SoftLayer is an emerging player in the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) space. The company may not be as large or well-known as providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft’s Azure, SoftLayer claims it does a few things better than the big boys. The company has released a few case studies that detail why its platform is just as viable of an option as services from more popular IaaS vendors, if not better.

SoftLayer believes its lower complexity is a key benefit. SoftLayer’s clients like AppFirst agree. AppFirst provides systems visibility solutions; pricing and reduced complexity were the main reasons it chose SoftLayer to provide IaaS services. AppFirst’s David Roth, CEO, explained his company’s selection saying the simplification of IT is an important trend, but it has not yet fully reached the likes of AWS. He said,

“Confusing pricing schemes, long-term lock-in contracts and performance bottlenecks were pretty much all we saw when we contracted with other big cloud providers. Our solution is constantly streaming data from thousands of servers residing in more than 70 countries worldwide and we can’t afford a sub-standard platform. SoftLayer invested in what we needed most — amazing automation that allows us to be in control and no long-term contract or exorbitant prices. SoftLayer delivers a top-notch solution for business like ours, running on both virtual and physical servers, delivering a best-in-class networking infrastructure.”

AppFirst tried two other IaaS solutions before choosing SoftLayer. While AppFirst’s main concern was the bottom line, other clients were more impressed by the technical advantages. Cloudant and Struq pointed at low latency and easy scaling as two big pros.

The cloud space is really starting to diversify, not just thanks up-and-coming vendors like SoftLayer, but also new trends such as big data. SiliconANGLE founder John Furrier looked into the viability of the IaaS platforms from an analytics standpoint. The market is full, but there seems to still be plenty of opportunities for vendors to excel by specializing in specific niche.