT,orboth,andwhethertheofferingsarelikelytobeusefulfororganizationsseekingIT
transformation.Thisrecommendationreflectsthewaythataprovidergoestomarket,providesservice
andsupport,anddesignsitsofferings.Allsuchstatementsarespecifictotheprovider'scloudIaaS
offering,nottheproviderasawhole.
Recommendeduses:Thesearethecircumstancesunderwhichwerecommendtheprovider.Theseare
nottheonlycircumstancesinwhichitmaybeausefulprovider,butthesearetheusecasesitisbest
usedfor.Foramoredetailedexplanationoftheusecases,see"RecommendedUses"below.
Inthelistofofferings,westatethebasisofeachprovider'svirtualizationtechnologyand,ifrelevant,its
cloudmanagementplatform(CMP).WealsostatewhatAPIsitsupportstheAmazonWebServices
(AWS),OpenStackandvCloudAPIsarethethreethathavebroadadoption,butmanyprovidersalsohave
theirownuniqueAPI.NotethatsupportingoneofthethreecommonAPIsdoesnotprovideassurance
thataprovider'sserviceiscompatiblewithaspecifictoolthatpurportstosupportthatAPIthe
completenessandaccuracyofAPIimplementationsvaryconsiderably.Furthermore,theuseofthesame
underlyingCMPorAPIcompatibilitydoesnotindicatethattwoservicesareinteroperable.Specifically,
OpenStackbasedcloudsdiffersignificantlyfromoneanother,limitingportabilitythemarketinghypeof
"novendorlockin"is,practicallyspeaking,untrue.
Formanycustomers,theunderlyinghypervisorwillmatter,particularlyforthosethatintendtorun
commercialsoftwareonIaaS.ManyindependentsoftwarevendorssupportonlyVMwarevirtualization,
andthosevendorsthatsupportXenmaysupportonlyCitrixXenServer,notopensourceXen(whichis
oftencustomizedbyIaaSprovidersandislikelytobedifferentfromthecurrentopensourceversion).
ForadetailedtechnicaldescriptionofpubliccloudIaaSofferings,alongwithausecasefocusedtechnical
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evaluation,see"CriticalCapabilitiesforPublicCloudInfrastructureasaService,Worldwide."
Wealsoprovideadetailedlistofevaluationcriteriain"EvaluationCriteriaforCloudInfrastructureasa
Service."Wehaveusedthosecriteriatoperformindepthassessmentsofseveralproviders:see"Amazon
WebServices:InDepthAssessment,""InDepthAssessmentofGoogleCloudPlatform,""InDepth
AssessmentofSoftLayer,anIBMCompany"and"MicrosoftAzure:InDepthAssessment."
Wesummarizealltheproviderdescriptions,andcomparetheircapabilitiesagainstourbaseline
expectationofcapabilities,intabularformatin"Toolkit:ComparisonMatrixforCloudInfrastructureasa
ServiceProviders,2015."
RecommendedUses
Foreachvendor,weproviderecommendationsforuse.Themosttypicalrecommendedusesare:
Cloudnativeapplications.TheseareapplicationsspecificallyarchitectedtoruninacloudIaaS
environment,usingcloudtransactionprocessing(TP)principles.
Ebusinesshosting.Theseareemarketingsites,ecommercesites,SaaSapplications,andsimilar
modernwebsitesandWebbasedapplications.TheyareusuallyInternetfacing.Theyaredesigned
toscaleoutandareresilienttoinfrastructurefailure,buttheymightnotusecloudTPprinciples.
Generalbusinessapplications.Thesearethekindsofgeneralpurposeworkloadstypicallyfoundin
theinternaldatacentersofmosttraditionalbusinessestheapplicationusersareusuallylocated
withinthebusiness.Manysuchworkloadsaresmall,andtheyareoftennotdesignedtoscaleout.
Theyareusuallyarchitectedwiththeassumptionthattheunderlyinginfrastructureisreliable,but
theyarenotnecessarilymissioncritical.Examplesincludeintranetsites,collaborationapplications
suchasMicrosoftSharePoint,andmanybusinessprocessapplications.
Enterpriseapplications.Thesearegeneralpurposeworkloadsthataremissioncritical,andtheymay
becomplex,performancesensitiveorcontainhighlysensitivedatatheyaretypicalofamodest
percentageoftheworkloadsfoundintheinternaldatacentersofmosttraditionalbusinesses.They
areusuallynotdesignedtoscaleout,andtheworkloadsmaydemandlargeVMsizes.Theyare
architectedwiththeassumptionthattheunderlyinginfrastructureisreliableandcapableofhigh
performance.
Developmentenvironments.Theseworkloadsarerelatedtothedevelopmentandtestingof
applications.Theyareassumednottorequirehighavailabilityorhighperformance.However,they
arelikelytorequiregovernanceforteamsofusers.
Batchcomputing.Theseworkloadsincludehighperformancecomputing(HPC),"bigdata"analytics
andotherworkloadsthatrequirelargeamountsofcapacityondemand.Theydonotrequirehigh
availability,butmayrequirehighperformance.
Forallthevendors,therecommendedusesarespecifictoselfmanagedcloudIaaS.However,manyof
theprovidersalsohavemanagedservices,aswellasothercloudandnoncloudservicesthatmaybeused
inconjunctionwithcloudIaaS.Theseincludehybridhosting(customerssometimesblendsolutions,such
asanentirelyselfmanagedfrontendWebtieronpubliccloudIaaS,withmanagedhostingforthe
applicationserversanddatabase),aswellashybridIaaSPaaSsolutions.Eventhoughwedonotevaluate
managedservices,PaaSandthelikeinthisMagicQuadrant,theyarepartofavendor'soverallvalue
propositionandwementiontheminthecontextofprovidingmorecomprehensivesolution
recommendations.
MagicQuadrant
Figure1.MagicQuadrantforCloudInfrastructureasaService,Worldwide
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Source:Gartner(May2015)
VendorStrengthsandCautions
AmazonWebServices
AmazonWebServices(AWS),asubsidiaryofAmazon.com,isacloudfocusedserviceproviderwithavery
purevisionofhighlyautomated,costeffectiveITcapabilities,deliveredinaflexible,ondemandmanner.
Offerings:AWSoffersXenvirtualizedmultitenantandsingletenantcompute,withmultitenantstorage,
alongwithextensiveadditionalIaaSandPaaScapabilities,includingobjectstoragewithanintegrated
CDN(AmazonS3andCloudFront)andaDockercontainerservice(EC2ContainerService).Itiswillingto
negotiatelargescalesingletenantandonpremisesdeals(suchastheU.S.intelligencecommunitycloud
deal).TheAWSMarketplacehasanextensiveselectionofthirdpartysoftwareandservices.Enterprise
gradesupportisextra.IthasamultifaultdomainSLA.ColocationneedsaremetviaAWSDirect
Connect.SeetheInDepthAssessmentforadetailedtechnicalevaluation.
Locations:AWSgroupsitsdatacentersinto"regions,"eachofwhichcontainsatleasttwoavailability
zones.IthasregionsontheEastandWestCoastsoftheU.S.,andinGermany,Ireland,Japan,
Singapore,Australia,Brazil,and(inpreview)China.ItalsohasoneregiondedicatedtotheU.S.federal
government.Ithasaglobalsalespresence.Theportal,documentationandsupportareprovidedin
English,Dutch,French,German,Japanese,Korean,Mandarin,Portuguese,andSpanish,although
documentationiscomprehensivelylocalizedonlyinEnglish,JapaneseandMandarin.
Recommendedmode:AWSprimarilyappealstoMode2buyers,butisnowcommonlychosenforMode
1needsaswell.TransformationeffortsarebestundertakeninconjunctionwithanSI.
Recommendeduses:Allusecasesthatrunwellinavirtualizedenvironment,althoughhighlysecure
applications,strictlycompliantorcomplexenterpriseapplications(suchasSAPbusinessapplications)
requirespecialattentiontoarchitecture.
Strengths
AWShasadiversecustomerbaseandthebroadestrangeofusecases,includingenterpriseand
missioncriticalapplications.Itistheoverwhelmingmarketshareleader,withover10timesmore
cloudIaaScomputecapacityinusethantheaggregatetotaloftheother14providersinthisMagic
Quadrant.Thishasenabledittoattractaverylargetechnologypartnerecosystemthatincludes
softwarevendorsthathavelicensedandpackagedtheirsoftwaretorunonAWS,aswellasmany
vendorsthathaveintegratedtheirsoftwarewithAWScapabilities.Italsohasanextensivenetwork
ofpartnersthatprovideapplicationdevelopmentexpertise,managedservices,andprofessional
servicessuchasdatacentermigration.
AWSisathoughtleaderitisextraordinarilyinnovative,exceptionallyagile,andveryresponsiveto
themarket.IthastherichestarrayofIaaSfeaturesandPaaSlikecapabilities.Itcontinuesto
rapidlyexpanditsserviceofferingsandofferhigherlevelsolutions.Althoughitisbeginningtoface
morecompetitionfromMicrosoftandGoogle,itretainsamultiyearcompetitiveadvantage.Although
itwillnotbetheidealfitforeveryneed,ithasbecomethe"safechoice"inthismarket,appealingto
customerswhodesirethebroadestrangeofcapabilitiesandlongtermmarketleadership.Itisthe
providermostcommonlychosenforstrategicadoption.
Cautions
AWScanbeacomplexvendortomanage.Customersmustensurethattheyreceivethelevelof
salesandsolutionarchitectureengagementtheyneedtobesuccessful.AWSisapriceleader,butit
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chargesseparatelyforoptionalitemsthataresometimesbundledwithcompetingofferingsuseof
thirdpartycostmanagementtools,suchasRightScaleCloudAnalyticsandCloudability,ishighly
recommended.AWS'ssupportofferingsaretieredbasedonthelevelofsupportthatacustomer
purchases,ratherthanona"relationship"orsizeofspendbasiscustomersneedBusinesstier
supportinordertoensureexcellentsupport.
AWSisspreadingitseffortsverybroadly.Althoughmanynewservicesarehighlysuccessful,
servicesthatturnouttobeoflessinteresttocustomerswillnotgetthesamedepthofcontinued
investmentasmorepopularservices.AsAWSexpands,itincreasinglyencroachesontheterritoryof
traditionalITvendors,heighteningcompetitivepressureandtheneedtoinvestdeeplyin
engineeringefforts.Furthermore,newcapabilitiesoftencompetewithproductsandservicesfrom
AWSpartnersthoughthisisnormallypositiveforcustomers,itcreatesecosystemconflictsthat
AWSmustcontinuetomanagecarefully.
CenturyLink
CenturyLink,aU.S.basedglobalcommunicationsserviceprovider,acquiredSavvis,aWebhosterwitha
longtrackrecordofleadershipinthehostingmarket,in2011.ItacquiredTier3,apureplaycloudIaaS
provider,inNovember2013,andmergeditintoSavvistocreatetheCenturyLinkTechnologySolutions
businessunit.
Offerings:CenturyLinkCloud(CLC)isVMwarevirtualizeditcanbeeithermultitenantorfullysingle
tenant.CenturyLinkcontinuestoselllegacySavvisofferings,suchasCloudDataCenter2andCloud
Servers,whenthosesolutionsareappropriate.TheMarketplaceProgramprovidesthirdpartysoftware.
Enterprisegradesupportisextra.Managedservicesareoptional.CenturyLinkoffersanaPaaS(AppFog),
butitisnotanintegratedsolution.
Locations:CLCisavailableinmultipledatacentersacrosstheU.S.,alongwithCanada,theU.K.,
GermanyandSingapore.ThelegacySavviscloudofferingsareavailableinabroadrangeofdatacenters
globally.CenturyLinkhasglobalsales,andbusinessisconductedinlocallanguages,buttheserviceis
offeredonlyinEnglish.
Recommendedmode:CenturyLinkprimarilyappealstoMode1buyers,butmaymeetMode2
requirementsthatarelimitedtobasiccloudIaaS.
Recommendeduses:SelfservicecloudIaaSinconjunctionwithmanagedservices,forallapplications
thatrunwellinavirtualizedenvironment,excludingbatchcomputing.
Strengths
CenturyLinkhasacompellinganddistinctivevisionofapplicationfluentinfrastructurethatspans
network,computeandstoragecapabilities.Its"PlatformCenturyLink"visionisrootedintheability
todeliverthebreadthofCenturyLink'scapabilitiesinanAPIaccessibleandcomposablefashion.Itis
buildingabroadrangeofcloudenabledservices,includingautomationaugmentedmanaged
services.
WhileCenturyLinkisincreasinglyfocusedonusingthecloudasameanstoenterthedatacenter
outsourcingmarket,itneverthelesshasacompetitivefeaturesetforselfservice,andsuccessfully
blendstheselfserviceandmanagedservicesmodelsacrossahybridsolutionportfolio.CenturyLink
hasatrackrecordofsuccessfullydeliveringenterpriseclasssolutions,includingmanagedsecurity
services.TheexistingCenturyLinkbaseofmanagedhosting,colocationandnetworkcustomers
providesitwithcrosssellingopportunities.
Cautions
WhileCenturyLinkhasanambitiousvisionandisinvestingsignificantlyinthismarket,itis
competingagainstmanyotherproviderswhoarealsoinvestingdeeply,includingmarketleaders
withmuchmoreextensiveengineeringresources.CenturyLinkhasasolidlycapableandwell
implementedbasicoffering,anditisexecutingsuccessfullyonitsroadmap,butthatroadmapmay
notbesufficientlyaggressiveforthepaceofthemarket.
CenturyLinkhashadadifficulttimelearningtodeliversolutionsontheCLCoffering,whichcreated
challengesforsales,solutionengineering,installationanddelivery.Customerswhoarenotsimply
usingselfserviceontheCLCofferingshouldtakeextracaretounderstandhowCenturyLink
intendstoarchitectanddelivertheirsolution.Furthermore,thequalityofcustomerservicehas
beenunevenoverthepastyear,althoughthisrepresentsanimprovementoverthepriortwoyears.
CSC
CSCisalarge,traditionalIToutsourcerwithabroadrangeofdatacenteroutsourcingcapabilities.
Offerings:CSC'sofferingisVMwarevirtualizedandsupportsthevCloudAPI.Itisofferedinseveral
tenancymodelsCSChostedandfullymultitenant(CloudCompute),CSChostedsingletenantcompute
withamultitenantbackend(BizCloudVPE),andfullysingletenantonthecustomer'spremises
(BizCloud).WhilecustomerscanaccessvCloudDirectoriftheyprefer,CSChasbuiltitsown,moreuser
friendlyportal.CustomerscanalsochoosetousetheAgilityPlatformCMP(formerlyServiceMesh).
Managedservicesareoptional.ViaitsacquisitionofInfochimps,CSCalsohasbigdatarelatedservices.
