It's crystal-balled that by 2025 there will be 100+ zettabytes of data stored in the cloud – half of all global data storage.

To put this into perspective...

A zettabyte is a billion terabytes, meaning that even if you consumed 1 terabyte per second, it would take you 3,168 years to go through this much data.

The time it took to go from computers that occupied entire rooms to devices that fit in your palm took only a fraction of this time.

The growth of the internet and cloud computing has gone hand-in-hand — and in the past decade, storage on the cloud has progressed from being exclusive to inclusive.

To give the most basic example – anyone who creates a Gmail account automatically gets cloud storage of ~15GB*.

The cloud has penetrated almost every aspect of our lives: from documents that multiple people can edit in real-time to to-do lists you can share with your family – its influence is everywhere.

Today, cloud data centers process over 94% of all data workloads, with SaaS processes accounting for 75% of this data. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

How the Cloud is Evolving

Spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic – cloud computing has seen exponential growth, with people now relying on the cloud for their day-to-day storage and computing requirements.

The cloud has become an integral and oftentimes un-noticed element of our lives. No longer is it associated with large enterprises and data management providers.

Can you imagine a ‘remote work’ or a work-from-anywhere situation without easy and unrestricted access to a cloud network?

Your employer could be based in Silicon Valley, but you could be working by the beach in the Bahamas.

The world has become a smaller place thanks to the cloud.

But before we get carried away with the idea of sipping piña coladas by the beach, let’s understand how the cloud has inextricably linked businesses and professionals and what the future of the cloud holds.

(*) holds true as of December 2022. Google may/may not change this from time to time

Cloud computing in 2023 — How far have we come?

The world of cloud computing and cloud storage presents us with some interesting facts. Consider this: Google Drive is the world's most used cloud storage service, with a leviathan’s share (94.4%) of the market.

Cloud storage market

Source: Cloudwards

Prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the adoption of edge computing technology, it is estimated that by the end of 2023, the number of devices connected to IP networks will be three times the global population.

From 2020 to 2026, the cloud computing market will witness a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 16-17%.

And if that doesn’t speak volumes about the market, here are some additional stats around cloud computing.

Cloud Computing Statistics – Revenue

1. The largest cloud services provider holds 31% of the market share

Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds the largest share of the pie, at more than 31% of the total cloud computing market.

This is because AWS had a head start of almost 5 years – when competition in the space was relatively low, allowing for greater experimentation and development of functionalities.

2. Where is the largest data center in the world?

Located in Tahoe Reno, Nevada – the Citadel is the largest data center in existence,  covering  1.3 million square feet.

For reference, that is the area of roughly 20+ football fields.  

The data center is still a work in progress and once completed, over 7.2 million square feet of campus will be dedicated to cloud storage and computing.

3- Public IT Cloud Services witness unprecedented growth in revenue worldwide.

The market size of public IT cloud services surpassed $184 billion in 2019 and is projected to exceed $331 billion by 2023.

Cloud computing has revolutionized ho businesses store and manage their data.

By granting users on-demand access to cloud-based applications, cloud computing has allowed companies to optimize their operations, leading to unprecedented growth in cloud computing revenue worldwide.

With cloud computing, companies can access flexible and secure storage, faster data processing, and a range of applications without purchasing hardware.

This not only leads to greater cost savings but also allows for workforce mobility and improved customer service.

It’s clear that cloud computing isn’t going away, and its global market revenue will likely grow.

4. Cloud computing revenue will reach $623 billion by 2023.

Cloud computing revenue is expected to reach $623 billion by 2023, a CAGR of 18.9%. The global cloud computing market is growing at a fast pace as businesses are moving their data, applications, and services into the cloud.

Cloud computing has been able to transform businesses in many ways:

➡️Streamlining IT operation
➡️reducing costs,
➡️enabling faster innovation,
➡️and delivering new business models—
like digital transformation or IoT (Internet of Things).

5. IT-as-a-service could rise to $1 trillion in 2023.

The IT-as-a-service (ITaaS) model is one of the most popular cloud computing models and could grow to $1 trillion in size by 2023.

ITaaS allows companies to outsource their entire IT infrastructure to third-party providers at an affordable cost.

This will enable businesses to focus on their core business rather than having employees spend time managing and maintaining an information technology infrastructure that isn’t used every day.

The popularity of this model has led many companies who previously owned their own data centers to use other providers' facilities instead.

However, those looking at entering this market should not only look at factors like price but—also what kind of support they can get from these providers in the event of issues with their services or network infrastructure.

Cloud Computing Growth Statistics – 2023

Cloud computing growth statistics are indicative of the industry’s growth trajectory and forecasts.

