Cloud Computing Insider

Traditional technology analyst firms are facing growing skepticism from enterprises, especially after Gartner's recent miss in its financial targets. For decades, these firms have shaped cloud computing and technology decisions, but their legacy is marred by a long history of biased and often inaccurate advice. The perception of "pay-to-play" ratings—where vendors may need to pay for favorable positions in reports—has eroded trust in the objectivity of their recommendations. Furthermore, analyst-led conferences are costly, frequently delivering more sales pitches than genuine strategic value, making enterprises question their return on investment.

Many companies can point to high-profile blunders and missed calls by these firms over the years, with some predictions leading to costly mistakes and failed technology adoptions. The rapid pace of technological change now means that real-time, community feedback and direct industry experience offer more reliable guidance than delayed analyst research. Enterprises are increasingly sourcing insights from peer networks and internal expertise, bypassing the need for expensive outside advisors.

While AI now offers objective, real-time data to aid cloud decisions, the larger issue is that the traditional analyst model no longer serves the needs of modern enterprises. The time has come to reconsider their role in critical technology strategy.

Are you eager to build cutting-edge projects in the cloud—but don't want to risk surprise charges? In this video, we take a deep dive into today's top public cloud providers with free tiers, giving you the power to innovate, learn, and experiment without spending a single dollar. Discover how Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Oracle Cloud, and IBM Cloud all offer generous truly free resources—from virtual machines and databases to AI and machine learning tools.

We'll break down how to sign up for each platform's free tier, which specific services you can access at no cost, and the vital steps you must take to make sure your account always stays in the clear. Perfect for developers, students, founders, and tinkerers, you'll gain expert tips on using only the designated free resources, setting up billing alerts, and watching your quotas to avoid hidden fees. If you want hands-on access to world-class cloud infrastructure without the worry of an unexpected bill, this guide is for you. Start building, prototyping, and launching your dreams—100% free!

Regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of cloud pricing, focusing on egress fees and switching friction that keep customers locked in. Across the EU, UK, and US, momentum is building for rules that require portability, interoperability, and fair exit terms. Expect enforceable rights to exit and interoperate as the default.

For enterprises, this is a strategic opening. Cloud economics will shift from "discounts for lock-in" to "freedom to move," altering negotiation leverage, FinOps assumptions, and resilience planning. Now is the time to harden exit rights in contracts, quantify egress exposure, and run switch drills. Architect for portability by default: containerize compute, externalize state, adopt open table formats, and avoid proprietary services where practical. Align governance so legal, procurement, security, and platform engineering share an exit‑readiness playbook and timelines.

Teams that act early will turn compliance into advantage—unlocking multi‑cloud optionality, better pricing, and stronger resilience without last‑minute scrambles. Those that wait may meet new rules with brittle architectures and unfavorable terms. Portability is becoming policy, and strategy should follow.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to lead the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) market, but its dominance is shrinking as competitors like Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud gain ground. According to Gartner, AWS held a 37.7% market share in 2024, generating $64.8 billion in revenue. However, this marks a slight decline from its 39% share the previous year. Meanwhile, Microsoft's share grew to 23.9%, with Google Cloud rising to 9%—indicative of a rapidly shifting competitive landscape.

Investment in AI infrastructure is emerging as a key differentiator among hyperscalers. Providers like AWS, Microsoft, and Google are prioritizing AI-optimized IaaS offerings to address growing enterprise demand, though AI remains a small portion of current revenues. Additionally, enterprises are increasingly adopting multi-cloud solutions to enhance flexibility, data sovereignty, and modernization efforts.

AWS faces challenges beyond competition, including regulatory scrutiny. In the UK, both AWS and Microsoft are under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for dominating the local cloud market, commanding a combined 70% share.

As the global IaaS market grows—rising 22.5% year-on-year to $171.8 billion—innovative, AI-driven solutions, and adaptability to regulatory and competitive pressures will determine the future of AWS and its rivals. The race for cloud dominance is far from over.

In a world that syncs by default, your data rarely lives in one place—it's copied across apps, cloud providers, backups, and content networks, often crossing borders. That expands who could potentially see it: the service itself, infrastructure vendors, third‑party processors, and, with proper orders, law enforcement. Jurisdiction matters because laws like the U.S. CLOUD Act and EU GDPR shape access and obligations, so choose region‑locked storage and review government‑request and data‑location policies. If content isn't end‑to‑end encrypted (E2EE), assume the provider could read it despite "encrypted at rest" claims. Prefer E2EE for chats, files, and passwords to keep only you and intended recipients in the loop. Strengthen defaults to shrink exposure: enable passkeys or 2FA, set sharing to invite‑only, disable auto‑sync for sensitive folders, and use expiring links. Minimize what you upload, strip photo location data, and pick local‑first or E2EE apps for personal items. At home, use a password manager, full‑disk encryption, automatic updates, the 3‑2‑1 backup rule, quarterly permission reviews, and routine pruning of old cloud data and shared links. At work, separate identities, keep data in approved apps, enforce named‑person sharing and least‑access by default, schedule deletion of stale files/recordings, and document region, owner, and retention. Privacy by default turns safer choices into the easy choices—without giving up the convenience of sync.

