Increasingly, companies around the world are relying on cloud computing solutions. This is no surprise, given the fact that these systems can be cost-effective, straightforward to implement and use and highly convenient. In addition, because it makes remote working much easier, cloud-based computing can be extremely useful in the event of an emergency when people are unable to access their offices.
Highlighting the growing popularity of these solutions, new figures suggest that spending on cloud-based systems will increase considerably over coming years.
Facts and figures
According to IHS Technology, an increasing trend among enterprises to move their IT services, applications and infrastructure to a cloud-based architecture will cause market revenue in the sector to increase by a factor of three by 2017 compared with 2011’s figures.
This year, spending on infrastructure and services related to the cloud will reach around $174.2 billion (£105 billion), the firm claims. If it happens, this will be a 20 per cent increase from the $145.2 billion recorded in 2013.
Meanwhile, IHS Technology claimed that the spending will enjoy continued strong growth over the course of the next few years as firms across the globe enter the market. The organisation went on to predict that by 2017, enterprise spending on the cloud will total around $235.1 billion. This is triple the level recorded in 2011, when $78.2 billion was spent.
In addition, the firm believes the number of global consumer subscriptions to the cloud will climb to 730 million this year. This is up from the 630 million recorded last year. IHS Technology pointed out that that there is a “potentially vast base of users” to which cloud suppliers can market their products and other non-cloud services.
Rapidly scalable, highly dynamic and available on-demand
Commenting on the rising popularity of cloud-based solutions, senior director and principal analyst for the cloud and big data at IHS Dr Jagdish Rebello said: “With the cloud touching nearly every consumer and enterprise around the globe, spending for cloud-related storage, servers, applications and content will be dedicated toward building a framework that is rapidly scalable, highly dynamic, available on-demand and requiring minimal management.
“The robust growth will come as an increasing number of large and small enterprises move more of their applications to the cloud, while also looking at data analytics to drive new insights into consumer behaviour.”
Demand from mobile users
One of the factors contributing to the increasing demand for the cloud is the rise to prominence of mobile web devices. IHS Technology pointed out that mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers now require larger storage solutions because of the “vast amounts of media” being consumed on them. The cloud can provide this.
Embracing change
Those firms that are not afraid to embrace change and that are keen to adapt their systems and procedures to take full advantage of the technology now on offer may well find they enjoy a competitive advantage over rivals who are more staid in their approaches to this aspect of business.
Anna Longdin writes regularly about cloud computing. To help ensure she’s always up to date on the latest industry developments, she visits sites including Splitsec.
