2010 was certainly an exciting year in the Cloudsphere with every major technology company positioning their companies for the ultimate game of the decade – Who Will Be The Future King of The Cloud? AT&T, CA, Cisco, CSC, Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and Verizon among others will continue to vie for the title this year.
We say goodbye to a range of Cloud computing companies; Boomi, DocVerse, Makara, Cast Iron, 3Tera, Nimsoft, 4Base, Heroku, LineSider, Stratavia, CloudKick, and others acquired in 2010, and look forward to a new year in Cloud computing developments.
90 Cloud Computing Companies to Watch in 2011
- Amazon
- Salesforce.com
- Google Apps
- VMWare
- Rackspace
- Equinix
- Zuora
- Hosting.com
- rPath
- Joyent
- Appistry
- Terremark Worldwide
- Navisite
- Rightscale
- GoGrid
- NetSuite
- Eucalyptus
- CohesiveFT
- Red Hat
- Savvis
- Citrix
- Appirio
- Parallels
- SuccessFactors
- SoftLayer
- Relational Networks
- AppZero
- Datapipe
- Enomaly
- Intacct
- Caspio
- Sungard
- Astadia
- Bluewolf
- CloudShare
- LayeredTech
- Voxeo
- CloudSwitch
- Nubifer
- Cordys
- Tropo
- Cloudera
- Clustercorp
- Adaptive Computing
- GigaSpaces
- Crosscheck Networks
- Egnyte
- GoodData
- Nasuni
- Whamcloud
- Navajo Systems
- Jive Software
- Symplified
- Virtual Ark
- Workbooks
- Constant Contact
- FreshBooks
- Intuit
- Model Metrics
- Vertica
- Zoho
- 37Signals
- Practice Fusion
- Basic Gov
- Imonggo
- iCloud
- JumpBox
- Nirvanix
- OpenNebula
- Flexiant
- Nimbus
- GreenQloud
- Cloudant
- enStratus
- GridCentric
- Okta
- Nimbula
- Nimsoft
- PanTerra Networks
- Apptix
- Engine Yard
- Gladinet
- Twilio
- Cloud.com
- ReliaCloud
- Kaavo
- Intalio
- Workday
- Arjuna
Edit / Addition(s):
Other excellent lists and points of reference:
- The 100 Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors list
- The Top 150 Players in Cloud Computing
- 85 Cloud Computing Vendors Shaping the Emerging Cloud
- 50 of The Biggest and Best Cloud Computing Companies
- The VAR Guy’s SaaS 20 Index
- Top Ten Cloud Companies in 2Q10 Report
- Top Cloud Computing Providers to Watch in 2009
The list above is a subjective impression of Cloud players on my radar. Who is on yours?
– Tune The Future –
Business Innovations 
(mt) Matt
January 3, 2011
Thanks for the mention. Unfortunately, we are not a cloud hosting company. We do provide shared hosting with our (gs), which is a grid service. Even though the grid service may seem very like the cloud service, we are actually quite different. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Ray DePena
January 3, 2011
Matt, thank you for the clarification. I’ve made some changes accordingly.
John
January 5, 2011
You mention RedHat as a “cloud computing company”, but they have nothing but a API. Yet you mention nothing of Ubuntu or Canonical who took Eucalyptus to where they are today and dominate as the OS of choice in the two largest public Cloud IaaS providers?
You missed Paremus, Scalr, 10gen, Membase, and a host of others…what are you basing your definition of “cloud computing company?
ConstantContact? Really?
Ray DePena
January 6, 2011
Thank you for your comment John. That’s a great list of open source players in cloud computing; and while some of my readers will recognize those companies as leading solutions in the segment, many of the lay business people in small business reading my blog will more readily recognize (and relate to) a Constant Contact, gmail, and other such examples of “cloud computing”.
Others have asked me, “Where’s Grasshopper?” Clearly there are more than 90 companies considered “cloud companies” by a wide audience – ranging from IT pros to small business owners – and while they use the same term, they mean vastly different things.
