Cloud Engagement Trends 2025: Snowflake, MongoDB Lead as Microsoft 365 Matures

April ushered in another telling chapter in the evolving landscape of cloud engagement, with Snowflake and MongoDB emerging as notable winners, according to recent analysis from Bank of America (BofA). In contrast, growth around the Microsoft 365 suite—long considered a lodestar for enterprise productivity—showed discernible signs of temperance. For IT leaders and Windows power-users alike, these developments speak volumes, signaling not just shifting customer allegiances but also the rippling impact of broader digital transformation efforts across organizations large and small.

Signs of Shifting Momentum in the Cloud Ecosystem​

Bank of America's review of the April cloud engagement data paints a nuanced picture. Snowflake and MongoDB—the darlings of the modern data platform era—both experienced better-than-expected user expansion and activity in the cloud. This uptick is particularly notable given the broader market’s cautious spending environment. Each platform caters to slightly different needs: Snowflake with its scalable data warehousing and analytics capabilities, and MongoDB with its flexible, developer-friendly NoSQL database services. Together, these two companies are foundational pillars for organizations aiming to modernize not only their applications but also their approach to data governance and analytics.
Microsoft 365, by comparison, finds itself at an inflection point. After several quarters of robust expansion underpinned by remote work and digital collaboration trends, Bank of America's latest figures suggest growth for the suite is slowing—albeit from historically high baselines. This is not necessarily a sign of weakness but rather of industry maturity. The story here is twofold: while Microsoft 365 enjoys widespread market penetration and entrenched enterprise use, its rate of net-new user acquisitions is naturally declining as the global market saturates.

Unpacking the Underlying Data: What the Numbers Reveal​

The BofA analysis, as highlighted in the Seeking Alpha report, points to “better cloud engagement growth” for Snowflake (SNOW) and MongoDB (MDB) during April than in prior months. Business clients are embracing these platforms for their robust scaling, heightened performance, and ability to facilitate complex data analytics in real time. This uptick is being driven largely by verticals such as retail, financial services, and healthcare—all of which depend on high-velocity, low-latency data solutions.
MongoDB's Atlas, its fully managed cloud database service, continues to be a primary growth vector, reportedly accounting for the lion’s share of new customer wins and revenue increases. Snowflake’s Data Cloud, meanwhile, is increasingly viewed as a strategic enabler, not only for analytics but for broader data sharing and collaboration across organizational boundaries. Notably, Snowflake’s partnerships with Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform are allowing it to reach customers wherever their data already resides, further differentiating the service and accelerating migrations from legacy warehousing solutions.
In contrast, Microsoft’s cloud-related growth data appears less robust for its flagship productivity suite. BofA’s research suggests some market saturation, as many enterprises have already migrated to 365 or similar SaaS solutions. The growth that continues is being driven largely by add-on services—advanced security, compliance modules, and integration with newer copilot AI features—rather than by base license sales.

Strengths Driving Outperformance for Snowflake and MongoDB​

Innovation in Cloud-Native Architectures​

Both Snowflake and MongoDB offer clear advantages thanks to their cloud-native foundations. Their architectures are optimized for the elasticity and distributed nature of the cloud. This translates to agile scaling, seamless integration with other cloud services, and, importantly, lower operational overhead. Businesses can provision resources dynamically, responding to demand spikes without incurring the steep costs previously associated with on-premises capacity planning.

Developer-Centric Product Strategies​

MongoDB’s commitment to developer experience continues to pay dividends. Its query language, flexible schema design, and rich ecosystem around Atlas make it an attractive choice for both greenfield application development and modernizing legacy systems. Likewise, Snowflake’s SQL-first ethos, combined with its zero-management proposition and innovations around secure data sharing, enables cross-silo collaboration that would have been impossible using legacy approaches.

Integration and Ecosystem Effects​

Snowflake’s interoperability with multiple public clouds provides crucial flexibility for enterprise customers pursuing multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud strategies. Similarly, MongoDB’s underlying model fits across a range of cloud providers and deployment modes, offering businesses freedom of choice and reducing platform lock-in risk. These ecosystem strategies are helping both vendors to win new accounts and expand their influence within existing customer environments.

