"Amazon, Microsoft Tighten Grip on Enterprise Tech"

"Survey says the two tech companies are preferred vendors in over 30 IT services and products"

WSJ Article published March 18 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-microsoft-tighten-grip-on-enterprise-tech-11552949379?mod=hp_minor_pos6

Photo source: https://betanews.com/2017/11/21/amazon-is-becoming-the-new-microsoft/

Analysis by: Nancy Rodriguez 

Analysis posted March 20

According to this article posted on the Wall Street Journal, Author Angus Loten reports that the market-research firm ETR found that Amazon and Microsoft are the leading information-technology companies, because they first introduced the cloud and are a part of consolidations. 

He also reported that the firm said these leading companies are preferred for information technology basic needs by many high-level corporate officials. He noted that these two companies' head start on the cloud market has produced nearly $50 billion a year in combined revenue and could double by 2020. 

Because these companies provide many different basic technology products, it is easy for consumers to shop in one place. This is something some are worried about, such as the Marty Boos, CIO of StubHub, because big consolidations give consumers limited options to purchase from and eliminate competition. Merging and acquisition done by companies such as Amazon and Microsoft only allows them to become more and more powerful. Although some may be opposed to consolidations such as these, the convenience of a getting many products from one place outweighs the opposition. 

I chose this article, because technology has become a staple need for everyone. However, I am surprised Apple is not one of the two leading companies. I also believe the consolidations done by big companies need to be regulated by the government when it begins to harm competition and the consumer. 

This relates to our marketing class, because the topic of this story is the product. The introduction of the cloud by these companies means that they entered the life cycle of this new product first and are able to receive the most revenue. These popular brands are also preferred to other companies, because they have established a brand name and are trusted brands by consumers. Further,  their convenience of having many different basic IT products and services allow these companies to be the best places to buy all kinds of products. I believe these companies are strong conventional internet retailers, because of their popular expanded assortment and reduced margins.