Google Cloud’s strong showing in a recent South Africa–focused survey has renewed the debate about where enterprise cloud momentum is actually flowing, but the headline — that Google Cloud “beats” Azure and AWS — needs careful qualification and context before it’s treated as a global verdict.
Analytico’s 2025 Business Technology Survey — reported locally by MyBroadband — asked 1,348 South African business ICT decision-makers which cloud provider they preferred. The single-survey snapshot named Google Cloud the most-preferred provider in that sample, with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) trailing and Huawei Cloud a distant fourth. The story is notable because Google’s Johannesburg region only launched in January 2024, yet brand preference climbed quickly after that launch.
This South African result sits inside a far larger, more complex global market where hyperscaler positions are shifting: AWS remains the largest worldwide by revenue and footprint, while Azure and Google Cloud have been growing faster in recent quarters — in large part due to AI-driven demand and strategic product bundling. Independent market trackers and major business media have documented this shift repeatedly throughout 2024 and into 2025. (crn.com, cnbc.com)
Google’s local-region strategy in South Africa is a sharp, useful example of how the cloud race now plays out on regional turf lines as well as in global financial statements: build a local region, deliver differentiated AI and analytics value, convert that into procurement wins — and watch preference metrics change quickly. But readers should interpret those preference shifts in context: regional successes matter, but enterprise cloud architecture decisions still require multi-dimensional evaluation across cost, performance, compliance and long-term vendor strategy. (mybroadband.co.za, cnbc.com, crn.com)
Source: MyBroadband https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/606136-google-cloud-beats-azure-and-aws-while-huawei-cloud-remains-far-behind.html
Background / Overview
Analytico’s 2025 Business Technology Survey — reported locally by MyBroadband — asked 1,348 South African business ICT decision-makers which cloud provider they preferred. The single-survey snapshot named Google Cloud the most-preferred provider in that sample, with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) trailing and Huawei Cloud a distant fourth. The story is notable because Google’s Johannesburg region only launched in January 2024, yet brand preference climbed quickly after that launch. This South African result sits inside a far larger, more complex global market where hyperscaler positions are shifting: AWS remains the largest worldwide by revenue and footprint, while Azure and Google Cloud have been growing faster in recent quarters — in large part due to AI-driven demand and strategic product bundling. Independent market trackers and major business media have documented this shift repeatedly throughout 2024 and into 2025. (crn.com, cnbc.com)
Why the MyBroadband / Analytico finding matters (and where it doesn’t)
What the survey actually measures
- The Analytico survey reflects brand preference among South African ICT decision-makers, not raw global revenue or technical benchmarks.
- Preference is a legitimate and useful proxy for go-to-market success in a region — especially when local presence (a public cloud region) materially reduces latency, eases compliance and simplifies sales — but it isn’t the same as global market leadership.
Geographic and timing effects
- Google Cloud’s Johannesburg region launch (January 2024) is a tangible, time-bound event that explains much of the local momentum: proximity matters for latency-sensitive apps, data residency, and procurement decisions in regulated sectors. That local effect can produce rapid, measurable swings in preference that are valid within the regional context but don’t instantly rewrite global standings.
The difference between “preferred” and “dominant”
- Preferred vendor in a survey ≠ market-share leader. Global infrastructure market-share trackers still place AWS as No. 1 by revenue and footprint, with Azure second and Google Cloud growing fastest among the three in many recent quarters. Treat the MyBroadband headline as a regional market signal, not a universal ranking. (crn.com, cnbc.com)
Regional story: South Africa’s cloud market dynamics
Local launches reshuffle choices
Google’s Johannesburg region is an inflection point. Before that, Microsoft (Azure) and AWS had earlier local launches, giving them first-mover advantages in enterprise relationships. Yet the entry of Google with a full region — combined with aggressive local marketing, partner incentives, and the company’s long-standing reputation on data analytics and machine learning — materially improved Google Cloud’s showings in recent local surveys.Huawei Cloud’s steep decline in perception
- Multiple MyBroadband reports and local analyses show Huawei Cloud trailing badly in both awareness and preference metrics in South African surveys; in the Analytico sample Huawei was cited by only roughly 2% of respondents. That’s a sharp fall relative to earlier visibility and indicates reputation and trust gaps, not just technical capability. Huawei’s early arrival in some African markets hasn’t converted into sustained enterprise trust in the same way as the Western hyperscalers.
