When it comes to going after large enterprises, Microsoft has nearly closed the gap with Amazon's market-dominating cloud.
That's according to IT company Flexera, which on Tuesday released its annual "State of the Cloud" report, which surveyed 750 cloud decision-makers and users on the topic of their platforms of choice.
According to the report, 93% of respondents from large enterprises are either using, experimenting with, or plan to use Amazon Web Services. By comparison, 92% of respondents are doing the same with Microsoft Azure. (Many companies use, or plan to use, multiple clouds, which is why it adds up well above 100%.)
That being said, 76% are currently using AWS, in comparison with the 69% using Azure. As for Google Cloud, it has seen the fastest growth in adoption among enterprises, rising 70% since last year's survey.
Among small and medium sized businesses, AWS still has a clear lead. 74% of respondents are using AWS, compared to 46% using Azure and 37% using Google Cloud. Adoption rates of AWS and Google Cloud also grew significantly faster than Azure, although Google Cloud still trails behind Azure in adoption.
That being said, small- and medium- sized businesses seem interested in trying out Microsoft and Google Cloud. 34% of respondents are experimenting with or plan to use Azure, followed closely by Google Cloud at 33%.
Since AWS was the first major cloud provider on the market, it's frequently seen as the platform of choice for organizations that were quick to the cloud. Of those early cloud users, 83% use AWS, 66% use Microsoft, and 41% use Google Cloud. But for beginners, Azure has higher adoption, with 56% of these users picking Microsoft over 44% picking AWS and 19% picking Google Cloud.
While Google Cloud is in third place for cloud beginners and veterans, its popularity increased by 41% for cloud veterans.
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