The cloud market continued to ascend in 2024 as enterprises tapped into hyperscaler public cloud platforms from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to support business operations, including a robust surge powered by growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Gartner is forecasting worldwide public cloud spend will grow more than 19% this year to hit more than $595 billion in total spending before growing another 21.5% in 2025.

“The use of AI technologies in IT and business operations is unabatedly accelerating the role of cloud computing in supporting business operations and outcomes,” Sid Nag, VP analyst at Gartner, wrote. “Cloud use cases continue to expand with increasing focus on distributed, hybrid, cloud-native, and multicloud environments supported by a cross-cloud framework, making the public cloud services market achieve a 21.5% growth in 2025.”

Those opportunities generated significant news and interest from SDxCentral and its reader in over the past 12 months, boosted by changes Broadcom implemented at its newly acquired VMware division that impacted enterprise hybrid-cloud strategies.

Below are the five cloud-related stories that drew the most attention from readers in 2024.

Microsoft offers license relief, discounts for VMware migrators Microsoft launched new licensing benefits and discounts to help VMware users migrate and run their workloads on the hyperscaler’s Azure VMware Solutions service, a path that many VMware customers are in the process of evaluating following recent licensing changes implemented by the vendor’s new parent company Broadcom.

Microsoft’s program is based on the VMware Rapid Migration Plan, which provides the licensing benefits and a level of price consistency for workloads moved to the Azure VMware Solution platform. Read more

Broadcom pushes VMware deeper into Google Cloud Broadcom tightened its post-VMware acquisition relationship with Google Cloud that will see more VMware products running in Google Cloud environments and more promotion of those efforts. It’s also closing in on launching a long-promised VMware license portability program with the hyperscaler.

The work will see Broadcom move VMware workloads to Google Cloud, including customer-facing products and services and internal services. This will allow those VMware workloads to operate more efficiently on Google’s core platform and use Google’s Vertex AI analytics platform. Read more

Microsoft stands by VMware post-Broadcom Microsoft will continue to support its long-standing Azure VMware Solutions service, becoming the latest hyperscaler to throw its support behind VMware’s new operating model following recent moves by new parent company Broadcom.

“I am excited to continue this partnership with VMware by Broadcom,” Brett Tanzer, VP of product management for Microsoft Azure, explained in a blog post. “Our shared commitment to delivering Azure VMware Solution to customers is as strong as ever. We are actively working together to continue supporting our common customers, regardless of where they are on their cloud journey.” Read more

Broadcom pulls VMware Cloud distribution from AWS Broadcom is taking over distribution of its VMware Cloud product running on Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the latest shake up of its new subsidiary’s distribution strategy.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan highlighted the move in a blog post, explaining that VMware Cloud on AWS “is no longer directly sold by AWS or its channel partners.” Read more

Why AWS, Azure, and GCP cloud-native firewalls ‘suck’ Remember open-book tests in school? Those were assignments that students enjoyed doing because all the answers were right in front of them; all they needed to do was to look up the facts and copy them into the test.

There are similar types of product tests in the IT world. In this case, we’re discussing a no-brainer-type test of cloud network firewalls that’s causing a stir. Read more