Amazon and Microsoft dominate European cloud infrastructure market, shows Synergy Research

The extent of Amazon and Microsoft’s dominant dual-hold on the European cloud infrastructure services market is laid bare in Synergy Research Group’s latest quarterly tracker data.

Its research shows that that, despite the cultural and economic differences that exist between the various countries within Europe, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the leading cloud provider within every country, and Microsoft is always in second place, based on revenue.   

Outside of the top two, there are a mix of global tech giants and local cloud providers vying for the number three spot, but very few stand a chance of breaking the hold that AWS and Microsoft have on IT buyers across the continent, according to Synergy.

“Behind these two there is a jostling for position, but more often than not Google places third. Other contenders in Europe that are also global players include IBM, Rackspace, Salesforce, Oracle and SAP,” said John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy.  

“Their main competition comes from local players who are often active primarily in one country, including the major telcos and local IT service providers. This group includes Deutsche Telekom, OVH, Orange, KPN, Swisscom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, British Telecom, Claranet and iomart.”

Across the continent, the revenue raised by these cloud infrastructure players topped $6bn in the first quarter of 2020, and the market is growing collectively at a rate of 38%, said Synergy.

The UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands are called out in Synergy’s data as being the four largest consumers of cloud infrastructure services, with these four countries collectively accounting for 63% of the revenue generated through cloud sales.

“Other countries in the top ten are Italy, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium and Russia,” said Synergy.

While Europe remains a much smaller market than the US for cloud infrastructure services, it is growing at a much faster pace, but that is down to the performance of the largest players in the market rather than any thing those outside of the top six providers are up to, according to Synergy’s data. 

“Similar to the US and most of the APAC region, Amazon and Microsoft are the clear market leaders in Europe, both for the region as a whole and in each of the major European country markets,” said Dinsdale.

“Behind the top two, the battle is being played out between Google, IBM, other smaller global cloud providers and some major local telcos and IT service providers.

“There is no shortage of companies fighting for a share of the market, but across the region as a whole the top six cloud providers control three-quarters of the market and their share has been increasing.

“Given the importance of scale, global presence and deep pockets, it will be difficult for any of the smaller cloud providers to change that picture,” Dinsdale added.