In today's digital landscape, the trust between enterprises and public cloud providers is being redefined—and not for the better. As global politics become more complex, major cloud vendors like Microsoft are increasingly stepping in as unofficial enforcers of international law, rather than remaining neutral technology partners. The recent case involving Nayara Energy, an Indian oil refiner, is a stark example: Microsoft abruptly cut access to its cloud email and collaboration tools after the EU imposed sanctions, acting swiftly to comply with the new regulations. For Nayara, the decision was a business shock, with critical operations suddenly at risk—despite no wrongdoing under Indian law.

This watershed moment illustrates a growing anxiety among enterprises worldwide: if a cloud provider can terminate services or seize data at the behest of a foreign government, is any business truly in control of its own information? Legal uncertainties and ethical dilemmas abound, especially as statutes like the U.S. CLOUD Act grant American authorities unprecedented reach over data, regardless of borders. The fallout is clear: more organizations are embracing sovereign and private clouds, seeking local providers and hybrid models that promise greater autonomy and less risk of external interference. In this new reality, cloud trust must be earned—never assumed.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has revealed a 17.5% revenue increase for the June quarter, which, while surpassing Wall Street expectations, is considerably less than the growth rates reported by its competitors, Microsoft Azure at 39% and Google Cloud at 32%. This discrepancy highlights concerns regarding AWS's competitive position, particularly in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite AWS's substantial capital expenditures of $31.4 billion in the last quarter, which are more than its rivals, the financial results suggest that these investments may not be yielding the expected growth.

Additionally, AWS's margins contracted to 32.9%, the lowest since late 2023, indicating growing operational pressures. CEO Andy Jassy remained optimistic during the earnings call, asserting it is still "very early days" in the AI race and emphasizing that AWS's larger infrastructure will position the company favorably once capacity constraints ease. However, the market reacted negatively, leading to a 7% drop in Amazon shares that could potentially erase around $170 billion from its market value.

Are dedicated servers making a comeback in the age of cloud dominance? In this video, we dive into the surprising findings of a recent Liquid Web study, which reveals a growing shift in IT infrastructure choices. Despite the widespread adoption of cloud platforms, 86% of IT professionals report continued reliance on dedicated servers for critical workloads. Why? It comes down to control, cost predictability, and compliance.

We investigate why 42% of organizations have moved workloads from the cloud back to dedicated servers in the past year, fueled by frustrations over rising, unexpected cloud costs—sometimes as high as $25,000—and underutilized features. From government agencies seeking robust compliance to finance and IT industries needing data security and uptime, we'll explore the industries leading this trend and discuss why dedicated hardware remains essential for performance-intensive workloads.

Discover how major cloud providers—AWS, Microsoft, and Google—are turning artificial intelligence into a marketing gimmick, driving up costs without delivering the real value enterprises crave. In this video, David Linthicum breaks down why tech giants are relentlessly hyping generative and agentic AI, but falling short on meaningful innovation that actually benefits business. With cloud-based AI services often costing three to five times more than on-premise solutions, many enterprises are becoming frustrated, skeptical, and increasingly vocal in their pushback.

David explores how the rapid shift in messaging from infrastructure and architecture to non-stop AI promotion is alienating decision-makers and practitioners. He exposes why so many recent cloud conferences feel more like AI infomercials, while the true needs of enterprises—cost control, practical integration, and measurable business outcomes—are ignored. Ultimately, David argues that unless cloud leaders move beyond surface-level hype and invest in genuine, customer-driven innovation, they'll risk missing the greatest tech market opportunity of our time.

In a recent article from ITPro Today, new research from Deloitte sheds light on the pressing challenges organizations face as they adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations. As businesses increasingly turn to cloud solutions for their AI needs, they are often unprepared for the skyrocketing costs that come with it. The research uncovers a critical inflection point: when public cloud AI expenses hit 60-70% of the total ownership costs for dedicated infrastructure, organizations find themselves at a tipping point where shifting to private cloud solutions often becomes more sensible.

This rapid evolution from modest AI experiments to significant infrastructure challenges reveals a stark reality; the cloud's initial accessibility can quickly lead to budget constraints as workloads grow more demanding. Meanwhile, technological advancements such as AI-specific processors, including NPUs and TPUs, are changing the landscape of what is possible, necessitating a reevaluation of existing IT setups.