Microsoft Azure continues to gain ground on AWS, according to report

Source: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images for Microsoft

What you need to know

Flexera, a value-optimizing IT solutions company, has released its Flexera 2022 State of the Cloud Report.
The report collects late-2021 survey responses of 753 cloud decision-makers from around the world with regards to the cloud market.
The survey notes that Azure is making gains compared to last year's results.

Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are constantly vying for the attention of cloud decision-makers, and a new annual report release offers a window of insight into what said decision-makers are choosing for their organizations.

Flexera, a company focused on technology value optimization, has released its Flexera 2022 State of the Cloud Report (via The Register). In it, the late-2021 responses of 753 cloud-focused decision-makers paint a picture of what the current cloud market looks like. Though 753 respondents are nowhere near enough to concretely, accurately determine what the big picture looks like, the following figures do offer data worth acknowledging when assessing overall cloud market optics and the positions of Azure and AWS therein.

According to the report, small to midsized businesses (SMBs) still tend to gravitate toward AWS, though adoption was down from 72% the previous year to 69% as of survey time. Azure, meanwhile, went from 48% to 59%. Enterprise usage saw Azure pull ahead of AWS. 80% of enterprise respondents went with Azure compared to 76% the year before, while Amazon dipped down to 77% from its previous year's 79% adoption figure.

Source: Flexera

Based on the report's findings, Azure is making progress in key areas against AWS. With that said, the battle for the cloud is far bigger than a single report can encapsulate, so expect to see future surveys indicating other trends as well as news of important contracts that could help tip the balance of who has the advantage in key sectors.

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