Locations:CSChasmultipleclouddatacentersintheU.S.,aswellasinCanada,Brazil,Germany,
Luxembourg,theNetherlands,theU.K.,Australia,MalaysiaandSingapore.Ithasaglobalsalespresence.
CustomersupportisprovidedinEnglish,French,German,Italian,Spanish,andMandarintechnical
supportisprovidedinthelocallanguageofeachdatacenterregion.Theportalanddocumentationare
availableonlyinEnglish.
Recommendedmode:CSCprimarilyappealstoMode1buyers,butmaymeetMode2requirementsvia
ahybridsolutionthatcombinestheAgilityPlatformanditsowncloudwiththirdpartycloudIaaS
offerings.
Recommendeduses:CloudenableddatacentertransformationforcustomersthatwantaVMware
basedserviceoraprivatecloud.
Strengths
CSChaspivotedtowardbeingaCSBcapableofmanagingmultipleclouds,includingthirdparty
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cloudssuchasAWSandMicrosoftAzure.ItisusingtheAgilityPlatformthatitacquiredfromthe
purchaseofServiceMeshinordertofacilitatethemanagementofmultipleplatformsinaconsistent
way.
CSChasfullyembracedthehighlystandardized,highlyautomatedcloudmodel,successfully
blendingthebenefitsofatruecloudserviceintoanenterprisereadyoffering.Ithasasolidplatform
thatisattractivetoMode1IToperationsorganizationsthatstillwanttoretaincontrol,butneedto
offergreateragilitytothebusinessandarewillingtoembracedatacentertransformation.
Cautions
CSCnowleadssaleswithatransformationdiscussionandemphasizestheAgilityPlatform's
capabilities,andthenhelpsthecustomerchoosetheappropriatecloudIaaSoffering,which,
increasingly,isnotCSC'sown.Inthepastyear,CSC'sinvestmentsinitsownplatformhavefocused
onintegratingitwiththeAgilityPlatform,ratherthanadvancingthecorecapabilitiesofthe
offerings.
CSCisnotbuildingtherichportfolioofvalueaddedcloudsoftwareinfrastructureservicesthat
leadingcompetitorsareoffering.Instead,itisencouragingcustomerswhoneedthesecapabilitiesto
usethirdpartyclouds,andprovidingahybridofferingthatismanagedviatheAgilityPlatform.
DimensionData
DimensionData,anNTTGroupcompany,isalargeSIandvalueaddedreseller.ItenteredthecloudIaaS
marketbyacquiringOpSourcein2011.
Offerings:DimensionData'sComputeasaService(CaaS)offeringisavailableinPublic(multitenant
VMwarevirtualized)andPrivate(singletenantVMwareorHyperVvirtualized)flavors.Managedservices
areoptional.
Locations:DimensionDatahasdatacentersontheEastandWestCoastsoftheU.S.,plusCanada,the
U.K.,Netherlands,Australia,HongKong,Japan,BrazilandSouthAfrica.Locallanguagesalesandsupport
isprovidedin51countries,withcloudspecializedsupportprovidedfromitsregionalservicecenters.The
portalisavailableonlyinEnglish.DocumentationisavailableinEnglishandJapanese.
Recommendedmode:DimensionDataappealsprimarilytoMode1buyers,includingconservativeSaaS
vendors.ItmaymeetMode2requirementsthatarelimitedtobasiccloudIaaS.
Recommendeduses:Ebusinesshosting,cloudnativeapplicationsandgeneralbusinessapplicationsfor
customersthathaveverydiversegeographicneeds,orneedaprivatecloud.
Strengths
DimensionData'sManagedCloudPlatform(MCP)isasingleunifiedarchitecturethatisusedforboth
itsownofferingsandthoseofpartners.Itispursuingafederatedmodel,wherebyserviceprovider
partnersofferMCPbasedservicesviaresaleorwhitelabel,butDimensionDataprovidesone
consistent,unifiedserviceglobally.ItalsoprovidessalesandmarketingenablementtoitsOneCloud
Alliancemembers.Ithasoneofthebroadestgeographicfootprints,includingpresenceinlocations
wheretherearefewothercloudproviders.
OpSourcehadalonghistoryasaSaaShoster,andDimensionDatahasretainedthesecapabilities.
Itsrichsuiteofofferingsforthatmarketincludesnotonlyinfrastructure,butalsoanondemand
billingplatform,customapplicationmanagementandhelpdesksupport.Ithasnotablyexcellent
SLAs.
Cautions
MCPusesDimensionData'sowntechnologyandhasbeenactivelydevelopedandmaintained.
However,comparedwithcompetitors,DimensionDatahassignificantlyunderinvestedincloudIaaS
engineeringsincetheOpSourceacquisition.AlthoughMCPisacapablebasiccloudIaaSplatform,it
lacksvalueaddedcapabilities.DimensionDatabegantherolloutofMCP2.0inMarch2015.This
versionofitsplatformusesanewAPI,andtherearechangesintheportalUI,aswellasdifferent
functionalityanddatacenterlocations.AlthoughMCP1.0willcontinuetobesupported,thischange
ispotentiallydisruptiveforcustomers.
DimensionDataintendstobecomeaCSBthatwillmanageitsowninfrastructureaswellasthird
partycloudofferingstodothis,itissplittingoutitsCloudControlCMPfromtheMCPoffering.Other
NTTGroupcompaniesownandoperateseveralothercloudIaaSplatforms.WebelieveNTTGroup's
splitofinvestmentacrossmultipleofferingsisprobablydetrimentaltoDimensionData'sabilityto
achievemaximumsuccessinthismarket.
Fujitsu
Fujitsuisalargediversifiedtechnologycompany.
Offerings:FujitsuCloudIaaSTrustedPublicS5isXenvirtualizedandcomesintwoflavorsafully
multitenantservice,andaDedicatedservicewithsingletenantcomputeandamultitenantbackend.
Fujitsualsohasregionalofferingsthatusedifferenttechnologyplatforms,andcarrytheFujitsuCloud
IaaSPrivateHostedbrandinconjunctionwitharegionnameorthe"Global"designation.Managed
servicesareoptional.
Locations:S5isavailableindatacentersintheU.S.(WestCoast),Germany,theU.K.,Australia,Japan
andSingapore.Fujitsuhasglobalsales,andprovidessupportin34languagestheS5portaland
documentationareavailableinEnglish,GermanandJapanese.Theregionalofferingshavetheirown
capabilitiesandlocations,whicharedifferentfromthoseofS5.
Recommendedmode:FujitsuappealsprimarilytoMode1customers.
Recommendeduses:Generalbusinessapplicationsforcustomerswhoneedmanagedservicesin
conjunctionwithcloudIaaS.DevelopmentenvironmentsforcustomerswhoonlyneedbasiccloudIaaS.
Strengths
FujitsuhasalonghistoryinITservicesanddatacenteroutsourcing.Ithasalargeglobalsalesforce,
istheleaderinIToutsourcinginAsia/PacificandhasastrongEuropeanpresence.Thisgivesita
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largeexistingbaseofcaptivecustomersintowhichitcansellcloudservices,andithasbeen
successfulatextendingexistingFujitsurelationshipsintoclouddeals.Ithasveryresponsivesupport
andgoodaccountmanagement.
FujitsuisdevelopingaportfolioofcloudIaaS,PaaSandSaaSservices.IthaslaunchedtheFujitsu
CloudIntegrationPlatform,aCMPthatunifiesmanagementacrossitsinfrastructureportfolio,
includingitsowncloudIaaSofferings,thirdpartycloudIaaSofferingsandnoncloudinfrastructure.
Cautions
Fujitsuisdevelopingits"NextGenCloud,"acommonplatformontowhichitintendstoconsolidate
allitsinternalsystems,includingitssystemintegrationbusiness.Thisofferingisprojectedtoenter
betain2015.Overtime,thisOpenStackbasedplatformwillbeusedforbothIaaSandPaaS
solutions.Fujitsuhasambitiousplansforthisnewsetofofferings,andcustomersconsideringthe
existingofferingsshouldfactorthenewroadmapintotheirdecisions.
Fujitsu'scloudIaaScapabilitieslagsignificantlybehindthoseofthemarketleaders,andthegapis
increasing,notnarrowing.Althoughitispossiblethatthe"NextGenCloud"willhelpclosethegap,
Fujitsuwillneedtocommitextraordinaryresourcestodeliveratrulycompetitiveoffering.Although
FujitsucansellitsIaaSplatformonastandalonebasis,anditcanbepurchasedwithouttheneed
foralongtermcontract,itismostoftencombinedwithmanagedservicesorabroaderoutsourcing
relationship.
Google
GoogleisanInternetcentricprovideroftechnologyandservices.
Offerings:GoogleCloudPlatformcombinesanIaaSoffering(ComputeEngine),anaPaaSoffering(App
Engine)andarangeofcomplementaryservices,includingobjectstorageandaDockercontainerservice
(ContainerEngine).ComputeEngineVMsareKVMvirtualizedandmeteredbytheminute.Enterprise
gradesupportisextra.IthasamultifaultdomainSLA.ColocationneedsaremetviaGoogleCloud
Interconnect.SeetheInDepthAssessmentforadetailedtechnicalevaluation.
Locations:GooglegroupsitsIaaSdatacentersinto"regions,"eachofwhichcontainsatleasttwo
availabilityzones.ThereisacentralU.S.region,aEuropeanregion(locatedinBelgium),andanAsian
region(locatedinTaiwan).Googlehasaglobalsalespresence.SupportisavailableinEnglishand
Japanese.TheportalisavailableinEnglish,French,German,Spanish,Portuguese,Korean,Japaneseand
Mandarin.DocumentationisavailableonlyinEnglish.
Recommendedmode:GoogleappealstoMode2buyers.
Recommendeduses:Cloudnativeapplicationsandbatchcomputing,aswellasprojectsleveraging
GoogleCloudPlatformasawhole.
Strengths
Google'sstrategyforGoogleCloudPlatformcentersontheconceptofallowingotherorganizationsto
"runlikeGoogle"bytakingGoogle'shighlyinnovativeinternaltechnologycapabilitiesandexposing
themasservicesthatothercompaniescanpurchase.Consequently,althoughGoogleisalate
entranttotheIaaSmarket,itisprimarilyproductizingexistingcapabilities,ratherthanhavingto
engineerthosecapabilitiesfromscratch.
Googlehasacomprehensivevisionfor,andextensiveexperiencewith,howcloudnative
applicationsaredevelopedandmanagedthroughthelifecycle.Ithasafluidnotionofthe
boundariesbetweenIaaSandPaaS,alongwiththespectrumofdeploymentoptionsfromVMsto
containers,thatwill,overtime,enablecustomerstochoosetheirtradeoffsbetweencontroland
automatedmanagement.AlthoughmanycustomerscurrentlychooseGoogleforitsexcellent
price/performancevalueandexceptionallyfastVMprovisioning,overtime,Googlewilldifferentiate
itselfwithplatformandmanageabilityfeatures,notprices.
Cautions
AlthoughGooglehassignificantappealtotechnologycentricbusinesses,itisstillintherudimentary
stagesoflearningtoengagewithenterpriseandmidmarketcustomers,andneedstoexpandits
sales,solutionsengineeringandsupportcapabilities.Prospectivecustomersreportdifficultiesin
gainingtheattentionofGoogle'ssalesstaffandbeingdirectedtowardappropriatesolutions.
Furthermore,Googleneedstoearnthetrustofbusinesses.Googlealsolacksmanycapabilities
importanttobusinessesthatwanttomigratelegacyworkloadstothecloud.Itshybridcloud
strategyisopensourceandpartnercentric,focusedontheecosystemsurroundingKubernetes,its
containerclustermanagementsoftwareGoogleneedstobuildanecosystemaroundGoogleCloud
Platformitspartnerprogramisnascent.
Google'scloudIaaSadoptionhasbeendrivenprimarilybycloudnativeusecases,includingbatch
computing.Google'sshorttermfocusisonbetterenablingnewcloudnativeapplications,withless
attentionbeingpaidtocapabilitiesneededforotherworkloads.Whiletheofferinghasbeen
improvingsteadily,Google'sfeaturereleasevelocityhasnotbeenasfastasexpected.Google'sdeep
engineeringinvestmentcouldpotentiallyadvanceitsofferingmuchmorerapidlyinthefuture.
GoogleisnotyettakingfulladvantageofitspotentialopportunitywithGoogleCloudPlatform.
IBM(SoftLayer)
IBMisalargediversifiedtechnologycompanywitharangeofcloudrelatedproductsandservices.InJuly
2013,itacquiredSoftLayer,anindependentWebhosterwithafocusonsmallandmidsizebusinesses
(SMBs),andinJanuary2014,itshutdownitsownSmartCloudEnterprisecloudIaaSoffering,after
migratingitsexistingcustomerstoSoftLayer.
Offerings:SoftLayer,anIBMcompany,offersbothmultitenantandsingletenantCitrixXenvirtualized
compute(VirtualServers).Italsooffers,aspartofitscloud,paidbythehournonvirtualizeddedicated
servers(BareMetalServers).IthasOpenStackbasedobjectstoragewithanintegratedCDN(viaa
partnershipwithEdgeCast).SoftLayer'sprimarybusinessisnoncloudofferings,suchaspaidbythe
monthdedicatedservers(abroaderrangeofconfigurationsthanisavailableperhour)andhosted
appliances,butitdoesnotmakeacleardistinctionbetweentheseofferingsanditscloudIaaScapabilities.
ManagedservicesareavailablethroughIBM.Thereisnosupportforcolocation.IBM'saPaaS(BlueMix)is
hostedinSoftLayerdatacentersbuttheofferingsarenotintegrated.SeetheInDepthAssessmentfora
detailedtechnicalevaluation.
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Locations:SoftLayerhasmultipledatacentersintheU.S.,alongwithdatacentersinCanada,Mexico,
France,Germany,theU.K.,Netherlands,Australia,HongKong,JapanandSingapore.Ithasaglobalsales
presence.ItofferssupportinEnglish,Dutch,French,German,Italian,SpanishandJapanese.Theportal
anddocumentationareavailableinEnglishonly.
Recommendedmode:BeforetheIBMacquisition,SoftLayertypicallysoldtoMode2customers
(specificallystartupsandgamingcompanieswithastronginterestinbaremetaldedicatedhosting).Since
theacquisition,IBMhasincreasinglyfocusedonacquiringMode1customers,butSoftLayerbettermeets
theneedsofMode2customers(aslongastheyonlyrequirebasiccloudIaaSandspecificallywantbare
metal).
Recommendeduses:Ebusinesshosting,generalbusinessapplicationsandbatchcomputing,in
circumstancesthatrequirebothAPIcontroloverscalableinfrastructureandbaremetalserversinorder
tomeetrequirementsforperformance,regulatorycomplianceorsoftwarelicensing.Alternatively,IBM
outsourcingdealsthatuseSoftLayerbaremetalserversasthehostingplatform,wherethecustomerhas
aneedforsupplementalbasiccloudIaaS.