End-user spending, in particular, is a key growth statistic to watch, given its impact on consumer adoption and preference for cloud solutions over traditional online solutions.

As cloud computing continues to expand and evolve, growth statistics can help track its progress and inform future investments for businesses and consumers alike.

6. Forecasting Shows Continued Growth in End-User Spending in Public Cloud Services

The growth of cloud computing has been significant, with market experts predicting growth of 21.5% between 2020 to 2025 alone.

This growth is a measure of the rise in end-user spending on key online solutions such as remote storage, web hosting, and virtual private networks (VPNs).

According to a forecast by Gartner, end-user spending on cloud services will grow at least 17% each year powered by cloud computing to streamline operations and improve efficiencies.

This increased demand for cloud computing services is backed up by an increase in IT investment in areas such as automation, virtualization, analytics, and others, helping to propel growth even further.

7. Over 50% of organizations will use cloud-based IaaS in 2023.

According to the report from Gartner, 43% of organizations were already using cloud-based IaaS in 2020.

In addition to its popularity among businesses and consumers, cloud computing has become a necessary component of modern technology infrastructure.

As such, the technology industry has been developing new ways to incorporate this emerging trend into their own operations—and we can expect that trend to continue through 2023.

8. Public cloud spending will hit 57% of total cloud spending.

Achieving 57% of total cloud spending is an important milestone for public clouds.

It shows the industry is becoming more mature and that businesses are willing to pay for more sophisticated services.

The majority of cloud users are still small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), with only 16% falling into the enterprise segment.

While there is still room for growth in terms of both types of organizations using public clouds, they tend to be smaller than their private counterparts with respect to overall usage patterns.

9. 70% of companies will have a cloud-first policy by the end of 2023.

A recent survey by Forrester states that 60% of companies will have a Cloud First policy by 2023. This trend shows a crucial shift towards cloud-first services over on-premises solutions.

The cloud-first policy is not just about using the latest technology; it also involves reducing business disruptions caused by upgrades in hardware or software systems, and the ability to move readily between environments without disruption.

10. The public cloud is estimated to grow by 19%.

According to a report by Ovum, the public cloud is estimated to grow by 19%.

This growth is due to hybrid and private clouds' increasing popularity.

The public cloud has become the market's fastest-growing segment over its lifetime, with annual growth rates ranging from 6% in 2013 and 2014, up to 17% in 2018, and 19% in 2021 (according to Coresight Research).

11- More than 84% of enterprise workloads will be processed on the cloud.

Cloud data centers are growing at a rapid pace.

According to International Data Corporation (IDC) research, at least 84% of enterprise workloads will be processed by cloud data centers in the next few years.

This means that even if you don’t have an established IT department or want your own physical data center space, there’s an opportunity for growth with cloud services.

What’s in the Future of Cloud Computing?

For years, cloud computing has been a game-changing technology for businesses and organizations around the world.

From increased scalability and performance to more secure data storage, cloud computing is no longer just a trend but an essential part of modern business operations.

The progression to cloudification, or the embracing of cloud technology and cloud services, has accelerated as 5G has been adopted around the globe.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also playing a major role in cloud growth, helping expand cloud capabilities into new realms and providing greater efficiency for businesses.

Furthermore, trends such as serverless cloud computing are ushering in more advanced cloud usage, pushing the boundaries of what cloud systems can do while potentially trimming costs.

12. Technology and cloud computing will advance hand-in-hand.

As computer processors become more powerful and faster, they will be able to process larger amounts of data rapidly.

This means that the servers used by cloud providers will handle more requests with less downtime, making it easier and faster for businesses to access their data.

Additionally, as internet speeds increase, cloud users will be able to readily access their data from any device connected to the internet.

13. The growth of AI will optimize cloud computing performance.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a huge part of cloud computing, sorting through large amounts of data quickly and accurately.

As AI continues to develop in accuracy and power, these algorithms will also improve in terms of accuracy and speed.

This could help make cloud computing more efficient by automating tasks that previously had to be done manually or providing more accurate results based on user behavior patterns.

14. Serverless clouds will be a boon for developers.

Serverless cloud technology allows developers to build applications without worrying about managing server infrastructure or scaling resources up or down when demand changes.

This could help developers create better-optimized applications for both performance and cost savings while allowing them to focus on features over server maintenance.

Serverless cloud could also make it easier for businesses to scale their applications up or down based on how much usage they need.

Meaning they don't have to worry about overspending on resources they don’t need or losing potential customers because their application isn’t performing well enough during peak times.