What matters to South African IT buyers
- Data residency and regulation
- Local support and partner ecosystem
- Integration with existing Microsoft or Google productivity suites
- Pricing and predictable TCO
Google Cloud has been able to check several boxes rapidly after launching a local region; Huawei has struggled to clear the reputational and procurement hurdles in many sectors.
Global context: market share, growth and the AI effect
Current global numbers (snapshot)
- Industry trackers and reporting across late 2023–2024/early 2025 show that AWS still holds the largest slice of global infrastructure market share, while Azure and Google Cloud are expanding their share lines — often at faster percentage growth rates. Exact percentages vary by tracker and quarter, but the consistent pattern is: AWS leads in absolute size; Azure and Google Cloud are closing the growth gap.
The AI-first battleground
- The hyperscalers’ recent growth differentials are tightly coupled to AI strategy and productization. Microsoft’s bundling of Copilot into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem gave Azure a powerful enterprise distribution mechanism; Google invested in Gemini and Vertex AI; AWS doubled down on Bedrock and custom silicon. These AI plays have changed the value proposition from raw compute to outcome-focused AI solutions, and that shift explains much of the recent momentum for Azure and Google Cloud relative to AWS.
Independent corroboration
- Business and tech outlets reported strong quarter-over-quarter growth for Google Cloud through 2024 (e.g., mid-2024 quarters with 30%+ year-over-year growth), while AWS growth slowed comparatively — though AWS remained far larger in absolute revenue. These independent outlets reinforce that Google’s growth is real, but also that the market is multi-dimensional. (cnbc.com, crn.com)
Technical and practical implications for enterprises and Windows shops
When Google Cloud is a strong choice
- Workloads that prioritise data analytics, BigQuery-style warehousing, or Vertex AI development pipelines.
- Startups and digital-native firms that value open-source tooling, Kubernetes-first operations, and competitive pricing for bursty workloads.
- Organisations in regions where Google operates a local region (reducing latency and easing compliance burdens). (crn.com, mybroadband.co.za)
When Azure remains compelling
- Windows-centric enterprise fleets that benefit from tight integration with Microsoft 365, Active Directory, and native .NET support.
- Hybrid scenarios where existing on-prem Microsoft stacks need a frictionless cloud extension.
- Enterprises that rely on Microsoft’s legal, procurement and partner networks for vertical-specific solutions (healthcare, government, finance).
When AWS is still the safe choice
- Massive, global-scale workloads requiring mature operations, the broadest service surface, or specialized infrastructure at scale.
- Organisations that need the widest partner marketplace and the deepest set of operational and security features proven at enterprise scale.
Huawei: niche cases and caveats
- Huawei Cloud can be technically capable in certain regions and for specific telco and local-government use cases, but global penetration among Western and many African enterprises remains low due to trust, procurement and geopolitical concerns. Huawei’s market penetration is small by the standards of the major hyperscalers. (lightreading.com, mybroadband.co.za)
Strengths observed — why Google’s regional push is paying off
- Local presence matters: A nearby region reduces latency, speeds up compliance and often shortens contract cycles.
- Developer and AI stack: Tools such as BigQuery, TensorFlow/Vertex AI and the company’s engineering heritage make Google Cloud attractive to data-first teams.
- Perception and momentum: Rapid, visible wins — especially public sector and SMB deals — can change procurement sentiment faster than infrastructure build-out alone. (mybroadband.co.za, cnbc.com)
Risks, weaknesses and things to watch
Single-survey extrapolation risk
- The MyBroadband / Analytico result is an important regional data point but should not be extrapolated into a claim that Google Cloud globally “beats” Azure and AWS. The proper reading: Google Cloud leads preference in this South African survey sample. Extrapolating beyond the region or to global market share without additional corroborating data would be misleading.
Vendor lock-in and switching costs
- While preference can be won quickly via local regions or promotions, actual migration and multi-year deployments still carry heavy switching costs around architecture, training, and licensing. Enterprises should evaluate TCO over several years, not just initial procurement impressions.
Geopolitical and regulatory uncertainty
- Huawei’s weaker positioning is not purely technical — reputational and regulatory headwinds are significant. Similarly, Microsoft, Amazon and Google face regulatory scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions, which could alter market dynamics and procurement patterns. These macro forces add unpredictability to multi-year vendor bets.