Strengths
IBM'scloudvisionencompassespublicandprivatecloudsatboththesystemandapplication
infrastructurelevels.IBM'sportfolioofproductsandserviceshasIaaS,PaaSandSaaSelements,
alongwithIToperationsmanagement(ITOM)software,middlewareanddatabasesoftware,and
comprehensiveconsultingandoutsourcingcapabilities.IBMbelievestheshifttocloudwillradically
transformitsbusinessovertime,includingalteringitsgotomarketstrategy,withanincreasing
focusononlinesignupandselfservice.SoftLayerisoneofitsfirstforaysintoselfserviceand
servingSMBcustomers.SoftLayerwillbethecommonhostingplatformforIBM'sservicesinthe
future.
IBMhasastrongbrandandexistingcustomerrelationshipsacrosstheglobe,anditsbaseof
strategicoutsourcingcustomerswillhelpdriveacloudenableddatacenteroutsourcingbusinesson
topofSoftLayer.IBMintendstomakelocalpresenceoneofitscompetitivedifferentiatorssincethe
acquisition,ithastakenadvantageofSoftLayer'srelativelysmallscale"pod"architecturetoexpand
theservicefromthreecountriesto11.However,inthenearfuture,IBMwillcontinuetobea
hostingscaleprovider,whichmaymakeitdifficultforittomatchthecosteconomicsofthe
hyperscalemarketleaders.
Cautions
SoftLayerhaslimiteddifferentiationbeyondthehybridblendingofvirtualizedandbaremetal
capabilities,andabroadergeographicpresence.SoftLayer'sfeaturesetdidnotimprovesignificantly
in2014,andIBM'seffortstoenrichthecapabilitiesofitsBlueMixaPaaShavelimitedbenefitsfor
SoftLayercustomersbecausetheofferingsarenotintegratedintoSoftLayer.Furthermore,
SoftLayerusesitsowntechnologyandAPI,whichhaslimitedthirdpartytoolsupport.IBMhasa
betaofOpenStackbasedVMsinBlueMix,butatransitiontowardOpenStackcouldbedisruptivefor
existingSoftLayercustomers.WebelievethatSoftLayerisprimarilybecominganenablingdata
centerplatformfortherestofIBM'sbusiness,andcustomerswhopursuestrategicadoptionofIBM
cloudserviceswilldosoviaIBM'senterprisesalesforceforthemanagedservicesandotherhigher
levelIBMcapabilities,notthecoreSoftLayercapabilities.However,existingandprospective
customersreportthatintegrationwithIBMmanagedservicesisstillnascent.
SoftLayerhashistoricallybeenstronglyfocusedonselfservicededicatedhostingforSMBcustomers,
anditismissingmanycloudIaaScapabilitiesdesiredbymidmarketandenterprisecustomers.
CustomersreportthatSoftLayerservicesstillfeellikeasmallbusinessexperience,particularlywith
regardtotheportal,salesandsupport.SoftLayer'sportaldoesnotdistinguishbetweencloud
servicesandthenoncloud,bythemonthhostedhardwareandappliances.Provisioningforall
servicescanbeinitiatedviaAPI,butcustomersneedtounderstandthetechnicalandbusiness
implicationsofchoosingthenoncloudservices,suchaslessfinancialflexibility,longerprovisioning
timesandgreateroperationalburdensplacedonthecustomer.SoftLayerisnotamarketshare
leaderincloudIaaS(basedonGartnerestimates)anddoesnothavethescaleofthemarket
leaderscustomersanticipatinglargescaledeploymentsmustensurethatIBMhasthenecessary
capacityinthosespecificdatacenters,andthattheycanobtainthatcapacityinacloudmodel.
Interoute
InterouteisaU.K.basedPanEuropeancommunicationsserviceprovider.
Offerings:InterouteVirtualDataCentre(VDC)isaCloudStackbasedofferingthatcanbedeliveredin
thecustomer'schoiceoftenancymodelsandofVMware,CitrixXenorKVMvirtualization.Awidevariety
ofpaymentmodelsaresupported.Interoute'sCloudStoreprovidesamarketplaceforthirdpartysoftware
andsolutions.Managedservicesareoptional.
Locations:InterouteVDCislocatedindatacentersontheEastandWestCoastsoftheU.S.,plusthe
U.K.,France,Germany,Italy,Netherlands,Spain,Switzerland,andHongKong.Ithasglobalsales.
CentralizedsupportisavailableinEnglish,Dutch,French,German,Italian,andSpanish,andInteroute's
localtechnicalsupportcancovermostlanguagesspokeninWesternandCentralEurope.Theportalis
availableinEnglishandSpanish.DocumentationisavailableonlyinEnglish.
Recommendedmode:InterouteislikelytoappealprimarilytoMode1customers,butmaybeagoodfit
fortheneedsofMode2customerswhovalueInteroute'suniqueintersectionofnetworkingandcloud
IaaScapabilities.
Recommendeduses:Ebusinesshosting,generalbusinessapplications,anddevelopment
environmentsforcustomerswhoneedabroadPanEuropeangeographicfootprintorforwhomtight
integrationwiththeWANisimportant.
Strengths
Interoutehastightlyintegrateditscloudserviceswithitsglobalnetwork,whichhasbroadcoverage
ofthemajorEuropeanmarkets,includingespeciallystrongcoverageofCentralandEasternEurope.
Its"networkattachedcloudcomputing"conceptallowscustomerstoeasilyintegrateVDCLAN
topologieswithInteroute'sWANservices,includingtheabilitytousetheAPItoconfigurenetworks
thatspanmultiplesites.Thisisusefulforcustomersthathavecomplexdistributedapplications.
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Interoute'sflexiblerangeofchoicesfortenancymodels,hypervisors,pricingmodels,andsupport
andservicemodels,providescustomerswithavarietyofinteroperableoptions.Interoute'sVDCisa
capableenterpriseclassbasiccloudIaaSoffering,anditisoneofthefewsuchofferingsavailable
fromaEuropebased,PanEuropeanprovidercustomerswithEuropeandatasovereignty
requirementsmayfindInteroutetobemoreattractivethanaU.S.basedprovider.
Cautions
Interoute'sVDCserviceisacapablebasiccloudIaaSofferingInteroutehasnotventuredinto
higherlevelcloudservices,otherthancommunicationsapplications.Instead,Interouteisdepending
onpartnerstobuildandofferhigherlevelservicesontheVDCplatform.Interoutehasbegunto
buildanecosystemofsoftwarepartnersinitsCloudStore,butalsoneedssolutionpartners.
AwarenessofitsbrandislimitedoutsideEurope.
Interouteisfeelingtheimpactoftheindustrywidedeclineinfixeddatarevenueonitswholesale
business,forwhichitssignificantlygrowingITservicerevenuemaynotbeabletocompensate.
CloudIaaSisaveryexpensivemarketinwhichtocompete,andInteroutewillfinditchallengingto
mustertheresourcesnecessarytoaccelerateitssuccessinthemarket.
Joyent
Joyentisasmall,independentserviceproviderthatfocusessolelyoncloudservicesandsoftware.
Offerings:JoyentComputeServiceisafullymultitenantcloudIaaSoffering,althoughJoyentcanalso
offeritasahostedprivatecloud.Joyent'sarchitectureiscontainernativecomputeresourcesrunin
TritonZones(Joyent'sSmartOSvirtualizationtechnology,similartoSolarisZones).Customerscanrun
LinuxguestsinTritonZones(onbaremetal),orWindowsguestsonKVMbasedVMs.ThereisaDocker
containerservice(Triton).JoyentoffersafreeopensourceversionofitssoftwareasSmartDataCenter,
andsellsacommercialversionasTritonElasticContainerInfrastructureJoyentcanalsoofferthisasa
Joyentoperatedserviceonthecustomer'spremises.Joyent'sobjectstorageservice(Manta)hasaunique
architecturedesignedforbatchjobsthatrequirehighperformanceaccesstolargeamountsofstorage,
withaninplacebatchcomputeserviceseparatefromJoyent'smaincomputeservice.Enterprisegrade
supportisextra.
Locations:JoyenthasdatacentersintheeasternandwesternU.S.,alongwithadatacenterinthe
Netherlands.IthaslocalsalespresenceintheU.S.andU.K.Support,theportalanddocumentationare
inEnglishonly.
Recommendedmode:JoyentwillappealprimarilytoMode2organizations,butmayappealtoMode1
organizationsthatareseekingasecurehybridsolutionforDockercontainers.
Recommendeduses:CloudnativeormicroservicearchitectureapplicationsdeployedintoOS
containerscloudnativeapplicationsandecommercesiteswherevisibilityintoapplicationperformanceis
crucialbatchcomputingonlargedatasets.
Strengths
JoyenthaslongbeenanadvocateofOScontainers,andthegrowingpopularityofcontainer
technologies,especiallyDocker,hasbeenbeneficialbothforitsserviceandsoftwarebusinesses.
Joyent'sarchitectureiswellsuitedtorunningcontainerssecurelywithinamultitenant
environment,anditisoneofthefirstproviderstolaunchaDockerbasedcontainerservice.Because
Joyentmaintainsasinglecodebaseacrossitsownserviceofferingsandthecloudinfrastructure
frameworksoftwarethatitsells,customerscanmoreeasilyconsumeJoyenttechnologyinahybrid
fashion.
Joyenthasapurefocusonnew,cloudnativeapplications,includingmobileapplications,aswellas,
inthecontextofitsMantaservice,bigdataapplicationsandmassivelyparalleldataanalytics.Joyent
isthesponsorofNode.js.ItofferscommercialsupportforNode.js,aswellasproprietarytools
focusedonNode.jsoperationswithinitsplatform.Joyentplacesstrongemphasisonapplication
performanceandtakesaholisticapproachtoitsdelivery,includingparticularlydeepportalbased
performanceanalytics.
Cautions
Joyentfocusesondevelopingitsowntechnology,andhasatrackrecordofreleasinginnovative
capabilities.However,itfacesalongtermchallengetocompeteagainstproviderswithgreater
developmentresources.JoyenthasacapablebasiccloudIaaSoffering,butitsfeaturesetisstrongly
orientedtowardcloudnativeusecases,anditishighlydevelopercentric.
Joyentneedsanecosystemofthirdpartytoolsthatsupportitsplatform,alongwithasoftware
marketplace,andmanagedandprofessionalservicepartners.AlthoughJoyentcantakeadvantage
ofthegrowingDockerecosystem,itmustfindwaystobringthatecosystemtoitsplatform,and
thatecosystemwillnotbyitselfbesufficienttosupportcustomerneeds.
Microsoft
Microsoftisalargeanddiversifiedtechnologyvendorthatisincreasinglyfocusedondeliveringitssoftware
capabilitiesviacloudservices.ItsAzurebusinesswaspreviouslystrictlyPaaS,butMicrosoftlaunched
AzureInfrastructureServices(whichincludeAzureVirtualMachinesandAzureVirtualNetwork)into
generalavailabilityinApril2013,thusenteringthecloudIaaSmarket.
Offerings:MicrosoftAzureoffersHyperVvirtualizedmultitenantcompute(VirtualMachines),with
multitenantstorage,alongwithmanyadditionalIaaSandPaaScapabilities,includingobjectstorage(Blob
Storage)andaCDN.TheAzureMarketplaceoffersthirdpartysoftwareandservices.Enterprisegrade
supportisextra.IthasamultifaultdomainSLA.ColocationneedsaremetviaAzureExpressRoute.See
theInDepthAssessmentforadetailedtechnicalevaluation.
Locations:MicrosoftcallsAzuredatacenterlocations"regions."TherearemultipleAzureregionsinthe
U.S.,aswellasregionsinIreland,theNetherlands,Australia,HongKong,Japan,SingaporeandBrazil.
TherearealsotworegionsfortheU.S.federalgovernment.(AzureChinaisaseparateserviceoperated
by21Vianet.)Microsofthasglobalsales.AzuresupportisprovidedinEnglish,French,German,Italian,
Spanish,Japanese,Korean,MandarinandPortuguese.Theportalanddocumentationareavailablein
thoselanguages,aswellasRussian.
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Recommendedmode:MicrosoftAzureappealstobothMode1andMode2customers,butfordifferent
reasonsMode1customerstendtovaluetheabilitytouseAzuretoextendtheirinfrastructureoriented
MicrosoftrelationshipandinvestmentinMicrosofttechnologies,whileMode2customerstendtovalue
Azure'sabilitytointegratewithMicrosoft'sapplicationdevelopmenttoolsandtechnologies.
Recommendeduses:GeneralbusinessapplicationsanddevelopmentenvironmentsforMicrosoft
centricorganizationscloudnativeapplicationsbatchcomputing.
Strengths
MicrosoftAzureencompassesintegratedIaaSandPaaScomponentsthatoperateandfeellikea
unifiedwhole.Microsofthasbeenrapidlyrollingoutnewfeaturesandservices,including
differentiatedcapabilities.Ithasavisionofinfrastructureandplatformservicesthatarenotonly
leadingstandaloneofferings,butalsoseamlesslyextendandinteroperatewithonpremises
Microsoftinfrastructure(rootedinHyperV,WindowsServer,ActiveDirectoryandSystemCenter),
developmenttools(includingVisualStudioandTeamFoundationServer),andapplications,aswell
asMicrosoft'sSaaSofferings.
Microsoft'sbrand,existingcustomerrelationships,historyofrunningglobalclassconsumerInternet
properties,deepinvestmentsinengineering,andaggressiveroadmaphaveenableditrapidlyto
attainthestatusofstrategiccloudIaaSprovider.MicrosoftAzureisgrowingrapidly,andisinsecond
placeformarketshare,withmorethantwiceasmuchcloudIaaScomputecapacityinuseasthe
aggregatetotaloftheremainingprovidersinthisMagicQuadrant(excludingmarketshareleader
AWS).MicrosofthaspledgedtomaintainAWScomparablepricingforthegeneralpublic,and,ona
practicallevel,customerswithMicrosoftEnterpriseLicenseAgreementdiscountsobtaina
price/performanceratiothatiscomparabletoAWS.
Cautions
Microsofthaspreviouslyreliablymetitspromisedtimeframesforintroducingcriticalfeaturesthat
helpAzurefulfillenterpriseneedsforsecurity,availability,performance,networkingflexibilityand
usermanagement,butithasnotfinishedintroducingallsuchfunctionality.Customerswhointend
toadoptAzurestrategicallyandmigrateapplicationsoveraperiodofoneyearormore(finishingin
2016orlater)canbegintodeploysomeworkloadsnow,butthosewithabroadrangeofimmediate
enterpriseneedsmayencounterchallenges.Furthermore,customersexpressconcernaboutthe
globalimpactofmanypastAzureoutages,whichmaynecessitateensuringthatcriticalapplications
onAzurehaveanonAzuredisasterrecoverysolution.
