Cloud Revenue Jumps, Led by Microsoft and IBM - NYTimes.com

From a cloud market dynamics snapshot

"Yet the Microsoft and IBM numbers include things not in the Amazon estimates. Amazon’s cloud offers computing, storage and basic software tools used by engineers. But Microsoft and IBM add the software delivered to customers over the cloud, from spreadsheets to data-analysis applications. IBM’s revenue total, analysts say, also includes cloud-related services and even hardware used in setting up cloud computing environments that companies own themselves, so-called private clouds.

So comparing Microsoft and IBM’s cloud revenue to Amazon’s is not an apples-to-apples exercise. “For Microsoft, it is apples, oranges and pears,” said Lydia Leong, a Gartner analyst. “For IBM, it’s apples, oranges, pears, and the kitchen sink.”"

Cloud Revenue Jumps, Led by Microsoft and IBM - NYTimes.com