Cloud computing companies are all the rage these days. From Wall Street to Main Street, it seems like everyone is talking about “The Cloud” and the incredible potential for growth held by firms that specialize in this revolutionary technology. By offering clients the ability to address all of their computing needs through the use of a service instead of products, these companies are tearing down old paradigms and making it easier for both small businesses and large corporations to implement new business models that are easily scalable, more reliable and, best of all, less expensive to maintain than their predecessors.
Who are the Top 10 Cloud Computing Companies?
If you’re a business owner and are thinking about joining the Cloud Revolution, you may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of cloud computing companies that offer services. In the past several years, this number has steadily multiplied, and will continue to do so for years to come. So, which companies are considered to be the leaders in this market you might ask? The following list represents what most industry insiders consider to be the Top 10 cloud computing companies as of 2011.
Amazon Web Services
The cloud computing industry leader in the opinion of most experts, Amazon has consistently outranked the competition in both innovation and customer service over the past two years.
Verizon (Terremark)
With the acquisition of Terremark, Verizon was able to expand its cloud services portfolio into the enterprise market and transform itself into, potentially, the biggest provider in the industry.
IBM
Thanks to a focused commitment to expanding its cloud services menu, long-time IT behemoth IBM has been busy eating up a massive chunk of the enterprise market this year.
Salesforce.com
Already highly successful in the Software as a Service market, Salesforce.com guaranteed itself a continued place at the big boys’ table for the foreseeable future when it acquired Platform as a Service giant Heroku.
CSC
Specializing in IT integrations, CSC recently launched BizCloud – a unique private cloud service that integrates Infrastructure as a Service into your legacy IT system and interlinks it with Software as a Service providers.
Rackspace
Ranking second only to the mighty Amazon in cloud-based revenue, Rackspace is poised to remain with the pack leaders thanks to its recent acquisition of cloud management technology specialist Cloudkick.
The undisputed king of search engines spent the first half of 2011 adding attractive features to its Google App Engine service in a bid to win a greater share of the enterprise market.
BlueLock
When it pioneered a breakthrough improvement in vCloud resources for VMware, BlueLock immediately established itself as one of the leading VCE providers in the world.
Microsoft
Enjoying tremendous success with its Azure cloud service, Microsoft owns a significant share of the cloud services market among mobile companies, web companies and social networking firms.
Joyent
Teaming up with Dell to create pre-configured, ready-out-of-the-box cloud infrastructure packages, Joyent has positioned itself as a leader in private cloud technology.
Cloud Computing Companies – Which One is Right for You?
When choosing a cloud computing provider, it is important to realize that no company is considered to be “the best” at providing every type of cloud computing service. Instead, each firm tends to specialize in either Cloud Management, Infrastructure as a Service, or Platform as a Service. Being aware of this fact, and your business’ requirements, will help you to find cloud computing companies that are the best at providing the specific service your company needs.