Security and Compliance Advancements​

Heightened regulatory environments—GDPR, CCPA, sector-specific mandates—have made data security and compliance table stakes for cloud deployments. Both Snowflake and MongoDB are investing heavily in certifications (FedRAMP, ISO, SOC 2), encryption capabilities, and automated governance features. This reassures enterprise procurement officers, smoothing the path to broader adoption.

Why Microsoft 365’s Growth Slowed—and Why it Still Matters​

Market Saturation and Maturity​

Microsoft 365’s decelerating growth rate should be viewed through a lens of maturity rather than decline. As one of the world’s most ubiquitous SaaS platforms, it has reached a level where most addressable customers have already migrated or are in the process of doing so. This leaves fewer net-new opportunities and shifts Microsoft’s focus from expansion to retention and upselling of value-added services.

Broad Suite Integration as a Double-Edged Sword​

The comprehensiveness of Microsoft 365—incorporating Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and the broader Office suite—makes it indispensable for many organizations. However, the very breadth of its offerings slows down the adoption cycle among laggard industries or small- to mid-sized businesses that may be overwhelmed by complexity or averse to change. Some organizations are also exploring unbundled alternatives, seeking best-of-breed solutions for specific collaboration or file-sharing needs.

Pricing, Licensing, and Economic Uncertainty​

The macroeconomic environment cannot be ignored. With budget constraints looming across many industries, IT decision-makers are scrutinizing ongoing SaaS spending. Microsoft’s periodic price increases and restructuring of licensing schemes—such as the introduction of new Microsoft 365 plans or the bundling of AI-powered Copilot features—have prompted some customers to reassess their entitlements, trim unused licenses, or delay upgrades.

Competitive Pressures and Innovation Gaps​

While Microsoft continues to innovate, competitors like Google Workspace, Slack, and Zoom are chipping away at segments of the productivity market. Vendors specializing in AI collaboration or privacy-first tooling are particularly well-positioned, especially among digitally native businesses or those with unique security requirements. Microsoft’s Copilot, though promising in early demos, has yet to deliver broad-based productivity gains at scale, and adoption data remains limited and somewhat anecdotal.

Critical Analysis: What These Shifts Mean for IT Leaders​

Cloud Engagement Trends: A Strategic Inflection Point​

As the cloud sector matures, the definition of “engagement” is being reimagined. The renewed traction of specialist platforms like Snowflake and MongoDB suggests that enterprises are no longer content with generic cloud migration—they are actively seeking tools that unlock deeper value from their data assets. This transition from infrastructure-centric to intelligence-centric investment is reshaping IT budgets, with analytics, AI, and developer productivity taking precedence.

Risks: Over-Reliance, Skills Gaps, and Vendor Lock-in​

Despite their advantages, the rapid platformization of enterprise cloud environments is not without risks:

• Vendor Dependency: Heavy reliance on a single data platform, whether Snowflake or MongoDB, introduces concentration risks. Outages, price hikes, or roadmapped obsolescence of particular features can cause significant disruptions and unexpected costs.
• Talent Shortages: As organizations deepen their use of cloud-native analytics and NoSQL tools, a corresponding skills gap is emerging. Companies are often unable to find or retain professionals with deep expertise in these ecosystems, complicating deployments and raising long-term maintenance risks.
• Complexity of Integration: Combining new cloud tools with existing, often legacy, enterprise systems introduces significant integration and data governance hurdles. Poorly managed migrations may lead to data silos, inconsistent security policies, or regulatory non-compliance.
• Economic Uncertainty: Organizations embracing new platforms in the hunt for digital transformation must remain mindful of cost overrun risks, particularly given ongoing macroeconomic volatility and tightening IT budgets.

The Privacy and Compliance Frontier​

Security remains a foremost concern as cloud adoption deepens and more sensitive workloads migrate online. Both Snowflake and MongoDB have strong technical stories in this area, but enterprises must remain vigilant. Moving fast with cloud analytics can expose subtle but critical compliance risks, especially across borders or within highly regulated sectors like finance and healthcare. Data residency, auditability, and encryption at rest/in transit are prerequisites, yet misconfigurations remain a top cause of breaches.

