Google getting into cloud-based visual effects with Zync buy
Summary: Previously a proud Amazon EC2 customer, the visual effects provider is also moving over to Google Cloud Platform. — Google is acquiring Zync Inc., bolstering the Internet giant's cloud-based offerings for creative professionals.
Context & Ripple Effects
Zync arrives with an established cloud dependency: it had been using Amazon EC2 and is migrating its operations to Google Cloud Platform. That makes the deal more than a talent or product acquisition, combining a visual-effects service with a committed Google Cloud workload.
The transaction is a targeted extension of Google's cloud offering toward creative professionals, while removing a customer from Amazon EC2.
First-order effects
- Google gains Zync's visual-effects technology and shifts Zync's cloud consumption to Google Cloud Platform.
- Amazon EC2 loses Zync as a customer as the provider migrates its operations to Google's infrastructure.
Second-order effects
- Visual-effects customers evaluating Zync will be tied more closely to Google Cloud Platform, making infrastructure choice part of the service decision.
- Amazon EC2 and Google Cloud Platform compete not only for raw compute workloads but for the specialized services that bring those workloads with them.
Third-order effects
- If major cloud providers continue buying application-layer specialists, creative-industry cloud competition will increasingly turn on vertical workflows rather than generic infrastructure alone.
The trend: Hyperscalers are using specialized software and service acquisitions to attach industry-specific workloads to their cloud platforms.