The Strategist

Apple to Store Photos in Google Cloud



03/21/2016 - 15:22



Apple has transferred part of its cloud services to Google Cloud. At that, the company continue to actively build its own data centers with a further goal to reduce dependence on third-party facilities.



Jorge Láscar via flickr
Jorge Láscar via flickr
Reuters news agency with reference to the portal Re/code reported that some services within the Apple iCloud project have been transferred to the Google Cloud Platform.

Details of the cooperation between the two IT-giants are not reported. It is not known whether it is a question of the regular annual costs, or Apple pays for certain computing power. Apple will translate into Google Cloud resources such as storage of photos, streaming audio and video downloads.

In addition to cooperation with Google, Tim Cook also uses Amazon and Microsoft cloud services in their online products. According to Morgan Stanley’s analysts, Apple will spend a total of $ 1 billion on cloud collaboration with Amazon in 2016.

Google is ranked third on the market of cloud computing services, after Amazon and Microsoft Azure platforms. However, according to CRN, the company significantly lags far behind competitors, even after paying $380 million for Diane Greene’s startup.

At the same time, Apple continues to work to ensure that its services are operated in the company's own IT infrastructure. To this end, they are actively building new data processing centers (DPC).

In February last year, media reported that Apple plans to invest $ 2 billion in construction of a data center in the state of Arizona in the United States. According to the reports, the new asset will be built in the city of Mesa. Its construction involves the most modern technologies, including renewable energy sources. The new unit will employ 150 people.

The new center is being erected on the site of GT Advanced Technologies’ factory, which filed for bankruptcy. Earlier, the company produced sapphire glass for the iPhone smartphones. In addition to the data center, Apple is going to invest in additional solar farms that will provide power to more than 14 thousand homes in Arizona.

According to The Financial Times, Google is inferior to Microsoft and Amazon in the cloud market. According to RightScale’s survey (a major supplier of cloud management services), only 6% of respondents use Google cloud infrastructure, while 17% and 57% users prefer Microsoft and Amazon Solutions respectively.

Meanwhile, Google cloud platform has attracted several major customers in recent months. In the near future, Spotify music service will transfer its data, now stored at Amazon, in there. The agreement was signed in February 2016.

source: reuters.com