Microsoft'spartnerecosystemisstillrelativelynascent.Itrecentlylaunchedasoftwaremarketplace
andhasbegunaggressivelyrecruitingmanagedserviceandprofessionalservicespartners.However,
manyofthesepartnerslackextensiveexperiencewiththeAzureplatform,whichcouldcompromise
thequalityofthesolutionstheydelivertocustomers.Furthermore,theAzureecosystemisvery
dependentonexistingMicrosoftrelationships.Althoughcustomersdorunheterogeneous
environmentsinAzure,thislessenstheappealofAzuretononMicrosoftcentricorganizations.
NTTCommunications
NTTCommunications(hereafter"NTTCom"),anNTTGroupcompany,isaJapanbasedglobal
communicationsserviceprovider.
Offerings:NTTComhastwocloudIaaSofferings.Cloudnisafullymultitenant,CloudStackbased,KVM
virtualizedoffering.Cloudnhasanassociatedobjectstorageoffering,CDN,MySQLbaseddatabaseasa
service,andCloudFoundrybasedaPaaS.EnterpriseCloudisaVMwarevirtualized,vCloudAPIenabled
offeringwithanSRPpricingmodel,anditcanbeeitherfullymultitenantorsingletenantalmostall
customersusemanagedservices,buttheyareoptional.
Locations:CloudnisavailableinmultipledatacentersinJapan,aswellasaU.S.EastCoastdatacenter.
NTTEnterpriseCloudisavailableindatacentersontheEastandWestCoastsoftheU.S.,plustheU.K.,
Germany,Australia,HongKong,Japan,Malaysia,SingaporeandThailand.NTTComhasaglobalsales
presence.CloudnsupportisavailableinEnglishandJapanese.NTTEnterpriseCloudsupportisavailablein
English,French,German,Spanish,Cantonese,Hindi,Japanese,Mandarin,MalayandThai.Theportaland
documentationforbothofferingsareavailableinEnglishandJapanese.
Recommendedmode:CloudnwillappealprimarilytoMode2customers.NTTEnterpriseCloudwill
appealprimarilytoMode1customers.
RecommendedusesforCloudn:Developmentenvironmentsandcloudnativeapplicationswhere
Japanbasedhostingisdesirable.
RecommendedusesforNTTEnterpriseCloud:Developmentenvironmentsandgeneralbusiness
applicationsforcustomerswhoneedaPanAsianfootprintandwantaVMwarevirtualizedenvironmentin
conjunctionwithmanagedservices.
Strengths
NTTComhasasignificantbaseofexistingcustomers,especiallyintheAsia/Pacificregion,towhom
itcanpotentiallysellcloudservices.OtherNTTGroupcompanies,suchasNTTData,mayalsobring
NTTComcloudopportunities,ascouldNTTCom'spartnernetwork.NTTComalsohasalongtrack
recordinmanagedhostingandmanagedsecurityservices,andcandeliverthesesolutionsin
conjunctionwithEnterpriseCloud.
NTTComisusingitsglobalnetworktoreduceboththetotalcostofitscloudsolutionsandfrictionin
itscustomerimplementations.TherearenodatatransferchargeswithCloudn.NTTComcloud
customersreceiveafreeconnectionbetweentheofferingandNTT'sArcstarUniversalOnenetwork.
ForNTTEnterpriseCloud,NTTComhasimplementedsoftwaredefinednetworkinginitsdata
centersandintheinterfacesbetweentheofferingandtheWAN.
Cautions
NTTEnterpriseCloudisabasiccloudIaaSofferingwithlittledifferentiation.WhileCloudnhasmore
featuresthatmaybeofinteresttodevelopers,Cloudnismissingcapabilitiesthatwouldmakeit
attractivetoenterpriseIToperationsorganizations.Thereisnointegrationbetweentheofferings.
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ThismakesitdifficultforNTTComtoservecustomerswhoneedaunifiedoffering,orwhohave
cloudnativeusecasesthatrequireenterpriseclasscapabilities.
Inmid2015,NTTComwillbeginrollingoutits"NextGenerationCloudPlatform,"anOpenStack
basedofferingthatisintendedtoserveastheunifiedcloudIaaSplatformforitscloudefforts.Itwill
replacethebifurcatedapproachcurrentlyrepresentedbyCloudnandEnterpriseCloud.Itwillalso
allowNTTComtointroducenewhostedprivatecloudservicesandbaremetalcloudoptions.NTT
ComintendstoprovideaCSBportalthatincludesnotonlyitsownofferingsbutthirdpartyclouds
aswell.WhilethisrepresentsapositivedirectionforNTTCom,itisachangethatexistingcustomers
willhavetonavigate.
Rackspace
RackspaceisanindependentWebhosterwithalongtrackrecordofleadershipinthemanagedhosting
market.Ithasnumerousrelatedbusinessessome,suchasSaaSemail,arepartofRackspaceitself,
whileothers,suchasJungleDisk,aresubsidiaries.
Offerings:RackspacePublicCloudisafullymultitenant,OpenStackbased,CitrixXenvirtualizedoffering
theofferingalsohasOpenStackIronicbasedbaremetalservers(OnMetal)thatareprovisionedin
approximately5minutes,andpaidforperminute.Rackspacealsooffersthreeflavorsofhostedprivate
cloud:vCloudDirectorbasedandVMwarevirtualized,MicrosoftCloudOSbasedandHyperVvirtualized,
andOpenStackbasedandKVMvirtualized.ItalsooffersaRackspaceoperatedOpenStackprivatecloud
onthecustomer'spremises.Privatecloudsarepricedonthebasisofdedicatedcapacity.Rackspacehas
objectstoragewithanintegratedCDN(CloudFiles).Customersmustchooseeitherapaidsupportplanor
managedservices.
Locations:RackspacePublicCloudandthehostedprivatecloudservicesareofferedindatacentersin
thecentralandeasternU.S.,theU.K.,AustraliaandHongKong.However,accountsareregionspecific
Europeisaseparateregionfromtherestoftheworld.Rackspacehassalespresenceinthecountries
whereithasdatacenters,alongwiththeNetherlands,SwitzerlandandMexico.Supportisprovidedin
Englishonly.TheportalanddocumentationareavailableonlyinEnglish.
Recommendedmode:RackspaceappealstobothMode1andMode2customerswhovaluehighly
responsivecustomerservice.
RecommendedusesforRackspacePublicCloud:Cloudnativeapplicationsrequiringabasiccloud
IaaSofferingthatincludesbaremetalserverscloudIaaSaspartofahybridhostingsolutionwith
DevOpsorientedmanagedserviceshybridhostingwherecloudIaaSissupplementarytoaprimarily
dedicatedinfrastructuredevelopmentenvironmentswheresimplicityandeaseofusearecrucial.
RecommendedusesforRackspacePrivateCloud:PrivateOpenStackenvironmentsfordevelopment
orcloudnativeapplicationsVMwareorHyperVbased"rentedvirtualization"forgeneralbusiness
applicationsordevelopmentenvironmentsprivate"Azurelike"(WindowsAzurePack)environmentsfor
developmenthybridenvironmentswithMicrosoftAzure.
Strengths
Overthecourseof2014,Rackspacesuccessfullypivotedfromits"OpenCloudCompany,"
OpenStackorientedstrategy,andreturnedtoitsrootsas"acompanyofexperts,"emphasizingits
managedserviceexpertiseandsuperiorsupportexperience.Rackspacehasacoherentvisionof
cloudenabledmanagedservicesthatutilizeautomationandaDevOpsphilosophy.Rackspaceisno
longertargetingcustomersthatwanttoselfmanageexclusively,exceptinthecontextofitsprivate
cloudservices.
Rackspace'sindustrializedprivatecloudofferingsarethoughtfullyconstructed,moreautomated
thanmostcompetingofferings,andoperatedinafashionthatallowsRackspacetodeliverreliable,
wellsupportedservicesateconomicalprices.During2014,Rackspaceembracedtechnology
partnershipswithVMwareandMicrosoftinordertoexpanditsrangeofprivatecloudofferings,and
begantoprovidemanagedservicesforthirdpartyofferings,startingwithVMware'svCloudAir.
WhileRackspacecontinuestoparticipateintheOpenStackcommunity,andhasinvested
significantlyinitsOpenStackbasedprivatecloudservices,itisincreasinglytechnologyneutral.Itis
nowfocusedonthewaysinwhichitcanaddvaluebeyondprovidingbasicinfrastructure,suchas
offeringsolutiontemplateswithinitsOpenStackbasedprivatecloud.
Cautions
RackspacePublicCloudisadevelopercentricoffering,andhasappealedprimarilytosmall
businessesseekingareplacementforlowcostmassmarkethosting.AlthoughRackspacenow
deliversasolidsetofbasicfeatures,ithasnotbeenabletokeepupwiththepaceofinnovationof
themarketleaders.Rackspacehasrefocuseditsbusinessuponcustomersthatneedexpert
managedservicesformissioncriticalneeds,ratherthantrytocompetedirectlyforselfmanaged
cloudIaaSagainsthyperscaleprovidersthatcanrapidlydeliverinnovativecapabilitiesatverylow
cost,oragainstestablishedITvendorsthathavemuchgreaterresourcesandglobalsalesreach.It
isastrongercompetitorinprivatecloudIaaS,whichdoesnotrequirethesamebreadthof
capabilities.
Rackspacehasmademanycloudrelatedacquisitionstoenhanceitscloudcapabilitiesandrapidly
expandthenumberofdevelopersitemploys.However,ithasnotintegratedtheseacquisitionsinto
acohesivewhole.ManyoftheacquisitionsactuallycanmanageoroperatewithmultiplecloudIaaS
providers.WhilethispotentiallypositionsRackspaceforfuturemulticloudmanagement,andenables
ittotakeadvantageofthegrowthofcompetitors,Rackspacewillneedtocreateacompellingvalue
propositionforusingitsowncloudIaaSofferings.
Verizon
VerizonisaU.S.basedglobalcommunicationsserviceprovider.VerizonacquiredTerremark,amanaged
hostingandcloudIaaSprovider,in2011.During2014,VerizonphasedouttheTerremarkbrand.
Offerings:During2014,VerizonconsolidatedmostofitscloudIaaSofferingsunderthe"VerizonCloud"
umbrellabrandandportal.The"VerizonCloud"brandwaspreviouslyusedforanewcloudIaaSoffering
thatVerizonintroducedintobetainOctober2013.Thisofferingisnowingeneralavailability,withthree
deploymentmodels:VirtualPrivateCloud(VPC)ReservedPerformance(fullymultitenant),PublicCloud
(fullymultitenant,withasimplifiedsubsetoffeatures)andPrivateCloud(singletenant).Itisbasedon
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AMDSeaMicroservers,isfullymultitenantandcanbeeitherXenvirtualizedorVMwarevirtualizeditalso
encompassesVerizon'sobjectstorageoffering.Verizon'sotherofferingsarefullymultitenantand
VMwarevirtualized.TheformerTerremarkEnterpriseCloud(eCloud)isnowofferedasVerizonCloud's
VPCElasticResource,althoughitremainsadistinctdeploymentmodelwithitsowndistinctive
environment,capabilities,UIandAPIitusesanSRPpricingmodel.TheFederalEditionofeCloudremains
aseparateofferingoutsideVerizonCloud.ThevCloudExpressofferingandVerizon'sEnterpriseCloud
ManagedEdition(ECME)arebeingretired.Optionalmanagedservicesareavailableforallofferingsother
thanPublicCloudandeCloudFederalEdition.Enterprisegradesupportisextra.
Locations:VerizonCloudisavailableinmultipleU.S.datacenters,plustheU.K.,Netherlands,Hong
KongandBrazil,butnotallofferingsareavailableinalllocations.Verizonhasaglobalsalespresence.
SupportforallofVerizonCloudisprovidedinEnglish,SpanishandPortugueseotherofferingsare
supportedonlyinEnglish.TheportalanddocumentationforallofferingsareonlyinEnglish.
Recommendedmode:VerizonprimarilyappealstoMode1customers.
Recommendeduses:Developmentenvironmentsandgeneralbusinessapplications.
Strengths
Verizon,viatheofferingformerlyknownasTerremarkEnterpriseCloud,hasthelongesttrackrecord
inthemarketforVMwarevirtualizedenterpriseclasspubliccloudIaaS.However,itscompetitive
differentiatorshaveerodedovertimeascompetitorshavecaughtupand,insomecases,surpassed
itinfeaturedevelopment.ThenewVerizonCloudofferingwasanefforttobuildaconsolidated,
hypervisorneutral,nextgenerationplatformalthoughithasnotfulfilledVerizon'shopes,it
remainsthemarket'smostambitiousandinnovativeattemptatatrulysoftwaredefined,mixed
tenancycloudIaaSofferingdeliveredoncommodityinfrastructure.
Verizonhasasolid,workloadcentricvisionofwhatitwouldlikeitsfutureserviceportfoliotobe.
Currently,VerizoncanservearelativelybroadrangeofusecasesforbasiccloudIaaSviaitsrangeof
differentofferings.ItisgraduallyconsolidatingallitscloudIaaSofferingsundertheVerizonCloud
portal,whichwilleventuallyresultinamoreconsistentuserexperienceacrosstheportfolio.Ithas
beguntobuildanecosystemaroundVerizonCloudandstartedamarketplaceprogram.
Cautions
VerizonhascapablebasiccloudIaaSofferings,butlacksvalueaddedcapabilities.Itwillneedto
investverydeeplyinengineering,productdevelopmentanditspartnerecosystem,whichmeans
competingforscarcetalentandtheattentionofpartners(whichnormallyprefertoworkwiththe
providersthathavethemostmarketshare).Verizon'smaintenanceofmultipledistinctcloudIaaS
platformshasforcedittosplititsengineeringefforts,atatimewhenallcompetitorsinthismarket
faceachallengetoadvanceasingleplatform.
Verizon'ssalesorganizationdoesnotoftenhavearelationshipwiththedecisionmakersand
influencerswhoselectcloudIaaSproviders,sincetheyaredifferentfromthepeoplewhocontrol
networkprocurement.ForVerizon'scloudbusinesstoachieveitspotential,Verizonneedsto
becomerelevanttobusinessmanagersandapplicationdevelopmentleaders.
Virtustream
Virtustreamisasmall,independentserviceproviderfocusedsolelyoncloudservicesandsoftware.
Offerings:Virtustream'sservice,xStream,ishypervisorneutralbuttypicallysupportsVMwareandKVM.
Itisofferedinbothsingletenantandmultitenantvariantsfurthermore,itcansupportsingletenant
computewithamultitenantbackend,aswellasbaremetal.VMsareavailablebythehour,baremetalis
availablebythemonth,andbothpaidbytheVMandSRPmodelsareavailable.Theofferingembedsa
toolforgovernance,riskmanagementandcompliance(GRC),includingcapabilitiesfromVirtustream's
2014acquisitionofViewTrustTechnology.TherearevariantsofxStreamtargetedspecificallyat
customerswhoneedPCIcompliance,andU.S.federalgovernmentcustomers.Managedservicesare
optional.VirtustreamalsooffersxStreamassoftware,andhaslicensedsomeofitstechnologytoother
serviceproviders,suchasIBM.
