Apple has migrated some of its services to Google’s cloud platform, giving a much needed boost for the Alphabet’s company in the enterprise cloud computing segment.
The iPhone maker has moved a part of its iCloud services onto Google’s platform, cutting its dependence on Amazon Web Services (AWS), CRN reported.
Apple signing up to Google’s cloud services is a significant achievement for the search engine, as it remains at third spot in the cloud computing market, next to Amazon and Microsoft’s Azure.
Apple’s move is the second deal for Google in the last two months. In February, Spotify, a music streaming service, announced that it would move most of its services onto the Google Cloud platform from AWS.
The company’s decision to shift some of its services to Google comes amid its move to diversify its wide range of internet services, which include iCloud backups such as photo storage, music streaming and video downloads.
The Cupertino-headquartered Apple is already using the cloud services of Amazon and Microsoft, besides having its own data centres, people familiar with the matter told The Financial Times.
The company announced to set up three new data centres over the next two years, as it looks to move more of its cloud services "in-house".
Apple is a "prize customer" for cloud service providers, given its growing requirements for storage and computing. Its move to choose Google marks a rare collaboration in the technology sector, taking into accounts the intense competition between the two companies in some sectors.
Nevertheless, such a partnership is not new in technology sector, as Google’s company Nest still uses cloud services of Amazon.
Google’s market share in cloud computing market has remained low compared to that of Microsoft and Amazon.
A recent survey by Rightscale, a cloud management provider, showed that only 6% of participants have opted for Google’s cloud services, while 17% percent of them used Microsoft and 57 percent are Amazon’s clients.
RightScale head of marketing Kim Weins said: "One thing we’ve been hearing from customers is that they are being more aggressive in terms of negotiating with people on commercial terms
"They are really trying to bend over backwards as needed to win these early enterprise customers."
Apple’s move to choose Google for its cloud needs will dent the dominant position of AWS in the cloud computing market. Analysts at Morgan Stanley expect Apple to spend $1bn on AWS services this year.
AWS has suffered setback this week after Dropbox, its old customer, announced that it has shifted away most of its data to its own servers to cut costs.
The dominance enjoyed by AWS as a result of early entry into the cloud computing market is now challenged by Microsoft and Google, as they increase their offerings.
"Clearly AWS is still in the lead in the vast breadth of their services," said Weins, adding that Google’s improved services had assisted the company to gain new clients. All the three companies have been reducing prices of their services to compete with the rivals.
