- Hyperscalers are the cloud providers that operate a global infrastructure at very large scale: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
- Together, they account for around two thirds of the global IaaS and PaaS cloud market (Synergy Research Group, 2024 data).
- Their appeal rests on the breadth of their features, economies of scale and the momentum of their ecosystems (open source, communities, marketplaces).
- This concentration creates structural dependencies, which justify a sovereignty analysis and the exploration of alternatives or hybrid partnerships.
What is a hyperscaler?
The term hyperscaler refers to a cloud service provider that operates a global infrastructure on such a scale that no traditional player can replicate it without comparable industrial investment. This scale is measured in the number of cloud regions, installed capacity, annual investment (several tens of billions of dollars per player since 2022) and the diversity of services offered.
Three players shape this market: Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Alongside them, Alibaba Cloud, Oracle Cloud and IBM Cloud occupy a second-tier position. European providers, while not hyperscalers in the strict sense, operate significant infrastructure and offer equivalent features for common needs.
AWS, Azure, GCP
IaaS and PaaS market shares estimated by Synergy Research Group for 2024. The methodology includes public cloud revenue, excluding SaaS and traditional hosting.
Amazon Web Services
Launched in 2006
32% global market share (2024)
Public cloud pioneer, more than 200 services, present in 33 geographic regions. Its portfolio covers the full IaaS, PaaS and SaaS spectrum, with strong specialisation in data, AI and serverless services.
Microsoft Azure
Launched in 2010
23% global market share (2024)
Deep integration with Microsoft tools (Windows Server, Active Directory, Microsoft 365). Mature hybrid strategy (Azure Arc, Azure Stack), strong presence in large enterprises and the public sector through Enterprise Agreement contracts.
Google Cloud Platform
Launched in 2008
11% global market share (2024)
The youngest of the three as a mainstream commercial offering, GCP has established itself on data and AI workloads (BigQuery, Vertex AI, Kubernetes Engine). Sustained growth since 2020, leading player on certain building blocks (managed Kubernetes, proprietary AI models).
Six sources of dependency
Concentration is not just a question of market share. It is expressed through several channels, each with its own dynamics of inertia.
Compute and storage
Most of the world’s cloud workloads run on the virtual machines and object storage of the three players. Moving away from them requires real technical effort (rewrites, testing, team training).
Managed services
Managed databases (Aurora, Cosmos DB, Spanner) and proprietary AI services create tight coupling: changing provider often means redesigning the application architecture.
Software ecosystem
Kubernetes (CNCF), OpenTelemetry and many open source tools were historically born or took shape around the hyperscalers. The gravity of their ecosystem reinforces technological inertia.
Skills
The cloud job market is dominated by AWS, Azure and GCP certifications. Trained teams often prefer to stay on the stacks they know, which amplifies dependency.
Public contracts
Many States, including France through the Cloud de Confiance project, have entered into partnerships with these players to offer regulated offerings. This does not remove jurisdictional exposure but mitigates it.
Ownership geography
All three groups are subject to US law. The CLOUD Act and FISA Section 702 apply to their scope, including their integrated European subsidiaries.
France and the hyperscalers
- Sector analyses indicate that most Next40 and FT120 start-ups host their workloads on AWS, Azure or GCP, mainly on AWS.
- Several large CAC40 groups have announced large-scale migrations to the hyperscalers since 2019, driven by breadth of features and speed of innovation.
- The Cloud de Confiance programme backed by the French State aims to foster hyperscaler offerings distributed by French operators (Bleu, S3NS) for sensitive uses.
Four ways to reduce dependency
French sovereign clouds
OVHcloud, Scaleway, Outscale, Cloud Temple. IaaS and PaaS coverage, national certifications (SecNumCloud, HDS), French governance.
European players
Infomaniak, IONOS, Hetzner, UpCloud, STACKIT. Competitive offerings for standard compute and storage workloads.
Regulated partnerships
Bleu (Capgemini, Orange, Microsoft) and S3NS (Thales, Google) offer distribution, operated in France, of part of the hyperscaler stack, with the aim of obtaining SecNumCloud qualification.
Multi-cloud or hybrid architecture
Spreading workloads across several providers, keeping critical data on a sovereign platform, and using the hyperscalers for the building blocks where they excel.
Five questions about hyperscalers
What is a hyperscaler?
It is a cloud provider operating a global infrastructure on a scale that no traditional player can replicate without comparable industrial investment. Three players shape this market: AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
Why do people talk about concentration in the cloud market?
Because AWS, Azure and GCP together account for around two thirds of the global IaaS-PaaS market. This concentration creates structural dependencies: technologies, ecosystem, skills, job market.
Are all hyperscalers American?
The three main ones are. Alongside them, Alibaba Cloud (Chinese) operates on a comparable scale but remains a minority player outside Asia. No European player reaches hyperscaler status in the strict sense (multi-continent, tens of billions in annual investment).
Are there European alternatives?
Yes: OVHcloud, Scaleway, Outscale and Cloud Temple in France, plus Infomaniak, IONOS, Hetzner, UpCloud and STACKIT in Europe. Solid IaaS-PaaS coverage for most needs, with sovereign qualifications available (SecNumCloud, HDS).
How can you reduce your dependency?
Four ways: choose a European sovereign cloud, go through a regulated partnership (Bleu, S3NS), adopt a multi-cloud architecture with critical data on a sovereign platform, or keep part of it on private infrastructure. The right mix depends on the business context.
Further reading
- Synergy Research Group, quarterly reports on cloud market shares (srgresearch.com)
- Canalys, Worldwide Cloud Channel Analysis (canalys.com)
- Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure and Platform Services
- Cloud de Confiance national strategy, France (numerique.gouv.fr)
- ARCEP, State of the Internet in France, cloud chapter (arcep.fr)