Locations:VirtustreamhasmultipledatacentersintheeasternandwesternU.S.,andintheU.K.and
Netherlands.IthassalespresenceintheU.S.,alongwithLondon,Walldorf(theGermanhomeofSAP),
andDubaisalesoffices.TheserviceisprovidedinEnglishonly.
Recommendedmode:Virtustream'sfocusoncomplextraditionalenterpriseapplicationsmeansthatit
appealsprimarilytoMode1customers,especiallythoseseekingimprovedagility.
Recommendeduses:Complexworkloads,particularlythoserelatedtoERPorotherenterprisesoftware
suites,includingapplicationsthatmaynothavebeendesignedtoruninvirtualizedenvironments.
Strengths
Virtustream'sfoundershavebackgroundsinVMwareandSAPconsultancies,aswellassystem
integration,andthecompanyhasastronglyconsultativeapproach,aswellasparticularexpertisein
SAPin2013,VirtustreamreceivedadirectinvestmentfromSAPAmerica.Itscloudistargeted
primarilyatproductionapplications,especiallymissioncriticalcomplexenterpriseapplications,such
asERPsuitesfromSAP,OracleandMicrosoft.Itsabilitytotemplateandautomatethedeployment
andmanagementofhighlycomplexlegacyapplicationsenablescustomerstoachieveagile
applicationdevelopmentlifecyclesandreducetheriskofapplicationchangesforcomplexworkloads
suchasthoseassociatedwithSAP.Virtustreamhasbeensuccessfulatwinninglargescale
enterprisedeals,particularlythosefocusedonSAPandthatrequiremanagedservicecapabilities.
Virtustreamhasdevelopeditsowncloudplatformtechnology,andcanofferfullyconsistenthybrid
cloudsolutions.ItsmicroVMtechnologyenablesittochargeforresourcesconsumed,ratherthan
resourcesallocated,andtoofferpolicybasedservicelevelmanagementandapplicationperformance
SLAs.Ithasfocusedonmeetingenterprisesecurityandcomplianceneeds,andhassomeunique
capabilities,suchassupportforIntel'sTrustedExecutionTechnology(TXT)andtrustframework.
Virtustreamtypicallyworkscloselywithcustomerstodeterminehowbesttomigrateonpremises
applicationstoitscloud,andithasitsowndatacollectiontoolsthatcustomersrunontheiron
premisesserverstodeterminewhatresourcestheywillneedonxStream.
Cautions
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AlthoughVirtustreamsupportsasolidsetofselfservicefeatures,itprimarilytargetscomplex,
missioncriticalapplicationswhereitislikelythatthecustomerwillpurchaseprofessionalservice
assistanceforimplementation,andmanagedservicesonanongoingbasis.Itdoesnothavethe
resourcestocompeteforallworkloadsagainstproviderswhosegreaterresourcesallowdevelopment
ofmuchbroaderproductportfolios.Rather,itprovidesdeepanddifferentiatedcapabilitiesinitsfocus
areas.Asarelativelysmallbutinnovativeproviderwithuniqueintellectualproperty,itmaybea
targetforacquisition.
Virtustreamisacompellinganduniqueproviderforparticularenterpriseapplicationusecases,butit
isbettersuitedtoimplementationswhereanenvironmentwillbecarefullyandconsultativelytuned
fortheneedsofparticularapplications,ratherthangeneralpurposeenvironmentswhereworkloads
aredeployedwithoutoversight.
VMware
VMwarehashistoricallybeenasoftwarevendorfocusedonvirtualizationtechnologies.Itenteredthe
cloudIaaSmarketwhenitlaunchedtheVMwarevCloudHybridService(vCHS),nowrenamedvCloudAir,
intogeneralavailabilityinSeptember2013.ItisasubsidiaryofEMC.
Offerings:vCloudAirisaVMwarevirtualized,vCloudAPIenabledofferingthatcomesinthreevariants:
OnDemand(fullymultitenant),VirtualPrivateCloud(fullymultitenantandSRPpriced)andDedicated
Cloud(singletenantcomputewithmultitenantbackend,andSRPpricedwithcustomercontrolled
oversubscription).Thereisalsoadisasterrecoveryservice.AllvCloudAirservicesshareacommonportal
andaredeliveredasresourcepoolsoutofthesamesharedhardware.
Locations:vCloudAirisavailableinmultipledatacentersintheU.S.,aswellasintheU.K.,Germany,
AustraliaandJapan.VMwarehasaglobalsalespresence.SupportisavailableinEnglish,French,German,
Portuguese,Spanish,Hindi,JapaneseandMandarin.TheportalisavailableinEnglishonly
documentationisavailableinEnglishandJapanese.
Recommendedmode:vCloudAirprimarilyappealstoMode1customerswithexistinginvestmentsin
VMwaretechnology.
Recommendeduses:Developmentenvironments,generalbusinessapplications,supplementing
existingVMwarevirtualizedenvironments,PivotalCloudFoundryhosting,anddisasterrecoveryfor
customersseekingaVMwarebasedsolution.
Strengths
VMwareisthemarketshareleaderandthoughtleaderinvirtualization.Ithasastrongbrand,global
salesreach,andabroadbaseofexistingcustomersthataredeeplycommittedtoitstechnologies.
ItsstrategyforvCloudAiristoofferhybridcloudoptionstoexistingVMwarecustomers,reinforcing
itspositionininternaldatacenters,andexpandingitstotaladdressablemarket.Itwantstooffer
customersaconsistentexperienceacrossVMwarebasedinfrastructure,whetherdeliveredasanon
premisesvirtualizedenvironmentordeliveredasacloudservice.
vCloudAirisavCloudDirectorbasedservice(althoughVMwareoffersaneasiertouseportalasthe
primaryUI),andtakesadvantageofVMware'sNSXsoftwaredefinednetworkingtechnologythe
resultisacapablebasiccloudIaaSoffering.Thenotionof"singlepaneofglass"manageability
appealstomanyITadministrators,althoughvCloudAirdoesnotyetdeliveronthispromise.
However,thevCloudAirDisasterRecoveryservicemaybeattractivetocustomerswithonpremises
VMware.VMwarealsopossessesasuiteofITOMtoolsthatcould,inthefuture,beusedtoenhance
vCloudAirmanageability.
Cautions
vCloudAirhaslimitedappealtothebusinessmanagersandapplicationdevelopmentleaderswho
aretypicallythekeydecisionmakersforcloudIaaSsourcing.VMwareadministratorsinIT
operationsarethemostlikelychampionsofvCloudAirwithinabusiness,buttheyoftenpreferto
buildinternalsolutions,andtheyarealsooftenthepeoplethatthebusinessistryingtobypassby
goingtocloudIaaS.VMwaremustcontinuetocreatehybridsolutionsthatcanpullcustomers
towardthecloud.Itistryingtodevelopcompellingvaluepropositionsfordevelopersbypartnering
withPaaSproviders,withaparticularemphasisonmobilesolutions.AlthoughEMCalsoowns
Pivotal,thePivotalWebServicesPaaSrunsonAWS,andVMwareisintheprocessofindependently
buildingdeveloperorientedcapabilities.
VMwareneedstobuildanecosystemaroundvCloudAir.IthasintroducedavCloudAirMarketplace
withinitsVMwareSolutionExchange,butthecatalogcurrentlyonlyincludesoperatingsystemsand
MicrosoftSQLServer.VMwaredoeshaveastrongchannelinitsbroaderbusiness,butSIs,MSPs
andvalueaddedresellersneedtolearntosellvCloudAireffectivelyanddelivervalueontop.
VMwarehaspreviouslyusedserviceprovidersasitschanneltomarket,butnoneofthoseproviders
attainedtruescaleandtheywerenotabletomaintainthelevelofinnovationnecessaryinthis
market.SomeofthesepartnersarenowresellingvCloudAir,whichreduceschannelconflict,but
VMwarefacesthesametechnicalchallenges,andmanyofthesamebusinesschallenges,asother
VMwarebasedserviceproviders.
VendorsAddedandDropped
WereviewandadjustourinclusioncriteriaforMagicQuadrantsandMarketScopesasmarketschange.As
aresultoftheseadjustments,themixofvendorsinanyMagicQuadrantorMarketScopemaychange
overtime.Avendor'sappearanceinaMagicQuadrantorMarketScopeoneyearandnotthenextdoes
notnecessarilyindicatethatwehavechangedouropinionofthatvendor.Itmaybeareflectionofa
changeinthemarketand,therefore,changedevaluationcriteria,orofachangeoffocusbythatvendor.
Added
Interoute
NTTCommunications
Dropped
GoGrid.GoGridwasacquiredbyDatapipeinJanuary2015.Duetothetimingoftheacquisition,
andintegrationrelateduncertainty,wecouldnotassesseithervendorforthisMagicQuadrant.
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HP.WhileHPcontinuestooperateitscloudIaaSoffering(HPPublicCloud),itnowonlyactively
seekstomarketandsellthisofferingaspartofahybridsolution.Itnolongerhassufficientmarket
sharetoqualifyforinclusioninthisMagicQuadrant.
InclusionandExclusionCriteria
Tobeincludedinthis2015MagicQuadrant,vendorshadtodemonstratethefollowing,asofJanuary
2015:
Marketparticipation.TheymustsellpubliccloudIaaSasastandaloneservice,withoutthe
requirementtouseanymanagedservices(includingguestOSmanagement),ortobundleitwith
managedhosting,applicationdevelopment,applicationmaintenance,orotherformsofoutsourcing.
Theymay,optionally,alsosellaprivateversionofthisofferingthatusesthesamearchitecturebut
issingletenant.
Markettractionandmomentum.Theymustbeamongthetop15providersfortherelevant
segments(publicandindustrializedprivatecloudIaaS,excludingsmalldeploymentsofoneortwo
VMs),basedonGartnerestimatedmarketshareandmindshare.
BusinesscapabilitiesrelevanttoGartnerclients.TheymustofferthepubliccloudIaaSservice
globally,beabletoinvoice,offerconsolidatedbilling,andbewillingtonegotiatecustomized
contracts.Theymusthave24/7customersupport(includingphonesupport).
TechnicalcapabilitiesrelevanttoGartnerclients.ThepubliccloudIaaSservicemustbe
suitableforsupportingproductionworkloads,whetherenterpriseorcloudnative.Specificservice
featuresmustinclude:
Datacentersinatleasttwometropolitanareas,separatedbyaminimumof250miles,on
separatepowergrids,withSSAE16,ISO27001orequivalentaudits
Realtimeprovisioning(smallLinuxVMin10minutes)
Theabilitytoscaleanapplicationbeyondthecapacityofasinglephysicalserver
AnallowableVMsizeofatleasteightvCPUsand32GBofRAM
AnSLAforcompute,withaminimumof99.5%availability
Theabilitytosecurelyextendthecustomer'sdatacenternetworkintothecloudenvironment
TheabilitytosupportmultipleusersorAPIkeys,withrolebasedaccesscontrol
AccesstoaWebservicesAPI
VendorsConsideredbutNotIncluded
ThisMagicQuadrantisglobalinscope,butmostoftheprovidersarebasedintheU.S.Thisisareflection
ofthewaythemarketisevolving.ThemarkethasmaturedmorequicklyintheU.S.andthebulkof
revenuecomesfromU.S.basedcustomersandflowstoU.S.basedcompaniesU.S.basedIaaS
providerstypicallyderive20%ormoreoftheirrevenuefromcustomersoutsidetheU.S.However,allthe
providersinthisMagicQuadrantoffertheirservicesonaglobalbasis,andmosthaveatleastonedata
centerinNorthAmerica,WesternEuropeandAsia/Pacific.
SignificantEuropebasedprovidersnotinthisMagicQuadrantincludearsys,CloudSigma,Colt,Gigas,
OrangeBusinessServices,OVHandSkyscape.ProviderswithsignificantpresenceintheAsia/Pacific
regionthatarenotinthisMagicQuadrantincludeDatapipeandTataCommunications.
IntheevaluationsforthisMagicQuadrant,weconsideredavarietyofinterestingcloudIaaSproviders
thatdidnotmeetthecriteriaforinclusion.Themoredistinctiveones,byusecase,include:
Development:Skytap,whichhasdeepselfservice"labmanagement"capabilitiesandfeatures
thatsupportcollaborationbetweendevelopers,usingeitheritsowninfrastructureorAWS.
DisasterRecovery:Hostingandiland,whichofferdisasterrecoveryasaserviceontheircloud
IaaSplatforms.
Enterpriseapplications:NaviSite,aTimeWarnerCableCompany,whosecloudIaaSplatformis
suitableforhostingOracleEBusinessSuiteandothercomplexapplications.
HPC:CloudSigma,Internap,Peer1HostingandProfitBricks,whichofferconfigurationsandpricing
modelsthatareattractiveforHPC.
Privateclouds:BlueBoxandMetacloud(nowCiscoOpenStackPrivateCloud),whichoffer
remotelymanagedOpenStackbasedprivatecloudsasaservice.
TherearealsomanycloudIaaSprovidersthatspecializeinservingsmallbusinessesthattypicallyusejust
oneortwoVMsexamplesareDigitalOcean,ElasticHostsandLinode.Theselowcostprovidersareoften
usedasanalternativetomassmarketvirtualprivateserver(VPS)hosting.Gartnerclientstypicallyhave
needsbeyondwhatsuch"cloudVPS"providerscanfulfill.
EventhoughsomebusinessesmayusePaaSinaveryIaaSlikemanner,wehaveexcludedPaaS
providersfromthisMagicQuadrant,withtheexceptionofthosePaaSprovidersthatalsohaveaqualifying
IaaSoffering.PaaSofferingsdonotallowcustomerstoobtainrawVMsthatcanbeloadedwitharbitrary
operatingsystems,middlewareandapplications,whichisarequirementforbeingconsideredasIaaS.For
PaaSproviders,see"MagicQuadrantforEnterpriseApplicationPlatformasaService"and"Magic
QuadrantforEnterpriseIntegrationPlatformasaService,Worldwide."
EvaluationCriteria
AbilitytoExecute
Gartneranalystsevaluatetechnologyvendorsonthequalityandefficacyoftheprocesses,systems,
methodsorproceduresthatenableITproviders'performancetobecompetitive,efficientandeffective,
andtopositivelyaffectrevenue,retentionandreputation.Ultimately,technologyprovidersarejudgedon
theirabilitytocapitalizeontheirvision,andontheirsuccessindoingso.
Weevaluatedvendors'AbilitytoExecuteinthismarketbyusingthefollowingcriteria:
Product/Service:ServiceproviderswereevaluatedonthecapabilitiesoftheircloudIaaSofferingto
supportallusecasesbeingevaluated.Weevaluatedthebreadthanddepthofthefeatureset,self
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servicecapabilities,automatedsystemmanagementandsuitabilitytorunabroadrangeofworkload
types.Thiscriterionisimportanttobuyerswhowanttopurchasethemostcapable,featurerich
service.
