{"id":816,"date":"2016-01-20T10:43:51","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T15:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/?p=816"},"modified":"2018-07-05T16:59:57","modified_gmt":"2018-07-05T20:59:57","slug":"gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/","title":{"rendered":"Gartner: Take Cloud Vendors’ Revenue Claims With a Grain of Salt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gartner_CloudRev_800\"There\u2019s no doubt that size matters in the public IaaS cloud market. Total data centers, total regions covered, and total compute capacity are all important metrics when comparing cloud vendors<\/a>, but what about that oft-touted, rarely explained magic number: cloud revenue. Is revenue a reliable metric for evaluating vendors? Probably not, according to a recent report from market research and analysis firm Gartner, Inc., \u201cVendor Cloud Revenue Claims\u2014Should Enterprises Care?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

A little background: There are three \u2018hyperscale\u2019 (that\u2019s analyst-talk for dominant) public cloud service providers (CSPs): Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Of those three, Amazon is widely recognized as the largest, most dominant market force\u2014AWS raked in $5.16 billion in 2014, and\u00a0according\u00a0to Gartner’s 2015 Cloud IaaS Magic Quadrant report, AWS boasts over 10 times more cloud IaaS compute capacity than the next 14 top providers combined.<\/p>\n

With competition like that, it\u2019s no surprise that CSPs are often doing anything they can to make themselves look bigger. Some vendors, like Azure, have taken the a physical approach, arguing that their global region coverage exceeds the competition\u2019s, whilst others have pointed to strong revenues<\/a>, as if to tell customers and investors \u201clook, we\u2019re making lots of money with this cloud thing, so we must be doing something right!\u201d<\/p>\n

Thing is, those revenue numbers are, ahem, cloudy<\/em> at best.<\/p>\n

Vendors announce big cloud revenues, but because they often don\u2019t offer split numbers for their wide-ranging and disparate \u2018cloud\u2019 plays, so it can be hard to know where exactly that money is coming from, and whether their pure-play cloud business is as healthy as it may seem.<\/p>\n

IBM, for example,\u00a0 claimed \u201cUS$9.4 billion in cloud revenue over the trailing 12 months,\u201d says Gartner, but Big Blue also claims an annual run rate of US$4.5 billion in “as a service,” without any word on the difference between the two.<\/p>\n

Microsoft also claims big cloud revenues\u2014$8.2B a year, approximately\u2014but Redmond isn\u2019t exactly upfront with their cloud numbers. Revenue for Microsoft\u2019s Office 365 goes under the cloud umbrella, even though it can include sales for Office products on desktop or mobile. Those desktop and mobile products offer cloud-connected features, but they are in no way strictly cloud, and there\u2019s no guarantee that cloud features such as OneDrive are even being utilized.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Oracle, whose founder Larry Ellison famously derided<\/a> cloud computing as \u201cnonsensical.\u201d Less than a year after announcing the new \u201cOracle Cloud\u201d strategy, the company has already found a way to characterize the leasing of computing hardware as IaaS, according to Gartner\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

The bottom line? Don\u2019t let vendors impress you\u00a0with big numbers.<\/p>\n

Gartner recommends that \u201cCIOs direct their organizations to never take vendor cloud revenue at face value.\u201d Instead, says Gartner, cloud vendors should be evaluated on their \u201cstrategy and service mix.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you can’t completely ignore revenue\u2014you need to make sure that any vendor you partner with is running a viable business\u2014therefore, Gartner suggests that customers carefully\u00a0question vendors when presented with revenue as an indicator of success.<\/p>\n

Gartner recommends asking which revenue is generated by vendors’ pure-play IaaS or PaaS offerings, as opposed\u00a0to revenue generated by cloud enabling technologies, consulting and professional services, \u00a0and hosting or managed hosting\u00a0services. Additionally, Gartner instructs buyers to determine if any noncloud services are included in cloud revenue, and how much of a vendor’s cloud business is actually being deployed, versus cloud shelfware bundled with traditional products.<\/p>\n

