SMB developers trust big cloud providers -- but not completely
A new survey for cloud computing company Linode, carried out by ClearPath Strategies, looks at how much developers trust their third-party cloud providers.
Based on responses from 800 developers at small and mid-sized businesses, it finds that while developers generally say they trust their provider of choice in general, deeper examination uncovers some issues when it comes to major cloud providers.
Around 20 percent of developers believe that the big three providers -- Amazon, Microsoft, and Google -- will engage in behaviors that include using their brands to stifle competition, focusing on shareholder more than customer needs, hosting or working with customers that developers find morally objectionable, monetizing user data for their own use and locking them in with proprietary tools.
Stephanie Fairchild, senior analyst at Clearpath Strategies says, "Criteria such as security and performance clearly take priority over these trust issues for developers, but it's interesting to note that a sizable portion of developers are thinking about how their values align with those of their service providers."
The survey reveals that trust plays an important role in developers' choice of a cloud hosting provider but other needs take precedence. Developers report that they prioritize needs over values 73 percent of the time.
The top three reasons given for developers' preference of their chosen third-party cloud provider are security, trust and quality of service. Survey respondents also felt that both hyperscale and alternative cloud providers deliver equally effective performance and security.
"It's no secret that the extensive functionality and brand awareness of hyperscalers make them popular choices for developers, but their standing with SMBs weakens with respect to values," says Blair Lyon, vice president of cloud experience at Linode. "An alternative cloud provider like Linode can be a more trustworthy partner for innovative upstarts -- one that offers predictable pricing and doesn't threaten or compete with their business. And when an alternative cloud provider such as Linode meets a developer's functional needs -- which is nearly always the case -- developers can have the best of both worlds: a provider they can trust to meet their needs and one that shares their values as well."
The full report is available from the Linode site.
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