Summary: Apple’s iCloud storage service has used third party public clouds – AWS and Azure – for storage and it appears that it has now added Google to its multi-cloud strategy.
Details: The information about Apple’s iCloud infrastructure can be found in the iOS security guide. In past versions, it has stated clearly that it hosts data on AWS and Microsoft Azure. A recent update to the document drew some attention as it now does not mention Azure, but has added Google. AWS is still mentioned. It is unclear as to what date this started, but it would appear to be a rather new relationship. Some outlets reported that as of the latest update to this document in March 2017 there was no mention of Google.
More details: The decision to go with Google’s cloud is apparently driven by its use of encryption. Does the change mean that iCloud no longer uses Azure? There is no way to determine that and unsurprisingly, nothing is being disclosed. But this would seem to be unlikely as it would require money, resources and time to move off Azure (or any cloud). It would be easier to just leave things as they are and use Google going forward if that is now a preferred option. Any spikes in cloud numbers over the next few quarters might provide some hints.
Build: Another angle to this development is the question of whether Apple might decide to just start building its own data centres. There have been a number of use cases, such as Dropbox recently, where at scale, the public cloud provides diminishing returns in terms of cost efficiency. At that point, it might make sense to build or even colocate. In fact, it is no secret that Apple is building its own data centres – often in some very low-cost and off-the-beaten-path areas. Could that somewhat moderate what Google and the other clouds get out of Apple for iCloud?
Angle: It is clear the win is a positive for Google. If encryption is really a driver here, and Apple really wants to go with that technology, then it is possible this win will come at the expense of Azure and AWS, and provide a nice growth engine. But there are reasons to be cautious and think it might not be a complete slam dunk. The likely outcome is probably some combination of all the scenarios and it will likely be driven by specific use cases. If it wants to go cheap and deep, Apple will use the cloud that best suits that. If it can find advantageous economics by building, it will do that. If it wants to hedge its bets, it will go multi-cloud. If it feels security is increasingly crucial, then perhaps Google wins. In short, it is more likely this is how Apple will approach things – choosing from a number of options to support the requirements. But overall, a nice development for Google as it continues to pick up logos in cloud infrastructure and definitely seems to be a beneficiary of a growing desire to use multiple clouds both as a hedge and as a way to access unique and specific services/technologies/capabilities.
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