QUICK HIT: Amazon vs. Wal-Mart & The Cloud Battle

Wal-Mart may have a plan to slow the juggernaut that is Amazon.

The retailer has reportedly asked some tech vendors to leave the Amazon cloud and stop using apps that run on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Failing to do so could jeopardize their business relationship with Wal-Mart, according to the Wall Street Journal article.

Wal-Mart is definitely feeling the pressure, particularly in light of Amazon's recent acquisition of brick-and-mortar grocer chain Whole Foods (a big data play if ever there was one) and its move into apparel subscriptions. Regardless, some see this development as nothing more than bullying on the part of Wal-Mart - although it is difficult to deny it is not strategic in nature.

Don't be surprised if Wal-Mart, which has been on an acquisition binge of late, does not seek out a cloud services company to add to its technology portfolio in the very near future. By doing so, it can encourage (force) its technology partners to use if they want to do business with the retailer.