You may prefer the Amazon Cloud Journal which is more likely to have mention of the companies you referenced below.
Canonical
10gen
Membase
Paremus
Scalr
That being said, it’s a great list. Which other companies would you have liked to see on the list?
hosting
January 10, 2011
Very nice… Thank you your reply…
Steve
January 14, 2011
How did you come up with this list? Not sure I agree all of them are really “cloud computing” companies, but still a good list to consider. Saved me a lot of time in doing my research as well. Some names in there I haven’t heard of too.
Cheers!
Ray DePena
January 14, 2011
Steve,
Thank you for your comment. As you may be aware, “cloud computing” is a very broad term ranging from a service delivered over the Internet to companies that build out the infrastructure of cloud service providers. There isn’t even agreement on the definition for “cloud computing”.
I don’t necessarily disagree that some of the companies would not be considered “cloud computing” companies for many readers. As I mentioned in an earlier reply, I suppose it’s a matter of perspective.
That being said, I’d love to hear what companies you may have wanted to see on the list.
If you’re doing research you may also want to take a look at my blogroll in addition to the other cloud computing list links I included in the blog entry.
Cloud Computing
February 3, 2011
As newly emerging cloud consulting agency it is obvious that there will be hundreds of others out there, like us, trying to make a name for themselves. That being said this list makes for a great competitor update of said companies who are or have established themselves at the top.
Lestat
February 4, 2011
mmm.. Where is Microsoft???
Ray DePena
February 4, 2011
Lestat, in response to your query – in the first paragraph.
marc w
March 23, 2011
Microsoft is at home and sleeps.
Ray DePena
March 23, 2011
Microsoft is doing battle on many fronts. It’s only been one year since Ballmer’s “We’re all in on Cloud“.
Yes, they’re playing catch up, though I wouldn’t underestimate Microsoft. They have enormous cash flow, cash and market position – the dominant operating system and office suite, know the enterprise, government, SMB, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And those comments coming from someone that’s not a Microsoft fan.
Watch out for the slumbering giant!
Philip
February 4, 2011
Wow! You’ve got a broad definition of Cloud Computing, mentioning Equinix (providing m2, power and cooling), RedHat (os using an api), SalesForce (SaaS), Softlayer (server hosting provider),and numerous small-business startups (without fundings and R&D) in one breath. Yet you didn’t mention true innovators in the Cloud like Cotendo, Strangeloop, netDNA.
Cotendo for instance is representing the first real innovation in CDN in almost a decade. Cotendo created a revolutionary platform with highly efficient unified proxy delivery and intelligent server software—rather than building a massive hardware CDN infrastructure—to drive optimized content delivery. This approach—accounting for the key elements of performance, cost and logistics—produces efficiency gains at every step of the content delivery process, from the origin server to the end user. With fundings from seqouia/benchmark/tenaya capital, a large R&D working on a large roadmap, this is actually one to watch in 2011.
With “Cloud computing” the focus is moved from a server-centric approach to a network-centric approach. The future king of the cloud delivers content via a network guaranteeing 100% availability and high speed acceleration of all types of content (static/dynamic, http/https, longtail/shorttail).
Ray DePena
February 4, 2011
Philip,
Yes, in this article, I am using a very broad definition of “Cloud computing”. I do speak to a narrower definition in “The Beauty of the Cloud” and if we were to go by what I may truly think of as cloud computing, we may not have any companies on the list at all or very few at best.
Thank you for pointing out Cotendo, Strangeloop, and netDNA. Your contribution to the discussion is certainly appreciated. There are many excellent cloud computing companies doing great work every day that are not necessarily on my 2011 watchlist.
Junnie
February 4, 2011
I think my list is short-er, it reads – ALL the contributing member companies of OpenStack. http://www.openstack.com/community/. They are changing the ballgame of cloud computing and anyone contributing to that project is a worth company to be on any Cloud Computing list.