Opportunities: AI-Driven Transformation and Developer Productivity​

Snowflake’s and MongoDB’s momentum reflects broader energy in the AI and real-time analytics space. The surge in engagement can be tied directly to new use cases—like predictive customer insights, automatic anomaly detection, and personalized digital experiences—that were difficult or prohibitively expensive with traditional databases. For developers, rich SDKs, managed services, and robust APIs from both vendors are lowering the barrier to experiment and iterate, bringing business ideas to life faster.

Comparing Vendor Strategies: What Sets Each Apart​

Snowflake: Data Collaboration at Scale​

Snowflake’s key differentiator lies in its approach to “data sharing” at scale. Instead of creating yet another data silo, Snowflake enables organizations to securely share live data across business units, partners, and external stakeholders without copying or moving data. This architecture is a boon for businesses that rely on near-real-time collaboration—for example, supply chain networks or multi-national finance organizations. Snowflake’s emphasis on marketplace partnerships, data monetization, and cross-cloud interoperability continues to set it apart.

MongoDB: Agile Development for Cloud-Native Applications​

MongoDB’s appeal lies in its capacity to support agile development paradigms. Startups and digital-first enterprises gravitate to Atlas for its intuitive programming model and ready-to-scale cloud deployments. As microservices, containers, and serverless compute become industry standard, MongoDB is positioning itself as the database backbone for API-driven businesses. Its investments in search, analytics, and edge-computing capabilities are particularly noteworthy, allowing customers to handle diverse workloads without context-switching between tools.

Microsoft 365: Breadth, Depth, and the AI Bet​

For all its maturity, Microsoft 365 remains indispensable due to sheer breadth and seamless integration with Windows and Azure. Its newer focus on embedding AI assistants—most notably Copilot—into familiar workflows could yield a new chapter of engagement if these features deliver tangible productivity gains at scale. Yet, unlike the newer breeds of data platform, Microsoft’s ability to innovate is bounded somewhat by its need to maintain stability, backwards compatibility, and massive global support operations. The next leg of growth will likely rely on extracting more value from existing customers, with upselling to premium features and expanded security options.

Looking Forward: Strategic Recommendations for IT Decision-Makers​

• Embrace Best-of-Breed, but Mind Integration: The future is multi-cloud and API-driven. Snowflake and MongoDB provide advanced features but can introduce integration complexity. Organizations should invest in middleware, observability, and tight governance processes to ensure seamless interoperability.
• Balance Innovation with Prudence: Avoid following platform hype blindly. Closely monitor usage metrics, cost trajectories, and business outcomes when adopting new cloud services.
• Prioritize Skill Development: Ramp up internal training for platforms like Snowflake and MongoDB to mitigate talent gaps and reduce reliance on expensive consultants or third-party managed services.
• Engage Around Security and Compliance Early: Cloud-native does not mean secure by default. Work with vendors to understand shared responsibility models and build in robust encryption, monitoring, and compliance automation.
• Track Vendor Roadmaps: As the feature wars intensify, maintain active dialog with vendors to ensure future platform directions align with your long-term IT strategy.

Conclusion: The State of the Cloud in 2025 and Beyond​

April’s engagement metrics, as surfaced by BofA’s research, offer more than a passing snapshot. They illuminate a rapidly maturing cloud ecosystem in which the leaders of yesterday—like Microsoft 365—are adjusting to market maturity, even as upstarts such as Snowflake and MongoDB redefine the rules of enterprise engagement. For technical buyers, IT executives, and the Windows Forum community at large, the essential truth is this: cloud adoption remains on an upward trajectory, but value creation now hinges less on migrating workloads and more on harnessing data, AI, and developer empowerment.
The winners moving forward will be those organizations that emulate the adaptability and product-centric focus of today’s rising platforms—while keeping a firm hand on risk management, governance, and user experience. The race is far from over, and as recent trends indicate, the battle for cloud engagement is only growing more sophisticated. For those tasked with keeping the modern workspace humming, the insights from April’s cloud engagement data are invaluable guideposts on this unending journey.

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Source: Seeking Alpha Snowflake, MongoDB see better cloud engagement growth in April, Microsoft 365 growth slows - BofA