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Microsoft Azure dominates as the overall winner in CRN's Public Cloud category, showcasing unparalleled excellence in cloud services, including AI, machine learning, and more.
Last month, CRN revealed the winners of the 2023 CRN Products of the Year awards, and Microsoft Azure emerged as the top contender with the highest overall score in the Public Cloud category.
The CRN Products of the Year Awards acknowledge IT products and services catering to the evolving needs of the IT channel and its customers. This year, the CRN editorial team selected winners across 33 technology categories. Solution providers then evaluated the finalists based on technology, revenue and profit potential, and customer needs.
Why Azure was Selected as a CRN Product of the Year
CRN's Public Cloud award category encompasses the most common type of cloud computing deployment. It involves delivering computing services—servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the internet. This approach offers innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. These computing services can be free or sold on-demand to enable customers to pay for their actual usage of CPU cycles, storage space, or bandwidth.
Microsoft Azure was selected as the winner because it provides one of the most extensive arrays of public cloud services, including AI and machine learning, application development, computing, storage, databases and data analytics, networking, security, and more. With the recent additions of Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Fabric, users can choose from these services to create and expand new applications or run existing applications in the public cloud.
Organizations across industries are using Azure public cloud services to do more with less, enhance user experiences, and optimize operational efficiencies. With more than 95 percent of Fortune 500 companies using Azure, more than 320 million daily active users on Microsoft Teams, and more than 500,000 organizations relying on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform to drive business growth and transformation, partners recognize the vast potential available through these platforms.[CB1]
Public Cloud Spending Keeps Growing
The public cloud has gained popularity at a breakneck pace over the last decade, driven by the increasing uptake of big data, AI, machine learning, and other technologies fueling market expansion. According to research firm marketsandmarkets.com, the global public cloud market was valued at USD $444.7 billion in 2021. It is expected to reach a staggering $987.7 billion by 2027, growing at an impressive rate of 17.3 percent. During this projected period, the US is anticipated to hold the largest global market share.
The popularity of cloud computing demonstrates that it’s not just a trend, but an integral part of organizations' continuous digital transformation efforts. Solution providers who do not take advantage of the opportunities offered by the cloud will miss what could be the most significant opportunity in the past 10 years.
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