Microsoft; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider
- We've identified 19 of the high-powered executives that Microsoft has assembled in a team to fight its rivals in the cloud wars, based on information from insiders and experts.
- Microsoft has long been considered the No. 2 cloud provider versus dominant Amazon Web Services, but that perception has started to change through recent and significant victories, such as landing a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the Pentagon.
- Experts say that contract puts Microsoft's Azure cloud computing business in the same league as AWS - whether Amazon likes it or not.
- Of course, Microsoft still has a lot of catching up to do. Gartner estimated Amazon's 2018 cloud market share was three times the size of Microsoft's.
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Microsoft's cloud business is on the rise and the Redmond, Washington-based company has assembled a team of high-powered executives to upend its rivals.
Microsoft Azure has long been considered the No. 2 cloud provider versus dominant Amazon Web Services, but that perception has started to change.
"Azure is the primary growth engine for the company and positions them to have a leading marketshare in a potentially multitrillion-dollar opportunity in the future of computing," RBC Capital analyst Alex Zukin said.
To be sure, Microsoft still has a lot of catching up to do. Gartner in a report released over the summer pegged the 2018 market share for AWS at 47.8% and that of Microsoft Azure at 15.5%. But Microsoft has scored some significant wins and recent moves indicate the company is prioritizing the cloud above all else.
Perhaps most significant is the company's recent win of a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the Pentagon. AWS was considered the frontrunner but experts say the win puts Microsoft in the same league as the AWS.
"It signals to the market Microsoft is no longer a runner-up and can be viewed as a leader in the category where they can surpass AWS in certain areas," Zukin said.
To lead that charge, Microsoft has assembled a team of high-powered executives to guide its all-important cloud strategy. We spoke with insiders and experts who said that these were the 19 power players to watch within Microsoft's cloud business.
Meet Microsoft's ace cloud team:
