亚马逊云计算业务的前景如何？

    不过沃克认为，亚马逊网络服务或许即将发生更大的变化。他认为亚马逊有必要考虑把庞大的云计算业务剥离出去。此举可以为股东带来更好的价值。更重要的是，他认为基础架构即服务（IaaS）市场未来几年里将不可避免地红火起来，而剥离将有助于帮助亚马逊网络服务进一步实现差异化。沃尔表示：“当然亚马逊自己可能就是它最大的客户，不过人们可能会问：亚马逊网络服务究竟是一个单独的业务，还是一个挂靠在网络零售企业下面的服务？”有的企业和亚马逊是竞争对手，因而在考虑使用亚马逊网络服务时可能存在一些顾虑。而剥离则有助于减轻他们的顾虑。

    虽然分析师们多有揣测，行业内幕人士也有不少传闻，不过亚马逊公司表示，目前暂无剥离网络服务的计划。毕竟亚马逊自己也是在亚马逊网络服务上运行的，因此剥离起来十分复杂。另外，虽然亚马逊网络服务增长迅速，而且支撑起了一个了不起的业务生态系统，但它的收入与亚马逊去年482亿美元的巨额收入相比，还是显得微不足道。高德纳公司（Garter）分析师雷•瓦尔德斯认为：“亚马逊网络服务与亚马逊的电子商务业务共享的是同一套全球运营体系和基础架构。”他表示如果亚马逊网络服务被剥离出去，可能会失去背后的协同效应。

    那么亚马逊的竞争对手会不会有一天在使用亚马逊网络服务的问题上感到不安呢？沃尔表示：“人们很可能会想，如果它对亚马逊的在线商店来说已经足够好了，那么它对我的小型电子商务公司来说也会足够好的。”

    译者：朴成奎

    Walker however, suggests bigger changes for AWS may be in store. He argues that a spin-off of the massive cloud infrastructure business warrants consideration. Such a move may drive better value for fickle shareholders. More importantly, he believes it could help further differentiate AWS in the years to come, when the IaaS market eventually, inevitably heats up. Says Walker, "Certainly Amazon may be its largest customer, but people [may] want to ask: Does AWS belong as a standalone business versus one hitched to the back of an online retailing business?" Doing so might could alleviate concerns companies may have in the future about running their businesses on an infrastructure owned by a competitor.

    As much as analysts might war game the scenario or industry insiders whisper about it, Amazon says it has no plans for a spin-off. After all, Amazon runs on AWS, making a split complicated. What's more, even as AWS has grown and supported an impressive ecosystem of other businesses, its revenues still pale in comparison to the monster $48.2 billion total Amazon pulled in last year. "There is a common global scale operations and infrastructure that is shared by Amazon's e-commerce business as well as AWS," argues Gartner analyst Ray Valdes, who says that behind-the-scenes synergy may be lost if AWS were spun out.

    What about competing companies one day getting nervous about using Amazon's digital pipes? Says Walker, "People will more likely think, if it's good enough for Amazon's online store, then it's good enough for my small, little e-commerce business."