Understanding Today’s Cloud Service Provider Market

A new white paper from Iron Mountain Data Centers provides an overview of the current challenges, drivers, and opportunities facing those in the cloud service provider market, with a focus on the role of colocation.

Get the full report.

According to a new white paper from Iron Mountain Data Centers, this has been the decade of the cloud. They note that regardless of size, cloud service providers (CSPs) are “on the march, deploying new infrastructure, offering new services, and growing world-beating businesses based on the cloud’s massive economies of scale and compelling business case.”

In their new white paper, Iron Mountain Data Centers first explores 21 different factors driving infrastructure strategies amongst providers and their partners. In terms of customization, they note that “the increasing commoditization of cloud services is driving differentiation and diversification, pushing cloud providers into new service areas.”

Other drivers include localization and the edge, complexity, sustainability, security, blockchain, and the use of AI, AR, and VR.

New service opportunities are opening up on all fronts along with new delivery architectures, and this is driving a more sophisticated and collaborative phase in the growth of the cloud. The impact of this on infrastructure is that partnerships of all types will be required to enable both physical reach and service provision; for build-out; new service layers; new tailored solutions. – Iron Mountain Data Centers, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Cloud“

Next, the paper outlines key infrastructure considerations for cloud service providers across three distinct areas. First, the author explores global partnerships, noting that “increasingly, hyperscale and cloud companies are turning to partners for colocation and build-to-suit options as well as constructing their own facilities.” Considering the current state of the market, this section of the paper outlines considerations around uptime, resilience, security, remote capabilities, sustainability, and efficiency and standards.

The second key infrastructure consideration has to do with edge enablement. The author explains why a cloud service provider must offer capabilities around location sourcing, capacity and power planning.

Plug-in ecosystems are discussed as the third infrastructure element a cloud service provider should consider. The paper notes that “strategic cloud-based partnerships improve competitiveness by broadening a cloud provider’s portfolio and adding to their ability to manage larger workloads.”

The paper concludes by outlining several opportunities for cloud service providers around collaboration, the edge, and owned ecosystems.

Download the full report to learn more about the cloud service provider market.