15. Real-time collaboration will grow.

As a result of the global pandemic, the work-from-home ecosystem has seen tremendous growth in the past three years.

The pandemic may be behind us, but real-time collaboration tools aren’t going away, with many businesses continuing this work model or transitioning to a hybrid mode.

There has also been a rise in the number of remote workplaces offering improved flexibility to workers and greater cost-savings to organizations. Popular communications tools like Zoom have seen marked growth on the back of this trend.

As cloud-based collaboration tools become more sophisticated, they’ll be able to provide even greater levels of collaboration between team members located anywhere in the world.

This could lead to improved communication between team members as well as higher levels of productivity due to less wasted time spent waiting for files or other assets needed for a project’s completion.

16. Automated infrastructure management is catching up.

As cloud deployments increase in complexity and size, businesses are turning to automated infrastructure management solutions.

For example,  IBM Cloud Automation Manager or AWS OpsWorks can help simplify day-to-day operations by automating provisioning, configuration, deployment & scaling, and monitoring & alerting tasks.

17. Containerization will smooth the deployment cycle.

Containerization is a type of virtualization in which all the components of an application are bundled into a single container image and can be run in isolated user space on the same shared operating system.

Containers will make running applications in an isolated environment more efficient without changing their existing codebase or configuration settings.

Using containers in cloud computing, application components can be deployed across multiple nodes quickly without impacting other processes running on the same node. This allows teams to develop more advanced distributed systems faster than before.

What About Cloud Security?

When handing over something valuable, everyone asks, ‘is it safe’?

And yet, we find it reassuring to keep valuables in a bank locker and share personal files over cloud drives, and companies use cloud services to collaborate and manage their resources.

Cloud computing is, statistically speaking, safer than on-premise setups.

This is because cloud service providers are often established players with access to immense resources – financial, technology, hardware, and talent from around the world.

As a result, they must comply with regulations and spend millions (and billions) on security that smaller companies can’t afford.

These providers handle the data and computing of many large organizations. Their reputation and their continued business depend on their ability to keep their client organizations' data safe. So their networks and platforms prioritize up-to-date security and firewalls.

18. Cloud ranks #1 in security technology deployment.

According to Cynet’s 2021 Survey of CISOs with Small Cyber Security Teams –57% of companies (with small security teams) see the cloud as a promising means for implementing security technologies. This top-ranking priority is followed by on-prem (21%) and hybrid (13%).

Companies can leverage their limited resources more effectively by outsourcing resources-intensive processes to the cloud.

19. More than 65% of cloud network security incidents stem from user error

Based on Palo Alto’s Unit 42 2H 2020 research — two in three cloud security incidents are due to misconfigurations (or other forms of user error).

According to Gartner, over 99% of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault by 2025, as cloud services will update and scale their networks with top-tier security and protection measures.

Final thoughts

Cloud computing continues to grow and evolve, introducing new technologies and services daily.

The cloud is no longer just a tool for enterprise IT departments but something that all businesses use in some capacity.

As a result, many organizations are now trying to optimize their processes and manage costs more effectively by using cloud computing services.

Go Deeper: Your Cloud Spend Doesn’t Have to be that Ridiculously High

As technology and connectivity grow, cloud computing and cloud services will also grow, driven by demand and the need for a globally connected workforce.

While forecasts and predictions can reveal general trends, it will be important to pay close attention to factors shaping the future.

Ready to optimize your cloud strategy? Get in touch.

Stats, References, and Sources

Additional statistics; https://www.forrester.com/blogs/category/cloud-computing/

References:

1. https://www.techopedia.com/the-future-of-cloud-computing-8-trends-to-watch-in-2023/2/34849
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/10/17/the-top-5-cloud-computing-trends-in-2023/?sh=5fb3fb374648
3. https://www.the-future-of-commerce.com/2022/11/09/cloud-computing-trends-2023/
4. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/future-cloud-computing-2023/
5. https://www.infoworld.com/article/3680553/whats-coming-for-cloud-computing-in-2023.html
6. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/09/29/2525511/0/en/The-Global-Cloud-Computing-Market-size-is-expected-to-reach-1143-2-Billion-by-2028-rising-at-a-market-growth-of-15-0-CAGR-during-the-forecast-period.html
7. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/21/2081841/0/en/Cloud-Computing-Industry-to-Grow-from-371-4-Billion-in-2020-to-832-1-Billion-by-2025-at-a-CAGR-of-17-5.html
8. https://www.techchannel.news/03/06/2021/public-cloud-services-market-in-india-to-grow-21-5-annually-till-2025/

Reports:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PDF/practices/cloud-computing.pdf