Platformonomics
platformonomics.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2013
Platformonomics is an analysis blog on cloud computing economics, tracking capital expenditure of the big cloud providers year by year.
What HN saysHN commenters cite its Follow the CAPEX series as data showing IBM and Oracle spend far less on cloud infrastructure than AWS, Azure, and Google.
40HN people shared it
9linked it in comments
39stories submitted
867story points
9 months agolast shared
2013people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Follow the CAPEX: Separating the Clowns from the Clouds5 people · 77 points · first shared 2018 · 26 comments on HN
- 2Who eats who in open source4 people · 169 points · first shared 2019 · 74 comments on HN
- 3Follow the Capex: Cloud Table Stakes 2019 Edition3 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 4A Cold Take on IBM, Red Hat and Their Hybrid Cloud2 people · 193 points · first shared 2019 · 140 comments on HN
- 5Follow the CAPEX: Cloud Table Stakes2 people · 50 points · first shared 2017 · 17 comments on HN
- 6The Cloudless Cloud Company2 people · 6 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 7Cloud Capex Retrospective 20232 people · 6 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 8Follow the Capex: Clown Watch2 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 9Regulating Facebook: A Proposal2 people · 2 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 10Follow the CAPEX: Cloud Table Stakes 2018 Edition2 people · 1 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 11IBM's Lost Decade1 people · 217 points · first shared 2020 · 189 comments on HN
- 12They Don't Have the Money: OpenAI Edition1 people · 93 points · first shared 2025 · 58 comments on HN
- 13IBM: How Much Longer Do the Good Times Last?1 people · 9 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
- 14Follow the Capex: Triangulating Nvidia1 people · 9 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 15Follow the CAPEX: Cloud giants Amazon, Microsoft, and Google 2020 comparison1 people · 5 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
rrdharan · 2023-01-23
Historically Google far outspent Microsoft on their “super computers”, though in recent years MS has been closing the gap.
https://www.platformonomics.com/2022/02/follow-the-capex-cloud-table-s…
discodave · 2020-07-10
Their capex looks to be ~$2-300MM. That's approximately 1% of what AWS spends.
https://www.platformonomics.com/2020/02/follow-the-capex-cloud-table-s…
rilindo · 2020-02-03
Rebranding won't help, unless IBM actually put in the CapEx behind their cloud:
https://www.platformonomics.com/2018/05/follow-the-capex-separating-th…
green-eclipse · 2019-12-16
Oracle's cloud is an also-ran. Just follow the investment the cloud giants are making. Oracle is not even in the same league. From:
https://www.platformonomics.com/2019/02/follow-the-capex-cloud-table-s…
"Google’s incremental CAPEX spend in 2018 is about what cloud pretender Oracle has spent on CAPEX throughout their entire history."
signal11 · 2019-10-21
IBM and Oracle are really not in the same class as AWS, Azure and GCP, when it comes to investing in cloud infrastructure. They’re bit players at best: http://www.platformonomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/clip_image00…
From this article: https://www.platformonomics.com/2018/05/follow-the-capex-separating-th…
cavisne · 2018-07-28
The scale of oracle cloud is laughable compared to its competitors.
http://www.platformonomics.com/2018/05/follow-the-capex-separating-the…
In terms of value to the taxpayer I think AWS's offering would be head and shoulders above anything else. There would be no quicker way to be fired at amazon than if evidence came out that you were rorting or delivering an inferior product to a customer, behavior thats almost assumed with other government contractors.
DEADBEEFC0FFEE · 2018-07-12
Quite an interesting read. I don't see how growth rate can continue without capital investment and the last research I saw showed AWS with much more investment.
http://www.platformonomics.com/2018/05/follow-the-capex-separating-the…
That said, I do see solid Azure growth. Once people get O365, Azure AD follows and then it's architecturally easier to use other Azure services.
1cvmask · 2021-10-04
jonathanedwards · 2018-06-17
Bit of a puff piece. For a contrasting view, Dan Lyons (Fake Steve Jobs) has some choice quotes on Benioff excerpted here http://www.platformonomics.com/2016/09/the-spectacle-that-is-dreamforc… “There’s an art to this kind of horseshit, and Benioff is its Michelangelo.”