Large firms rely on Amazon Web Services most for their 'mission-critical workloads' but Microsoft is the most trusted cloud overall, a new Bank of America report shows (AMZN, MSFT)

<p><img src="https://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5dcdf7947eece506c6637332-1200/cloud war azure v aws 4x3.png" border="0" alt="cloud war azure v aws 4x3" data-mce-source="Alex Wong/Getty Images; VCG/VCG via Getty Images; Ruobing Su/Business Insider"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Amazon's cloud has the most "mission-critical workloads" among the largest companies, but Microsoft's cloud is seen as the most trustworthy among companies of all sizes, a new Bank of America survey shows.</p><p>In a report published this month, Bank of America surveyed 417 people from a wide range of businesses, with 85% of respondents in IT management roles and 37% in C-suite positions.</p><p>The survey found that for respondents from companies with over 5,000 employees, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-microsoft-google-serverless-technology-2020-7">Amazon Web Services</a> is the top cloud for running both new and existing "mission-critical workloads." The survey defined mission-critical as including IT service management, analytics, sales, customer relationship management, and customer support.</p><p>Respondents at small companiesthose with less than 1,000 peoplechose Microsoft's Azure and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-web-services-data-centers-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-3">AWS</a> almost equally for new workloads, though companies with between 1,000 and 5,000 chose <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-programming-languages-visual-basic-c-net-typescript-2020-9">Azure.</a></p><p>Ultimately, though, respondents from companies of all sizes said they <em>trusted</em> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sap-microsoft-embrace-partnership-multicloud-sales-strategy-aws-google-2021-5">Microsoft Azure</a> the most to manage these mission-critical workloads.</p><p>"While AWS tends to have/win the most mission-critical workloads, reputation-wise, Azure appears to edge out AWS in terms of customer trust," the report said.&nbsp;</p><p>This could be because of Microsoft's long-history with other business software, like Office and Windows: Microsoft already "has high goodwill with IT departments and CIOs," the report said.</p><p>"As a result, adoption of Azure is a natural extension of the existing relationship with Microsoft, given its trusted nature, seamless integration with other Microsoft applications, and favorable economics when bundled together with existing contracts/licenses," the report said.</p><p>Partners and customers may also be concerned about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aws-partners-rely-on-amazon-web-services-competition-startups-2021-4">competition with Amazon</a>, which <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2018/google-ceo-confirms-target-big-cloud-customer-continuing-retail-defections-aws/">directly competes with companies in retail, groceries, and more.&nbsp;</a></p><p>Meanwhile, AWS is the preferred cloud for smaller companies (under 1,000 workers) running non-mission-critical workloads. The report noted that it is "perhaps due to how accessible/easy it is to spin up an AWS instance using just a credit card."&nbsp;</p><p>Ultimately, AWS has the largest cloud market share overall clocking in at 45%, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-microsoft-alibaba-google-tencent-cloud-infrastructure-gartner-2020-8">according to Gartner</a>. Microsoft takes second place with 17.9% market share, followed by Alibaba with 9.1% and Google Cloud with 5.3%.</p><p>That ratio isn't likely to change, based on the survey's findings:</p><p>Companies with over 5,000 employees or fewer than 1,000 employees plan to increase their spending on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-web-services-twilio-remote-developer-interviews-coronavirus-2020-5">AWS</a> the most next year, while mid-sized companies with between 1,000 and 5,000 employees plan to spend on Azure the most.</p><p><em><strong>Got a tip'</strong>&nbsp;Contact this reporter via email at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:rmchan@businessinsider.com">rmchan@insider.com</a>, Signal at 646.376.6106,&nbsp;Telegram at @rosaliechan, or&nbsp;Twitter DM at&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/rosaliechan17">@rosaliechan17</a>. (PR pitches by email only, please.) Other types of secure messaging available upon request.</em></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-amazon-trusted-cloud-bank-of-america-survey-2021-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hm-zara-uniqlo-fast-fashion-spend-money-clothes-2019-1">Sneaky ways stores like H&M, Zara, and Uniqlo get you to spend more money on clothes</a></p>
Click here to read full news..