AI compute supply constraints
- All hyperscalers report that demand for GPU-based AI compute is growing faster than supply, which creates pricing pressure and potential capacity bottlenecks. That dynamic could favor providers with better supply-chain relationships or proprietary silicon, but it could also make short-term price comparisons unrepresentative of long-run costs.
Practical guidance for IT leaders and WindowsForum readers
- Define success metrics up front (latency, compliance, AI capability, integration with Windows workloads).
- Run measurable pilots on 2–3 clouds for at least 90 days to compare operational cost, developer velocity, and AI performance.
- Insist on exit plans and portability measures (containerisation, Terraform/ARM templates, CI/CD portability) to reduce future lock-in.
- For Windows-first shops, treat Azure as a strategic baseline for integration and identity; still test Google Cloud if you need best-in-class analytics or lower-cost AI bursts.
- Monitor GPU availability, committed-use pricing options, and partner ecosystems; cost volatility in AI services can change TCO within quarters. (crn.com, cnbc.com)
Competitive outlook: scenarios to watch
- Scenario A — “AI consolidation”: Azure and Google continue rapid productization of AI features, converting preference into sticky enterprise revenue and narrowing the gap with AWS. This is plausible given recent growth and product bundling trends.
- Scenario B — “AWS reinvention”: Amazon leans into Bedrock, Trainium/Habana silicon, and price competition to regain narrative advantage as a neutral, model-agnostic cloud for builders. AWS’s scale and profitability make a comeback feasible if it balances product usability with raw infrastructure excellence.
- Scenario C — “Regional fragmentation”: Geopolitical pressure and data-sovereignty laws force more local/regional clouds to gain traction, creating space for niche players — but also adding complexity for multi-national buyers. Huawei’s position will remain strongly influenced by local political and procurement contexts rather than purely technical merit.
Critical analysis: strengths and weaknesses of the MyBroadband headline
- Strengths:
- The headline is a valid reflection of a regional measurement of preference, and it highlights an important market dynamic: Google Cloud’s regional investments and AI positioning translate to fast local momentum.
- The local survey format surfaces procurement sentiment, which materially affects near-term contract decisions for enterprises operating within the surveyed geography.
- Weaknesses & Risks:
- The headline risks conflating regional preference with global market leadership. That confluence is misleading if readers assume global parity based solely on the MyBroadband report. The global market still shows AWS as the largest provider by revenue and footprint.
- Survey-based metrics depend on sampling, question phrasing and the timing of local launches; each can bias results. The MyBroadband/Analytico sample is large for the region, but it’s still a point-in-time snapshot that should be combined with independent market-share and financial data for a full picture. (mybroadband.co.za, crn.com)
Final takeaways for WindowsForum readers
- The MyBroadband headline that “Google Cloud beats Azure and AWS” is directionally correct within the narrow scope of the South African survey sample — Google Cloud did outperform in local preference among surveyed decision-makers. Treat that as an important regional signal rather than a global declaration.
- On the global stage, the cloud market remains dominated by the big three — AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud — but the terms of competition have shifted decisively toward AI productization, regional presence and ecosystem integration. That means momentum can shift faster than absolute market share. (crn.com, cnbc.com)
- Huawei Cloud’s position in many markets — especially those outside its core political and telco relationships — is weak by comparative metrics like enterprise procurement preference and market share. That gap is driven by a mix of reputation, trust, and geopolitical factors as much as technical capability. (lightreading.com, mybroadband.co.za)
- Practical procurement decisions should be grounded in multiple data points: regional latency and compliance needs, workloads and AI-readiness, partner ecosystems, cost models, and realistic migration/exit plans.
Google’s local-region strategy in South Africa is a sharp, useful example of how the cloud race now plays out on regional turf lines as well as in global financial statements: build a local region, deliver differentiated AI and analytics value, convert that into procurement wins — and watch preference metrics change quickly. But readers should interpret those preference shifts in context: regional successes matter, but enterprise cloud architecture decisions still require multi-dimensional evaluation across cost, performance, compliance and long-term vendor strategy. (mybroadband.co.za, cnbc.com, crn.com)
Source: MyBroadband https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/606136-google-cloud-beats-azure-and-aws-while-huawei-cloud-remains-far-behind.html
