Though cloud computing has been around since the 1990s, usage has exploded due to lockdowns around the nation. The global cloud computing market is expected to grow from $445.3 billion in 2021 to $947.3 billion by 2026, according to market research firm ReportLinker.

While much of the market is dominated by its three largest players – Alphabet Inc. (Tii:GOOG), Amazon.com Inc. (Tii:AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (Tii:MSFT) – the industry’s massive growth means plenty of opportunities for the other players to carve out their share of the proverbial pie. Case in point, Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited (Tii:BABA) reported that third-quarter cloud computing revenue grew almost 59% year-over-year to reach $2.19 billion.

As the industry looks to continue its growth trend, let’s look at a few of the many other players in this crowded field.

Let’s start with one of the oldest competitors in the cloud. Founded in 1999, Salesforce.com, Inc. (Tii:CRM) provides a host of cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) services to some 150,000 companies. The company has grown organically and through strategic acquisitions, including the 2021 buyout of Slack Technologies, Inc. As a result, Slack’s business communication platform became the interface for Salesforce Customer 360, a service that connects marketing, sales, commerce, service, and IT teams with a single view of customer data. Salesforce, which plans to release fourth quarter and annual earnings on March 1, has experienced strong revenue growth, margin and cash flow. Revenue climbed 27% year-over-year to reach $6.86 billion for its third quarter.

Starting as a provider of content development software in the 1980s, Adobe Inc. (Tii:ADBE) is now a leader in cloud services by incorporating new capabilities into its existing products. Its Creative Cloud Libraries are a suite of web services that allows Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Acrobat, Illustrator and InDesign users to access assets across various Adobe desktop and mobile applications. The global software provider achieved record revenues of $4.11 billion in its fiscal 2021 fourth quarter. A not insignificant part of that growth came from a 29% increase in Document Cloud, which contributed $532 million in quarterly revenue.

A relative newcomer to the space, Zoom Video Communications (Tii:ZM) has become a leading cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars. While the company has grown significantly – partially due to remote workforce trends – it came with setbacks. Last year, shareholders of Five9 Inc. (Tii:FIVN), a leading cloud contact center solutions provider, rejected Zoom’s $14.7 billion bid. However, Zoom’s third-quarter revenues increased 35% to $1.05 billion, and the company predicts approximately 54% year-over-year revenue growth for the fiscal year-end. Last fall, Zoom unveiled a host of new cloud-based solutions as the company continues to evolve as a videoconferencing platform.

Operating at the intersection of e-retail and cloud services, Shopify Inc. (Tii:SHOP) has greatly benefited from the explosion in both industries. With more than 1.7 million businesses in approximately 175 countries using its infrastructure to conduct e-commerce, Shopify’s third-quarter revenues increased 46% to $1.123 billion. During that quarter, the company introduced Shopify Markets, a product that makes cross-border commerce easier, Shopify Balance, a no-fee money management service for merchants, and TikTok Shopping, which enables merchants with a TikTok For Business account to add products that link directly to their online store checkouts.

These companies are just a small representation of those competing in the multi-billion-dollar market. With cloud-based services and infrastructure in such high demand and touching virtually every other industry, consolidation could well happen in the near future as the bigger players acquire their way into greater market share.