Cloud computing is rapidly transforming the digital landscape. It is serving as the engine for various emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI). It enables businesses to access IT resources on demand by offering data storage and computing power digitally. It eliminates the need for significant upfront investments. There are various advantages and these are scalability, rapid provisioning, advanced security and minimal management effort. The public cloud services market in India was valued at $7.51 billion in 2023. It is expected to add $310-380 billion (about 8% of GDP) and creating 14 million new jobs by 2026.
The cloud computing market is being dominated by major players or hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. The companies provide extensive computing and storage services. However, their dominance raises competition concerns and also controls adjacent markets. Legacy software vendors offering cloud services often implement commercial policies that stifle competition and draws scrutiny from regulatory bodies.
A competitive CSP market is crucial to enable a multi-cloud strategy. Businesses are allowed to combine services from different providers based on cost, speed, scalability and security needs. Indian CSPs offer cost-efficiency and personalized support. hyperscalers create barriers to switching and multi-cloud adoption. Technical challenges like limited interoperability and proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs) lead to vendor lock-in. it becomes more difficult for services hosted on different CSPs to interact seamlessly.
Antitrust intervention is one solution to address the market failures. Regulatory authorities like the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission have conducted studies to understand better the competition concerns in the cloud computing market. Merger regulations and ex-post interventions can address some issues, but may not fully resolve the inherent challenges.