\u00a0
Widget not in any sidebars
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no doubt that size matters in the public IaaS cloud market. Total data centers, total regions covered, and total compute capacity are all important metrics when comparing cloud vendors, but what about that oft-touted, rarely explained magic number: cloud revenue. Is revenue a reliable metric for evaluating vendors? Probably not, according to a recent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[184,42,76,242],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGartner: Take Cloud Vendors' Revenue Claims With a Grain of Salt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gartner recommends that \u201cCIOs direct their organizations to never take vendor cloud revenue at face value.\u201d Instead, says Gartner, cloud vendors should be evaluated on their \u201cstrategy and service mix.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeff Edwards\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/\",\"name\":\"Gartner: Take Cloud Vendors' Revenue Claims With a Grain of Salt\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/files\/2016\/01\/Gartner_CloudRev_800.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-20T15:43:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-05T20:59:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#\/schema\/person\/3d31b4b6a777a91476a65c087be260e6\"},\"description\":\"Gartner recommends that \u201cCIOs direct their organizations to never take vendor cloud revenue at face value.\u201d Instead, says Gartner, cloud vendors should be evaluated on their \u201cstrategy and service mix.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/files\/2016\/01\/Gartner_CloudRev_800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/files\/2016\/01\/Gartner_CloudRev_800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gartner: Take Cloud Vendors’ Revenue Claims With a Grain of Salt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/\",\"name\":\"Cloud Platforms & Infrastructure Services | Solutions Review\",\"description\":\"Evaluating Hyperscale Cloud Providers, Hybrid IaaS, PaaS & Cloud Management Tools.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#\/schema\/person\/3d31b4b6a777a91476a65c087be260e6\",\"name\":\"Jeff Edwards\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8471d2b63e0587b41d829ecc153ba8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8471d2b63e0587b41d829ecc153ba8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeff Edwards\"},\"description\":\"Jeff Edwards is an enterprise technology writer and analyst covering Identity Management, SIEM, Endpoint Protection, and Cybersecurity writ large. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and previously worked as a reporter covering Boston City Hall.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/InfoSec_Review\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/author\/jedwards\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gartner: Take Cloud Vendors' Revenue Claims With a Grain of Salt","description":"Gartner recommends that \u201cCIOs direct their organizations to never take vendor cloud revenue at face value.\u201d Instead, says Gartner, cloud vendors should be evaluated on their \u201cstrategy and service mix.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeff Edwards","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/","url":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/","name":"Gartner: Take Cloud Vendors' Revenue Claims With a Grain of Salt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/files\/2016\/01\/Gartner_CloudRev_800.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-20T15:43:51+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-05T20:59:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#\/schema\/person\/3d31b4b6a777a91476a65c087be260e6"},"description":"Gartner recommends that \u201cCIOs direct their organizations to never take vendor cloud revenue at face value.\u201d Instead, says Gartner, cloud vendors should be evaluated on their \u201cstrategy and service mix.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/files\/2016\/01\/Gartner_CloudRev_800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/files\/2016\/01\/Gartner_CloudRev_800.jpg","width":800,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/gartner-take-cloud-vendors-revenue-claims-with-a-grain-of-salt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gartner: Take Cloud Vendors’ Revenue Claims With a Grain of Salt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#website","url":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/","name":"Cloud Platforms & Infrastructure Services | Solutions Review","description":"Evaluating Hyperscale Cloud Providers, Hybrid IaaS, PaaS & Cloud Management Tools.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#\/schema\/person\/3d31b4b6a777a91476a65c087be260e6","name":"Jeff Edwards","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8471d2b63e0587b41d829ecc153ba8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8471d2b63e0587b41d829ecc153ba8e7?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Jeff Edwards"},"description":"Jeff Edwards is an enterprise technology writer and analyst covering Identity Management, SIEM, Endpoint Protection, and Cybersecurity writ large. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and previously worked as a reporter covering Boston City Hall.","sameAs":["https:\/\/solutionsreview.com","https:\/\/x.com\/InfoSec_Review"],"url":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/author\/jedwards\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/cloud-platforms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}