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In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I discuss the Q2 performance of major cloud providers, including Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft.
Highlights
00:01 — Q2 results for the three biggest hyperscalers: My view is Google Cloud soars, Amazon roars, and Microsoft snores. AWS showed its growth rate is increasing from 17.2% in Q1 to 18.8% here in Q2, with revenue of $26.3 billion, which equates to an annualized run rate of $105 billion. Its backlog, it said, was also up 19% to $157 billion. Very strong quarter for AWS.
01:10 — Google Cloud reported its Q2 growth also accelerated over Q1, 28% in Q1 to 29% here in Q2, with $10.3 billion. It cracked $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time. Microsoft revenue was up 21% to a remarkable $36.8 billion, but that 21% was for fiscal Q4. Its fiscal Q4 quarter is traditionally its biggest; despite that, we saw Microsoft’s growth rate go down.
Ask Cloud Wars AI Agent about this analysis
02:37 — Satya Nadella said absolutely nothing about the serious security problems. This inspired both Nadella and executive vice president of Microsoft’s security business, Charlie Bell, in May to publicly disclose sweeping plans on how they’re going to change how they address security. In the earnings call, Nadella said nothing about the security challenges.
03:48 — In fact, I think it was worse than that. He said, “We continue to prioritize security above all else.” Well, if that’s the case, why didn’t they say anything about it? Customers aren’t dumb. They’re not spending billions and billions and billions of dollars on these fundamental cloud and AI projects with Microsoft and all of the cloud top 10 for trivial purposes or efficiency.
04:35 — One of the most vital topics for CEOs and boards of directors today is security. Nadella chose to sort of sleepwalk his way through that part of the conversation, ignored it, or maybe Nadella thinks that customers are asleep, that partners are asleep — that if he just doesn’t say anything about it, we will remain snoozing in blissful ignorance. And I think that is a terrible mistake.