OverallViability(BusinessUnit,Financial,Strategy,Organization):Providerswereevaluatedonthe
successoftheircloudIaaSbusiness,asdemonstratedbycurrentrevenueandrevenuegrowthsince
thelaunchoftheirservicetheirfinancialwherewithaltocontinueinvestinginthebusinessandto
executesuccessfullyontheirroadmapscommitmenttotheircurrentofferings,withnoplansto
executedisruptiveplatformtransitionsormigrationsinthenexttwoyearsandtheirorganizational
commitmenttothisbusiness,anditsimportancetothecompany'soverallstrategy.Thiscriterionis
importanttobuyerswhoprefertopurchaseservicesfromlargevendorswithamplefinancial
resources,orfromvendorsthathaveapositionofmarketleadershipandarecontinuingtoinvest
aggressivelyinthebusiness.Itisalsoimportanttobuyerswhoareconcernedabouttheirlongterm
strategicinvestmentinaparticularvendor,orwhowanttoavoidpotentiallydisruptiveservice
changes.
SalesExecution/Pricing:Providerswereevaluatedontheirabilitytoaddresstherangeofbuyersfor
IaaS,includingthedifferentaudiencesineachmodeofbimodalITadaptto"frictionlessselling"
withonlinesales,immediatetrialsandproofsofconceptprovideconsultativesalesandsolutions
engineeringbehighlyresponsivetoprospectivecustomersandoffervalueformoney.This
criterionisimportanttobuyerswhovalueasmoothsalesexperience,therightsolutionproposals
andcompetitiveprices.
MarketResponsivenessandTrackRecord:Thismarketisevolvingextremelyquicklyandtherateof
technologicalinnovationisveryhigh.Providerswereevaluatedonhowwelltheyhavehistorically
beenabletorespondtochangingbuyerneedsandtechnologydevelopments,rapidlyiteratetheir
serviceofferings,anddeliverpromisedenhancementsandservicesbytheexpectedtime.This
criterionisimportanttobuyerswhovaluerapiddeliveryofcuttingedgecapabilities.
MarketingExecution:Providerswereevaluatedontheirmindshareandbrandawarenessinthe
markettheirabilitytoconveymarketingmessagesbasedontheirabilitytodeliverrealbusiness
value,notemptyhypeormisleading"cloudwashing"(thepracticeofrebrandingorremarketingan
existingofferingunderacloudlabelwithoutofferingalltheattributesofacloudservice)andthe
clarityandaccuracyoftheirmarketingmessages,comparedwiththeiractualserviceoffering.This
criterionisimportanttobuyerswhoprefertobuyfromwellknownvendors.
CustomerExperience:Providerswereevaluatedonthequalityandresponsivenessoftheiraccount
managementandtechnicalsupporttheeaseofuseoftheirselfservicefunctionalitythe
capabilitiesoftheircustomerportal(additionalfunctionalitysuchasmonitoring,reportingand
troubleticketing)theusefulnessoftheirdocumentationandcustomercommunicationsthe
qualityoftheirSLAstheeaseofdoingbusinesswiththemandoverallcustomersatisfaction.This
criterionisimportanttobuyerswhovaluetheaspectsofthevendorrelationshipandcapabilities
beyondtheIaaSplatformitself.
Operations:Providerswereevaluatedontheirabilitytomeettheirgoalsandcommitments,
includingtheirtrackrecordofservicedeliverythequalityoftheirresponsetooutagestheir
approachtoemergencyandscheduledmaintenanceandtheirabilitytomeettimelinesthatare
communicatedtocustomersandtothemarket.Thiscriterionisimportanttobuyerswhowanta
reliable,predictableserviceexperience.
Ourevaluationofaserviceprovider'sAbilitytoExecuteremainssimilartothatofthe2014Magic
Quadrant.Wehavecontinuedtoraiseourexpectationsofaprovider'sfeatureset,andwehavefurther
increasedtheweightingofOverallViability,reflectingourbeliefthateventhoughsomeproviderscan
accomplishgreatthingswithrelativelyfewresources,longtermsuccessinthismarketwillrequire
substantialinvestment,aswellastheabilitytoattractanecosystem.
Table1.AbilitytoExecuteEvaluation
Criteria
EvaluationCriteria
Weighting
ProductorService
High
OverallViability
High
SalesExecution/Pricing
Medium
MarketResponsiveness/Record
High
MarketingExecution
Medium
CustomerExperience
Medium
Operations
Medium
CompletenessofVision
Gartneranalystsevaluatetechnologyvendorsontheirabilitytoarticulatelogicalstatementsconvincingly
aboutcurrentandfuturemarketdirection,innovation,customerneedsandcompetitiveforces,aswellas
howtheymaptoGartner'sposition.Ultimately,technologyprovidersareassessedontheirunderstanding
ofthewaysinwhichmarketforcescanbeexploitedtocreateopportunities.
Weassessedvendors'CompletenessofVisioninthismarketbyusingthefollowingcriteria:
MarketUnderstanding:Providerswereevaluatedontheirunderstandingofthewantsandneedsof
threedifferentbuyingconstituenciesinthismarketenterprises,midmarketbusinessesanddigital
businesses(whethertechnologycompaniesordigitalbusinessunitsembeddedinnontechnology
businesses)bothcurrentlyandinthelongertermastheuseofIaaSmatures.Thiscriterionis
importanttobuyerswhovalueaprovider'sunderstandingofthemarket'sevolutionandbroader
businesstrends,whichimpactaprovider'sabilitytoplanasuccessfullongtermstrategy.
MarketingStrategy:Providerswereevaluatedontheirabilitytoarticulatetheirpositioninthe
marketandtheircompetitivedifferentiation,andtocommunicatethesemessagesclearlyand
consistently,bothinternallyandexternally.Thiscriterionisimportanttobuyerswhobelievethat
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providersshouldhaveaclearfocusanddirection.
SalesStrategy:Providerswereevaluatedontheirunderstandingofthebuyingcentersforthe
market,andthewaythatthesedifferentbuyingcenterswanttoengagewithsales,aswellastheir
strategyforadaptingtheirsalesforce,onlinechannelandpartnerchannelstotheIaaSmarket.This
criterionisimportanttobuyerswhovalueaprovider'sabilitytogrowitsbusinessoverthelong
term.
Offering(Product)Strategy:Providerswereevaluatedonthebreadth,depth,qualityand
differentiationoftheirserviceroadmaps,asrelevanttotheusecasesunderevaluation,withan
emphasisonselfservice,automatedITOMandoverallfeatureset.Thiscriterionisimportantto
buyerswhowantaproviderwhowillleadthemarketinservicecapabilities.
BusinessModel:Providerswereevaluatedontheiroverallvaluepropositionandtheirstrategyfor
providingsolutionsfortheusecasesunderconsideration,notjustrawinfrastructureelements.This
includedevaluatinghowIaaSfitsintotheirbroaderproductportfolioandproductstrategy.This
criterionisimportanttobuyerswhoviewIaaSaspartofanintegratedsetofsolutionsfroma
particularprovider.
Vertical/IndustryStrategy:Providerswereevaluatedontheirabilitytooffertargetedservicesfor
particularverticalmarkets,suchasgovernment,biotechnology,mediaandentertainment,and
retail.Thisincludessalesandmarketingtosuchverticals,theirabilitytomeetspecialized
complianceneeds,andverticalspecificsolutions.Thiscriterionisnotdirectlyimportanttomost
buyers,excepttotheextentthataproviderhasaverticalspecificofferingthatisrelevanttothem.
Innovation:Providerswereevaluatedonthelevelofinvestmentinthefutureoftheirbusiness,and
thequalityofthoseinvestments,whetherfinancialorhumancapitalthisincludesaspectssuchas
thedeploymentofengineeringresources,investmentsinnewtechnology,mergersandacquisitions,
andpartnershipsandalliances.Thiscriterionisimportanttobuyerswhocareaboutleadingedge
capabilities,andthestrengthofaprovider'secosystem.
GeographicStrategy:Providerswereevaluatedontheirabilitytoexpandtheirofferingbeyondtheir
homeregion,servingtheneedsofmultinationalbusinesses,aswellasadaptingtheirofferingsto
othergeographies.Inparticular,thisincludedtheirstrategyforinternationalsalesandsupport,as
wellastheirdatacenterfootprintsandinternationalizationefforts.Thiscriterionisimportantto
buyerswhowanttouseaglobalvendor.
OurevaluationofCompletenessofVisionremainssimilartothatofthe2014MagicQuadrant.However,
wehavecontinuedtoincreaseourexpectationsforthebreadthanddepthofaprovider'svision.We
believethatacomprehensivevisionmustencompasstheambitiontorunanyworkload,atanytime,
anywhereintheworld,withtheappropriateavailability,performance,securityandisolationincluding
theabilitytoselfserviceallthenecessarycompute,storage,networkandmanagementcapabilitiesin
cooperationwithanecosystemofsupportingpartners.
Table2.CompletenessofVision
EvaluationCriteria
EvaluationCriteria
Weighting
MarketUnderstanding
High
MarketingStrategy
Medium
SalesStrategy
Medium
Offering(Product)Strategy
High
BusinessModel
Medium
Vertical/IndustryStrategy
Low
Innovation
High
GeographicStrategy
Low
QuadrantDescriptions
Leaders
Leadersdistinguishthemselvesbyofferingaservicesuitableforstrategicadoptionandhavingan
ambitiousroadmap.Theycanserveabroadrangeofusecases,althoughtheydonotexcelinallareas,
maynotnecessarilybethebestprovidersforaspecificneed,andmaynotservesomeusecasesatall.
Theyhaveatrackrecordofsuccessfuldelivery,significantmarketshareandmanyreferenceable
customers.
Challengers
Challengersarewellpositionedtoservesomecurrentmarketneeds.Theydeliveragoodservicethatis
targetedataparticularsetofusecases,andtheyhaveatrackrecordofsuccessfuldelivery.However,
theyarenotadaptingtomarketchallengessufficientlyquickly,ordonothaveabroadscopeofambition.
Visionaries
Visionarieshaveanambitiousvisionofthefuture,andaremakingsignificantinvestmentsinthe
developmentofuniquetechnologies.Visionariesmaybenewmarketentrants,ortheymaybeexisting
providerswhoarereinventingtheirbusiness.Theirservicesarestillemerging,andtheyhavemany
capabilitiesindevelopmentthatarenotyetgenerallyavailable.Whiletheymayhavemanycustomers,
theymightnotyetserveabroadrangeofusecaseswell.
NichePlayers
NichePlayersmaybeexcellentprovidersfortheusecasesinwhichtheyspecialize,butmaynotservea
broadrangeofusecaseswell,orhaveabroadlyambitiousroadmap.Theymayberelativelynewentrants
tothismarket,ormaynotyethavegainedsignificantmarketshare.Somemayhavesolidleadership
positionsinmarketsadjacenttothismarket,butarestillintherelativelyearlystagesofdeveloping
capabilitiesincloudIaaS.Providersthatspecializeinmanagedservicesontopofa"goodenough"IaaS
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platformmaybeinthiscategory.Themorehighlytargetedyourneeds,themorelikelyitisthatthere
willbeaNichePlayeridealforyourneeds.
Context
Whenpeoplethinkabout"cloudcomputing,"cloudIaaSisoftenoneofthefirstthingsthatcomesto
mind.It'sthe"computing"incloudcomputingondemandcompute,storageandnetworkresources,
deliveredondemand,innearrealtime,asaservice.Therehasbeentremendoushypeaboutthese
services,buttherearealsoanumberofusecasesforwhichcloudIaaSdeliversexcellentbusinessvalue.
Althoughthemarketisimmature,itisevolvingrapidlyithasbegunitsjourneyuptheSlopeof
EnlightenmentonGartner's"HypeCycleforCloudComputing,2014."Unfortunately,manycustomersdo
notclearlyunderstandtheirrequirements,andmanyprovidersareinastateofturmoilandarticulate
theirofferingspoorly.Therefore,careshouldbetakenwhensourcingtheseservices.
In2014,theabsolutegrowthofpubliccloudIaaSworkloadssurpassedthegrowthofonpremises
workloads(ofanytype)forthefirsttime.Marketsharehascontinuedtogrowmoreheavilyconcentrated,
evenwhilethemarkethasdramaticallyexpanded.2014hasbeenayearofreckoningformanycloud
IaaSproviders,andmanycloudIaaSprovidersbelievethattheircurrentstrategyisfailingthem.Someof
theseprovidersintendtolaunchanentirelynewcloudIaaSplatform,orareintheprocessofmaking
substantialchangestotheircurrentplatform.Othersareconsideringorintheprocessofexecutinga
pivottoprovidingmanagedservicesonleadingcloudIaaSproviders.Manyprovidershaveindicatedthat
theyintendtodiscontinueorsignificantlyreducetheirinvestmentintheircloudIaaSofferings,and
othersintendtoeliminateorreplacetheircurrentofferings.Weurgebuyerstobeextremelycautious
whenselectingprovidersaskspecificanddetailedquestionsabouttheprovider'sroadmapfortheservice,
andseekcontractualcommitmentsthatdonotpermittheprovidertomodifysubstantiallyorto
discontinuetheofferingwithoutatleast12months'notice.
CloudIaaSisnowusedforvirtuallyallusecasesthatcanbereasonablyhostedonvirtualizedx86based
servers.ThemostcommonusecasesforcloudIaaSaredevelopmentandtestingenvironmentsHPCand
batchprocessingInternetfacingwebsitesandWebbasedapplications(whichmayormaynothave
architecturesspecificallydesignedforthecloud)andnonmissioncriticalinternalbusinessapplications.
AnincreasingnumberoforganizationsnowrunmissioncriticalbusinessapplicationsoncloudIaaS
(Gartner'scloudcomputingsurveyindicates28%in2014),andasignificantnumberoforganizationsare
inthemidstofmigratingmostoralloftheirinfrastructuretocloudIaaS.Migrationsaremostfrequently
donetoavoidmajorcapitalexpenditure,suchasahardwarerefreshortheconstructionofadatacenter.
Initially,mostbusinessesadoptcloudIaaSforMode2,agileITprojectssuchprojectsmaybeperipheral
totheorganization'sITneeds,butmayhaveahighbusinessimpact.Overtime,asabusinessbecomes
morecomfortablewiththeuseofcloudIaaS,itwillbeusedinMode1,traditionalITprojectsaswell,
usuallymirroringthepastdecade'sadoptionpatternofvirtualizationinthedatacenter.Manybusinesses,
especiallyinthemidmarket,willeventuallymigrateawayfromrunningtheirowndatacentersinfavorof
relyingprimarilyoninfrastructureinthecloud.Gartner's2015CIOsurveyindicatesthat83%ofCIOs
considercloudIaaSasaninfrastructureoption,and10%arealreadycloudfirstwithcloudIaaSastheir
defaultinfrastructurechoice.(See"FlippingtoDigitalLeadership:The2015CIOAgenda.")
