The many recent posts (Forbes and Bloomberg for example) noting Cloud size reminds me in many ways of spats in the schoolyard of my youth. Those on whose Dad’s car was bigger or better than another.
In the competitive world of Cloud each provider will cut their cloth to suit their measure and promote themselves appropriately. I’d be astounded/surprised if that didn’t happen. So too in the schoolyard, just because one family had a fast luxury saloon and another had an off-roader didn’t necessarily mean that one was better than another…it depends to a large degree on suitability. Fitness for purpose if you will. Where I came from, the off-roader was better at crossing the veld, driving though uncharted territories and fording almost impassable streams. The luxury saloon however was undoubtedly better at carrying passengers in comfort over (the few) tarred roads.
Cloud is a paradigm not a singular product definition. There are many dimensions to its form and these range from physical presence to development platform, applications, business processes and beyond. And let’s not forget those who provide the services that make it practical, efficient and fit for our businesses. These are all (to me anyway) part of what is ‘Cloud’.
The banter over whose ‘Cloud’ is bigger is posturing and promotion. It adds little to understanding value, opportunity or differentiation available to the customer. Indeed, history shows us that those who innovate, differentiate and add more value, are most likely to triumph those who are simply ‘biggest’.
So, a message to those who’re keen to define size as a principle definition of success in the evolving Cloud world. As many would point out (and this isn’t in any way meant to sexist, merely to make a point); it’s not necessarily size that matters, it’s what you do with it that counts……