By the way, if its any interest and any coincidence, yesterday, OpenStack released Bexar and stirred more interest from other cloud players for them to join: http://ow.ly/3QA8E
Ray DePena
February 4, 2011
Junnie,
It is my sincere hope that the OpenStack community has great success in Cloud computing.
JSchroedl
February 4, 2011
Hi Ray,
Nice list. One of the companies I’d suggest you add is newScale.
For more on newScale’s recent customer deployments and 2010 highlights (including 133% increase in new cloud computing customers), see http://bit.ly/g4Bm85
We’re in other recent lists (e.g. Top 150 Players in Cloud Computing and CRN’s Data Center 100), but we’re missing on yours.
We saw a big uptick in the cloud computing market last year, and we’re seeing adoption accelerate so far in 2011 – it’s definitely an exciting time in the IT industry.
Regards,
Jason
http://www.newscale.com
Ray DePena
February 4, 2011
Jason,
Thank you for bringing newScale to my attention.
JSchroedl
February 4, 2011
You’re welcome Ray, and I appreciate the response.
By way of background, newScale was awarded ‘Best of VMworld’ last fall for private cloud computing: http://bit.ly/b7cywi The judges selected our software for its innovative “app store for the enterprise” and cited it’s “user-friendly interface that lets you order, receive and deploy applications in your private cloud infrastructure”.
It’s a very unique and differentiated value proposition, proven at enterprise customers like Gap, Nokia, and BNY Mellon as well as service providers like Cable&Wireless Worldwide. newScale is definitely a company to watch in 2011.
Nate Odell
February 8, 2011
No Skytap?
Suyog Bhobe
April 14, 2011
Hi Ray,
Would you like to review goyus.com, a hot new cloud computing startup? Goyus is a powerful yet easy-to-use application that allows you to safely and reliably restore your files for just $5 per month. Your files are stored securely in the cloud, and are accessible from any computer. There is no restriction on number of PCs. Come and see (there is a 14 day free trial) why Goyus is miles ahead of other online backup applications.
Andrew
April 21, 2011
I curious to know where the big guys are… IBM, MSFT, SAP, Oracle, etc… These companies have acquired and seem to be providing cloud technology and hosting options…
Regards,
Andy
nanospeck
June 11, 2011
Wow,
This is an overwhelming compilation of cloud computing companies. Thanks for sharing the work. I expect we’ll have more to write in the coming years since most of the companies have stared depolying the services in to the real world.
lalith varma
July 15, 2011
sir, can u please explain what cloud computing really is ?? am a student preferring to do project work on cloud computing. your reply would be highly appreciated.
Ray DePena
July 15, 2011
Since you are a student, I would recommend NIST’s Definition of Cloud Computing – SP-800-145 and SP-800-146. That should get you started.
However, it depends on whether you’re doing serious research or just an assignment for a class, so you may want to check out Wikipedia (as many students rely on it), and some YouTube videos.
Once you have the basic idea, you can seek out different vendor definitions, information, and whitepapers from top consulting firms and think tanks. Focus on the innovators and leaders in the Cloud computing segment – Amazon, Google, Salesforce, etc.
Best of luck in your studies.
Vasu Gorli
July 24, 2011
Can you Please let me know about the cloud computing briefly & oppertunities in India. I am very much egar to learn. Please reply to vasu.gorli@tcs.com. Your reply would be more precious to me.
Ray DePena
July 24, 2011
Hello Vasu, I’m afraid that I may of limited help there as I am unfamiliar with how Cloud computing is affecting the Indian marketplace.
As a starting point, you may want to do a google search for cloud computing and India. Best of luck.
Antonio Burgess
October 6, 2011
Are you going to do a piece of which of the 90 have been successful?
Vinod
October 22, 2011
Zenith also provide cloud computing…
Terry Lawton
January 5, 2012
Nice post. I found this blog which describes the top benefits of utilizing cloud computing in general, and a cloud database in particularhttp://blog.caspio.com/web-database/top-benefits-of-database-cloud-computing/
Dhwipal Shah
August 29, 2012
Out of all these companies, who do you think can be market leader by 2015 and why?