AlthoughsomeorganizationsstillsourcecloudIaaSinatactical,perprojectfashion,mostorganizations
arenowlookingforlongtermstrategicpartners.This2015MagicQuadrantfocusesonevaluating
providersthroughthelensoftheirsuitabilityforstrategicadoption.Webelievethatwhilethemarketis
stillrelativelyimmature,customersmayreasonablybeginmakingstrategicchoices,basedontheirown
speedofadoption.CustomerswhowillnothavethemajorityoftheirworkloadsoncloudIaaSuntil2017
orlatermaychoosestrategicproviderswhoseofferingsarestillsubstantivelyincomplete,iftheyare
confidentthatthoseproviderswillhavethenecessarycapabilitiesbythetimetheyneedthem.We
recommendthatprospectivecustomerswithimmediateneedsfocusonfindingthecloudproviderthat
matchestheiranticipatedusecasesforthenextyear.Insomecases,businessesmayhavetouse
multiplecloudIaaSproviderstomeettheneedsofdiverseusecases.
MarketOverview
CloudIaaSprovidesondemand,nearrealtime,selfserviceaccesstoabstracted,programmatically
accessibleandhighlyautomatedinfrastructureresources(atminimum,computeresources,alongwith
associatedstorageandnetworkresources),ondemandandinnearrealtime.InIaaS,theprovider
managesthedatacenterfacilities,hardwareandvirtualization,buteverythingabovethehypervisorlayer
theoperatingsystem,middlewareandapplicationismanagedbythecustomer,orisanaddon
managedservicefromtheprovideroranotherthirdparty.Thismarketiswhollyseparateanddistinct
fromcloudPaaSandSaaS.
CloudIaaSisowned,builtandoperatedbyaserviceprovider,butitmaybedeliveredonpremiseswithin
acustomer'sdatacenterorhostedintheprovider'sdatacenter.Itmaybe"public"(multitenant)or
"private"(singletenant),although,inpractice,thereisnoconsistencyintheapplicationoftheselabelsto
varyingdegreesofresourceisolation,andmosthostedofferingsusesomedegreeofsharedresourcesin
serviceslabeled"private."
CloudIaaSisnotacommoditizedservice,andevenproviderswithverysimilarofferingsandunderlying
technologiesoftenhavesufficientlydifferentimplementationsthatthereisamaterialdifferencein
availability,performance,securityandservicefeatures.
WhatTypesofWorkloadAreBeingPlacedonCloudIaaS?
TherearefourbroadcategoriesofcustomerneedincloudIaaS:
Digitalbusinessenablement
Mode2,agileITprojects
Mode1,traditionalITdatacentersubstitution
Batchcomputing
DigitalbusinessneedsaccountforthemajorityofworkloadsincloudIaaS.Digitalbusiness,however,is
notlimitedtotechnologycompanies.Almosteverybusinessisbeingimpactedbydigitaldisruptionandan
increasingnumberofbusinesseshave"internalstartups"ordigitalbusinessunits.(See"CEOsandCIOs
MustAssumeThatEveryIndustryWillBeDigitallyRemastered.")Digitalbusinessusecasesarevery
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broad,andincludedigitalmarketing,ecommerce,eCRM,SaaSanddataservices.Thesearegenerally
productionapplications,althoughcloudIaaSistypicallyusedforthewholeapplicationlifecycle.Manyof
thesecustomershavemissioncriticalneeds.
Inadditiontodigitalbusinessprojects,manyorganizationshaveawidevarietyofITprojectsthatthey
areexecutinginanagilefashion.Rapidapplicationdevelopment,prototyping,experimentsandotherIT
projectsthatrequireagility,flexibilityandtheabilitytomeeturgentinfrastructureneedsarefrequently
executedoncloudIaaS.AlthoughmostsuchMode2,agileITprojectsarenotcoretotheorganization's
overallITportfolio,theymayhavehighvisibilityandhighbusinessimpact.
Inmanyorganizations,cloudIaaSisgraduallyreplacingorsupplementingtraditionaldatacenter
infrastructure.Itistypicallyusedverysimilarlytotheorganization'sinternalvirtualizationenvironment.
Organizationstypicallybeginwithdevelopmentenvironmentsorlessmissioncriticalproduction
applications,butgraduallyexpandtoalsohostmissioncriticalapplicationsoncloudIaaS.Mode1,
traditionalITorganizationstypicallylooktocloudIaaStodelivercostreductions,butmayalsobe
interestedinlongtermITtransformation.
Theleastcommonneed,butonethatneverthelessgeneratessignificantrevenueforthesmallnumberof
providersthatservethisportionofthemarket,isbatchcomputing.Forthesecustomers,IaaSservesas
asubstitutefortraditionalHPCorgridcomputing.Customerneedsincluderendering,videoencoding,
geneticsequencing,modelingandsimulation,numericalanalysisanddataanalytics.Thesecustomers
needtoaccesslargeamountsofcommoditycomputeatthelowestpossibleprice,withlittleconcernfor
infrastructurereliability.SomeHPCusecasesbenefitfromspecializedhardwaresuchasgraphics
processingunits(GPUs)andhighspeedinterconnects.
CloudIaaScannowbeusedtorunmostworkloads,althoughnoteveryprovidercanruneverytypeof
workloadwell.Serviceprovidersaremovingtowardinfrastructureplatformsthatcanofferphysical
(nonvirtualized)andvirtualresources,pricedaccordingtothelevelofavailability,performance,security
andisolationthatthecustomerselects.Thisallowscustomerstorun"cloudnative"applicationsthat
havebeenarchitectedwithcloudtransactionprocessingprinciplesinmind(see"FromOLTPtoCloudTP:
TheThirdEraofTransactionProcessingAimstotheCloud"Note:Thisdocumenthasbeenarchived
someofitscontentmaynotreflectcurrentconditions),aswellastomigrateexistingbusiness
applicationsfromtheirownvirtualizedserversininternaldatacentersintothecloud,withoutchanges.
CloudIaaSisbestusedtoenablenewITcapabilities,butithasbecomeareasonablealternativetoan
internaldatacenter.
WhatKeyMarketAspectsShouldBuyersBeAwareOf?
CloudIaaSisnotacommodity.Providersvarysignificantlyintheirfeatures,performance,costand
businessterms.Althoughintheory,cloudIaaShasverylittlelockinaVMisjustaVM,intheendin
truth,cloudIaaSisnotmerelyamatterofhardwarerental,butanentiredatacenterecosystemasa
service.ThisencompassestheentiretyoftheITOMstack,includingtraditionalITservicemanagement
capabilities,DevOpsorientedcapabilities,andnewformsofautomation,analyticsandinsight,including
"smart"infrastructurecapabilitiesthattakeadvantageoftheuniqueperspectiveofferedbythedelivery
ofintegratedcompute,storageandnetworkingresources.Themoreyouusethosecapabilities,themore
valueyouwillreceivefromtheoffering,butthemoreyouwillbetiedtothatparticularserviceoffering.
Thedynamicsofthismarketresembleasoftwaremarket,notatraditionalITservicesmarket.Providers
areinaracetodeliverfeatures,andthe"winners"arelikelytobethosethatarehighlyinnovativeand
thathavethemostresourcestoinvestinthebreadthanddepthofcapabilitiesdevelopment.
IaaSandPaaScapabilitiesareoverlapping.CloudIaaSprovidersareincreasinglyofferingmiddleware
capabilitiesasaservice,andarelikelytoaddcapabilitiessuchastheprovisioningandorchestrationof
applicationcontainers(particularlyDockercontainers).ManyleadingproviderswillofferbothIaaSand
PaaS,andinmanycaseswillblendIaaSandPaaScapabilitiesintocloudintegratedinfrastructureservices
(CIIS).Thespectrumofservicesallowscustomerstodecideonatradeoffbetweencontroland
convenience.Customerswanttodevelop,deployandmanageapplicationsefficiently,andwillchoosethe
combinationofcapabilitiesthatbestsuitstheirneeds.Tomakeiteasyforapplicationstospanthe
spectrumofcapabilities,aprovider'sCIISneedsasingleselfserviceportalandcatalog,commonidentity
andaccessmanagement,anintegratedlowlatencynetworkcontext,andanintegratedsecuritycontext.
Providers'sizeandscalematter.Whilescaledoesimpactoperationalefficiencytosomedegree,more
importantly,itimpactsengineeringefficiencytheabilitytoleverageaninvestmentindevelopersas
wellaspartnercapabilitiesacrossaslargeacustomerbaseaspossible.Softwarerequiresalargeupfront
investment,buteachincrementalcustomeraddscomparativelylittlecost,andsoftwaremarketstendto
become"winnertakesall"arenas,whereasmallnumberofvendorscommanddominantmarketshares.
Scalealsomattersbecausetheabilitytodeliverabroadrangeofintegratedcapabilitieswillbecome
increasinglycrucial.Aprovider'ssize,itsexistingcustomerrelationships,andthestrengthofitsbrand
haveanenormousimpactonitsabilitytogainmarketshareandtraction,especiallyonaglobalbasis.
Furthermore,thesolutionecosystemisrapidlyconsolidatingaroundasmallnumberofmarketleaders.
Themarketisinastateofupheaval.Theskyisnotfallingcustomersaregettinggreatvalueoutof
cloudIaaSbuttheearthismovingasthecompetitivelandscapeshifts.Fewprovidershavethe
financialresourcestoinvestinbeingbroadlycompetitiveinthecloudIaaSmarket.Whilethereisroomin
themarketforhighlyspecializedproviders,mostprovidersaretryingtocompeteforabroadrangeofuse
cases.Manyprovidersarestrugglingtogrowtheirbusinesses,despiterapidoverallmarketgrowth.Some
lesssuccessfulprovidersmaytrytobuildnewplatforms,becomespecialistsinparticularniches,acquire
anotherproviderinordertousetheirplatforminstead,pivottobecomethirdpartymanagedservice
providersonotherclouds,orexitthemarketentirely.Thismaybeverydisruptiveforcustomerswho
choosesuchproviders.However,customerswhohavechosenmarketleadersshouldbewellinsulated
fromthesetroublingmarketconditions.
BimodalITimpactscloudIaaSsourcingdecisions.Mode2,agileITorganizationstypicallyvaluecloudIaaS
providersthatinvestdeeplyinengineeringinordertoprovidearichsuiteoffeaturesandextensive
automationforselfserviceenablement.Mode2adoptionisoftenbusinessleddrivenbybusiness
managerswhoholdthebudget,needgreateragilityandhaveshortertimeframesthanIToperationsare
abletoaccommodate,andwhothereforeturntoapplicationdevelopersandenterprisearchitectsfora
solution.IToperationsorganizationstypicallyhaveaMode1mindsetandmayinitiallylookforproviders
thatprovideabasicsetofIaaSfeatureswithinafamiliarenvironmentthatissimilartotheirexisting
virtualizedinfrastructure,buttheyarelikelytorethinkthisapproachiftheirultimategoalisIT
transformation.CloudIaaSprovidersvaryintheirabilitytotargetthesedifferentbuyingcenters.
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Furthermore,mostprovidersfocusoneitheraMode1orMode2audience,andtheirfeaturesetandstyle
ofserviceareorientedaccordingly,althoughleadingprovidersoffercapabilitiesattractivetoboth
audiences.
Automationwillincreasinglytransformoperationsinthecloud.Todelivergreatervaluetocustomers,
cloudIaaSprovidersmustimprovethequalityandefficiencywithwhichcustomerscanmanagetheir
infrastructure.Theymustfindwaystoreducetheburdenofoperationalchoressuchaspatch
managementandbackups.Whilemanualmanagedservicesarefrequentlyusedtosubstitutefor
automatedofferings,efficiencydemandsautomationinsteadofoperators,andsuccessfulIaaSproviders
willpush"upthestack"todeliverhighlyautomatedsolutions.
CustomersareseparatingcloudIaaSplatformdecisionsfrommanagedservicesdecisions.Some
customerswanttouseanindustrializedcloudIaaSoffering,butwouldliketooutsourcethemanagement
ofthatinfrastructure.ThesecustomersincreasinglychoosetoadoptabestinclassIaaSoffering,and
thenseekaMSPtomanageit,ratherthanadopta"managedcloud"offeringfromaMSPthatcanoffer
onlybasicIaaScapabilitiesonitsownplatform.Customersmayalsoextendexistingoutsourcing
relationshipstoincludemanagementofathirdpartycloudIaaSoffering.WhilesomeMode1,traditional
ITcustomersconsideritacceptableforanMSP'splatformtoofferonlyabasicsetofIaaSfeatures,itis
generallyunacceptabletoMode2,agileITcustomers.Furthermore,suchdeficiencieshavealongterm
impactonthequalityandcostofthecustomer'sIToperations,whichmaybestrategicallyunacceptable
toMode1customers.SomeMSPsspecializeincloudnativeoperations,usuallywithsignificantuseof
DevOps,andcanhelpcustomersthroughthetransformationprocess,whichmaybeattractivetoboth
Mode1and2customers,aswellasdigitalbusinesses.
PublicandprivatecloudIaaSareconverging.Serviceprovidersareincreasinglyusingdynamicphysical
andlogicalisolationmechanismstocreate"private"infrastructurewithinashared,multitenantcapacity
pool.Thisallowsforeconomiesofscale,whileenablingcustomerstomeetabroaderrangeofsecurityand
compliancerequirements.Fordetailsofthisconvergenceandhowtochoosethelevelofisolationyou
need,see"BestPractice:EvaluateIsolationMechanismsinPublicandPrivateCloudIaaS"(Note:This
documenthasbeenarchivedsomeofitscontentmaynotreflectcurrentconditions).Webelievethat,
overtime,theleadingproviderswillofferasingle,highlyflexibleplatformacrossboththeirowndata
centersandcustomers'datacenters.Asaresult,thisMagicQuadrantcoversnotonlypubliccloudIaaS,
butindustrializedprivatecloudIaaSaswell.
Mostorganizationsaremulticloudatthepointofprovisioning.Whilemanycustomersusemultiplecloud
IaaSproviders,eachindividualproject(orcomponentofacompositeapplication)istypicallyhostedona
singleprovider.WhileitisrelativelystraightforwardtomoveVMimagesfromonecloudtoanother,truly
hybridmulticloudscenariosarerare.Thetoolstoenabletrue"singlepaneofglass"managementand
seamlessmovementacrossinfrastructureplatformsarenotmature,andtherearesignificantdifferences
incloudIaaSimplementations,evenbetweenprovidersusingthesameunderlyingCMP.Notethatthe
claimthatanecosystemis"open"hasnothingtodowithactualportability.Duetothehighdegreeof
differentiationbetweenproviders,theorganizationsthatusecloudIaaSmosteffectivelywillembrace
cloudnativemanagement,ratherthanallowthelegacyenterpriseenvironmenttodictatetheirchoices.
