Some Companies Choose Microsoft's Cloud Service Because They're Afraid of Amazon (cnbc.com)

"In the cloud wars, Microsoft has been able to win big business from retailers, largely because companies like Walmart, Kroger, Gap and Target are opting not to write big checks to rival Amazon," reports CNBC: The more Amazon grows, the more that calculation could start working its way into other industries -- like automotive. In a recent interview with CNBC, Volkswagen's Heiko Huttel, who runs the company's connected car division, said the carmaker chose Microsoft Azure late last year for its "Automotive Cloud" project after considering Amazon Web Services... "If I take a look at all the competitors out there, you see they have capabilities in disrupting you at the customer interface," Hüttel said. "Then you have to carefully choose who is really getting down into the car, where you open up a lot of data to these people, and then you have to carefully choose with whom you are doing business."

Microsoft likes to tout the merits of its cloud technology, but the company is fully aware that taking on AWS, which has a commanding lead in the cloud infrastructure market, isn't just about offering the best services... Microsoft doesn't break out Azure revenue, but analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate that it accounted for almost 10 percent of sales in the latest quarter.

Comments

Ethics do matter

[Anonymous Coward]

I run a small business, with about 20 employees. We use Microsoft Azure because for our needs there is virtually no difference in service, I like how Azure more easily integrates with Office 365 apps we use, but there's another reason there too. I have known people who worked at Amazon and hate it. I don't approve of how they treat their employees; that is the antithesis of the culture I am trying to build in my own company.

And to be honest, it's the same with Lyft and Uber. While in some cases a rental car is more expensive than Uber and Lyft, I told my staff I will happily reimburse for a rental car but not for ride-sharing. I think Uber and Lyft both are undermining worker protections while making their revenue by skirting municipal transportation law and Uber's management staff ethics problems is the exact opposite of how i run my company. I'd rather my staff pays more and rents a car or takes a taxi.

While we're small and that's my own choice on things, to be fair these companies do not publicly act like good members of society and at least for some business owners like myself that's now how I want to do things. I'll put my business first and work with a company I don't agree with if that's the only choice that i have, but in today's markets there's rarely so few choices that you have to work with someone you despise.

Re:Aaaaaand they're stupid

[Solandri]

Not buying cloud services from Amazon is NOT going to keep them from disrupting your business or intruding on your business.

Actually it will/did. Until the last couple years, AWS was what was keeping Amazon afloat. Amazon's online retail business was losing money. So Amazon was using profit from AWS to bolster and support their online store. Their online store is finally beginning to make some profit, but the bulk of their operating income continues to come from AWS. It made more money than their store last year, despite having less than 1/8th the revenue.

So it would've been stupid for competing online stores to use AWS. They would've literally been bankrolling their competition. I get what you're saying about picking the best product. It works when the company you're paying keeps financial and operational separation between their divisions (e.g. Samsung Semiconductor giving preferential treatment to Apple over Samsung Mobile because Apple was paying them more). But Amazon was literally using money made by AWS to bankroll the growth of the Amazon store.