Thesoftwaredefineddatacenteristhecenterofapartnerecosystem.Programmatic(API)accessto
infrastructureiscrucial,asitenablescustomers,aswellasthirdparties,tobuildmanagementtoolsfor
theirplatforms,andtoenableapplicationstotakemaximumadvantageoftheinfrastructure
environment.Providersneedtofosterrichecosystemsofcapabilities.Whiletheleadingprovidersare
likelytobuildasubstantialnumberofcapabilitiesthemselves,partnerswillextendtherangeoftheir
capabilities,provideoverlaysforcomplexheterogeneousmultivendorenvironments,andadd"stickiness"
totheseplatformsbyofferingtightintegrationsbetweenapplications,middlewareandinfrastructure.
Localsourcingmatterstosomecustomers.Customersnormallyprefertokeepdatainregionforreasons
ofnetworklatency.However,regulatoryconcernsthatrequirekeepingdataincountry,aswellas
revelationsaboutforeignintelligenceagenciesobtainingaccesstoprivatedata,haveheightenedthe
desireofnonU.S.basedcustomerstopurchasecloudIaaSfromlocalproviders.(See"TheSnowden
Effect:DataLocationMatters.")Unfortunately,localproviderstypicallylackthescaleandcapabilitiesof
theglobalproviders,andmayfocusprimarilyonsmallbusinesses,notenterprises.Furthermore,keeping
datalocalisnoguaranteeoffreedomfromeitherdomesticorforeignsurveillance.Itisnevertheless
possiblethatthecloudIaaSmarketsinEuropeandAsiawillbecomehighlyfragmented,whichmayresult
inonlybasic,commoditycapabilitiesbeingavailabletocustomersthatcannotuseaforeignprovider
(evenwhenthatproviderhaslocalpresence).
PubliccloudIaaSprovidesadequatesecurityformostworkloads.Althoughmanysecuritycontrolsarethe
responsibilityofthecustomer,nottheprovider,mostmajorcloudIaaSprovidersofferahighdegreeof
securityontheunderlyingplatform.TransparentencryptionofLAN,WANandstoragewillbecome
increasinglycommonplaceasabundledelementofcloudIaaSofferings,asprovidersreacttodefend
themselvesagainstintrusionfromgovernmententities.
CustomersdonotalwayssavemoneybyusingcloudIaaS.Althoughmanycustomersfirstinvestigate
usingIaaStoachievecostsavings,mostcustomersbuyIaaStoachievegreaterbusinessagilityorto
accessinfrastructurecapabilitiesthattheydonothavewithintheirowndatacenter.IaaScandrive
significantcostsavingswhencustomershaveshortterm,seasonal,disasterrecoveryorbatchcomputing
needs.Itcanalsobeaboontocompanieswithlimitedaccesstocapitalandtosmallcompanies,especially
startups,thatcannotaffordtoinvestininfrastructure(see"CloudComputingCanBetheSingular
SolutionforatLeastFiveUseCases"Note:Thisdocumenthasbeenarchivedsomeofitscontentmay
notreflectcurrentconditions).Forlargerbusinesseswithexistinginternaldatacenters,wellmanaged
virtualizedinfrastructure,efficientIToperationsteamsandahighdegreeofautomation,IaaSforsteady
stateworkloadsisoftennolessexpensive,andmaybemoreexpensive,thananinternalprivatecloud.
Thelessefficientyourorganization,themorelikelyyouaretosavemoneybyusingacloudprovider,
especiallyifyoutakeadvantageofthisopportunitytostreamlineandautomateyouroperations.The
largestscaleprovidersarecontinuallyloweringtheirprices,andautomatedmanagedserviceswill
substantiallydrivedownthecostofinfrastructuremanagementovertime,socostadvantageswill
continuetoaccruetotheproviders.
Government(Federal)Context
19May2015
Analyst(s):LydiaLeong
20/22
6/12/2015
SomecloudIaaSprovidersoffersolutionsspecificallydesignedforU.S.federalgovernmentcustomers.
MarketDifferentiators
Acloudinfrastructureasaservice(IaaS)solutiondesignedforU.S.federalgovernmentcustomers
("federalIaaS")isexpectedtobeFederalRiskandAuthorizationManagementProgram(FedRAMP)
compliant.U.S.federalgovernmententitiesaresupposedtouseFedRAMPcompliantsolutions,butin
practice,theydonotalwaysdoso.
BecausetheFedRAMPcertificationprocessislengthy,providersmaybeintheprocessofcertification.
CloudIaaSprovidersexistinallthreeformsofFedRAMPcomplianceJointAccreditationBoard
ProvisionalAuthoritytoOperate(JABPATO),agencyATO,andsecurityassessmentpackage("CSP
SuppliedPackage")assessedbyaFedRAMPaccreditedThirdPartyAssessmentOrganization(3PAO)and
allformsofcomplianceareconsideredvalidforfederalIaaS.Someotherprovidersmaynotwantto
undertaketheeffortandexpenseofanATO,butmayhavesolutionsthatmeettheFedRAMP
requirementsnote,however,thatthesesolutionsarenotconsideredFedRAMPcompliant.Because
FedRAMPistheexpectedstandardinthismarket,butacquiringanATOisadifficult,expensiveand
lengthyprocess,thenumberoffederalIaaSprovidersislimited.
NotethatsomecloudIaaSprovidershaveaverybroadsolution,whichmayincludeplatformasaservice
(PaaS)capabilities.A3PAOmaynothaveassessedeverythingintheirportfolios,butproviderswill
normallybespecificaboutwhichpartsoftheirsolutionhavebeenreviewedbya3PAO.
FederalIaaSsolutionsnormallyadheretoInternationalTrafficinArmsRegulations(ITAR)restrictions.
SomeprovidersarealsoFederalInformationSecurityManagementAct(FISMA)Moderateaccredited.
SomehavealsoreceivedauthorizationundertheDepartmentofDefense(DoD)CloudSecurityModel
(CSM).FederalIaaSisoften,butnotalways,deliveredfromdatacentersthatarespecificallyfor
governmentcustomers.Whensuchsolutionsarehostedinthesamedatacentersasareusedfor
commercialcustomers,thefederalIaaSsolutionsareusuallyphysicallyandlogicallysegregatedfromthe
commercialsolutions.ThesefederalsolutionsarenormallyoperatedbyU.S.basedpersonnel.
UseoffederalIaaSsolutionsisnormallyrestrictedtoU.S.federalgovernmentcustomers,butinmost
cases,contractorsandotherthirdpartiesperformingworkonbehalfofgovernmentagenciescanalsouse
them.Notably,SaaSproviderswithgovernmentcustomersareoftenallowedtousethesesolutions.
StateandlocalgovernmententitiesareusuallynotpermittedtousefederalIaaSsolutions,althoughthis
variesbyprovideritistheproviderthatdecideswhichcustomersarepermittedinthecommunity
cloud.SuchentitiesmayneedtofindcommercialcloudIaaSsolutionsinstead.Inmostcases,customers
useCriminalJusticeInformationServicesDivision(CJIS)complianceasaproxyfordeterminingwhethera
cloudIaaSofferingcanadequatelymeetgovernmentsecurityrequirements.
ConsiderationsforTechnologyandServiceSelection
GovernmentorganizationscontemplatingtheuseofcloudIaaSshouldpaycarefulattentiontobimodalIT
requirements.GovernmentITpersonnelfrequentlyhaveacautiousmindsetandatendencytooperate
onlyMode1reliableIT,buttheyincreasinglyfaceagiledemandsthatarebetterservedwithMode2IT.
GovernmentITorganizationsoftenattempttosourcecloudIaaSinaMode1fashion,eveniftheprimary
needisagilitysuchanapproachisunlikelytofullysatisfyusers.Conversely,governmentIT
organizationsthataretryingtodriveMode1orientedcostreductionsneedtosourcedifferentlythan
thosewhoseprimaryneedisagilityandtransformation.Whenselectinganoffering,itisvitaltokeep
bimodalrequirementsinmind.
GovernmentcustomersshouldbecarefultodistinguishbetweencloudIaaSandmoretraditionalformsof
outsourcing.Manysocalled"cloud"solutionsthataremarketedtogovernmententitiesaresimply
"cloudwashed"outsourcingtheyoftencomewithlongtermcontracts,withrelativelyinflexiblecapacity
constraints,andlacktheautomationandindustrializationoftruecloudIaaSofferings(formoredetails,
see"Don'tBeFooledByOfferingsFalselyMasqueradingasCloudInfrastructureasaService").
SomegovernmentcustomersfinditdifficulttocontractdirectlywithcloudIaaSproviders,dueto
governmentacquisitionrules.Therearethirdpartycloudservicebrokeragesusuallymanagedservice
providers(MSPs)andsystemintegrators(SIs),suchasAccenture,Datapipe,SmartronixandUnisys
thatresellmajorcloudIaaSproviders'solutions,andthattypicallyaddsignificantvalueaswelltheseare
probablythebestchoiceforgovernmententitiesthatneedabrokeredsolution.Thereareotherbrokers
thatmayaddlittleornovalue,butarewillingtoresellamajorcloudIaaSprovider'ssolutionwhile
offeringmuchmoreattractivecontractterms,usuallywithfarhigherliabilitycaps.Government
customersshouldbewareofsuchresellersastheyfrequentlylackthefinancialsolvencytofulfilltheir
obligations.Governmentcustomersmayalsowanttobuythroughan8(a)companyinordertofulfill
procurementobligationsagain,theyshouldbecareful,assuchresellersoftenmarkupthepricewithout
addingvalue.
NotableVendors
VendorsincludedinthisMagicQuadrantPerspectivehavecustomersthataresuccessfullyusingtheir
productsandservices.SelectionsarebasedonanalystopinionandreferencesthatvalidateITprovider
claimshowever,thisisnotanexhaustivelistoranalysisofvendorsinthismarket.Usethisperspective
asaresourceforevaluations,butexplorethemarketfurthertogaugetheabilityofeachvendorto
addressyouruniquebusinessproblemsandtechnicalconcerns.Considerthisresearchaspartofyourdue
diligenceandinconjunctionwithdiscussionswithGartneranalystsandotherresources.
AmazonWebServices
AWS'sGovCloudisanAWSregionlocatedinOregon.ItisacommunityclouddedicatedtotheU.S.federal
government,includingcontractors,thirdpartiesandSaaSprovidersprovidingservicestofederal
customers.IthasaFedRAMPagencyATOfromtheDepartmentofHealthandHumanServices,aswellas
aDoDCSMLevel35ProvisionalAuthorization.ItadherestoITARregulations.Itcanbeusedfor
workloadsthatmustadheretoCJISrequirements.MostAWSservicesareavailableinGovCloud,though
onlythecoreserviceshavebeenassessedbya3PAO.
AWShasthelargestmarketshareincloudIaaSforgovernmentcustomers.Itservesfederalcustomers
21/22
6/12/2015
bothinGovCloudanditscommercialregions.Italsoservesasignificantcustomerbaseofstateandlocal
customersfromitscommercialregions.AWShasarichecosystemofpartners,andmanygovernment
customersadoptAWSthroughanMSPorSI.
Carpathia
VMwarevCloudGovernmentService(vCGS)providedbyCarpathiaisapartnershipbetweenVMwareand
Carpathiatoprovideagovernmentcommunitycloud.TherearetwovCGSdatacenters,oneinNorthern
VirginiaandoneinArizona.vCGShasaFedRAMPJABPATO,andcanbeusedforworkloadsthatmust
adheretoCJISrequirements.NotethatthisserviceusesthesamearchitectureasVMware'sownvCloud
Airandmustmeetthesamequalitymetrics,butitisstilladistinctserviceoperatedbyaVMwarepartner,
notVMwareitself.Carpathiahasalonghistoryasamanagedhostingproviderforgovernmentcustomers.
Microsoft
MicrosoftAzureGovernmentCloudisacommunitycloudforU.S.federal,stateandlocalgovernment
customers,aswellasqualifiedpartnersservingthoseentities.Therearetworegions,oneinNorthern
VirginiaandoneinIowa.CompletionofaFedRAMPJABPATOisexpectedinMay2015.Itcanbeusedfor
workloadsthatmustadheretoCJISrequirements.ManyAzureservicesareavailableintheAzure
GovernmentCloud,althoughthenewer,higherperformingcomputeinstancetypesarenotyetavailable
intheseregions.ThemainMicrosoftAzureservicealsohasaFedRAMPJABPATO,althoughonlyasubset
ofAzureserviceshasbeenassessedbya3PAO.
Microsofthasbeenaggressivelypursuinggovernmentcustomers,especiallystatecustomers.Thereare
manywaysinwhichgovernmentcustomerscanpurchaseAzureservices,whicheaseswhatis
sometimesacomplexprocurementprocess.
Verizon
Verizon'sEnterpriseCloud:FederalEditionisacommunitycloudforU.S.federalgovernmentcustomers.
ItisbasedontheTerremarkEnterpriseClouditisnotpartofVerizonCloud.ItisdeployedinNorthern
Virginia,andhasanagencyATOfromtheDepartmentofHealthandHumanServices.
Virtustream
Virtustream'sFederalManagedCloudServices(FMCS)isacommunitycloudforU.S.federalgovernment
customers.ItissimilartoVirtustream'sEnterpriseCloud,withNorthernVirginiaandSanFranciscobased
isolateddeploymentsofVirtustream'sxStreamplatform.VirtustreamexpectstoreceiveaFedRAMPJAB
PATOinMay2015.FMCScanbeusedforworkloadsthatmustadheretoCJISrequirements.Inaddition,
Virtustream'sViewTrustsolutioncanbeusedforcontinuousmonitoringandondemandcompliance
reporting.
2015Gartner,Inc.and/oritsaffiliates.Allrightsreserved.GartnerisaregisteredtrademarkofGartner,Inc.oritsaffiliates.Thispublicationmaynotbe
reproducedordistributedinanyformwithoutGartnerspriorwrittenpermission.Ifyouareauthorizedtoaccessthispublication,youruseofitissubjecttothe
UsageGuidelinesforGartnerServicespostedongartner.com.Theinformationcontainedinthispublicationhasbeenobtainedfromsourcesbelievedtobereliable.
Gartnerdisclaimsallwarrantiesastotheaccuracy,completenessoradequacyofsuchinformationandshallhavenoliabilityforerrors,omissionsorinadequacies
insuchinformation.ThispublicationconsistsoftheopinionsofGartnersresearchorganizationandshouldnotbeconstruedasstatementsoffact.Theopinions
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adviceorservicesanditsresearchshouldnotbeconstruedorusedassuch.Gartnerisapubliccompany,anditsshareholdersmayincludefirmsandfundsthat
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Magic Quadrant For Cloud Infrastructure As A Service Worldwide

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