Nowadays, everyone is using cloud computing. From tech companies to the pizza place down the block – cloud computing has made its way into virtually every industry in the market. However, no matter how prevalent it seems, not many people know that much about the intricacies of this impressive technology.
What is Cloud Computing?
To put it simply – cloud computing is the act of using an interconnected network of Internet-hosted remote servers to manage, store and process data. In cloud computing, data is accessed over the Internet rather than through a computer’s hard drive. Because of this, cloud computing is often thought of as an insurance policy should a computer break down or suffer a catastrophic hard drive failure. Cloud computing is used for everything from banking to data sharing and, because it allows multiple computers on a local network to access data, it has become a popular form of technology among companies of all sizes and staffing levels in a variety of industries.
Cloud Computing Facts
By now, it’s obvious that the cloud is widely used and that people spend a great deal of money creating, managing and upgrading their cloud computing systems, but you may be wondering how widely used it is and how much money the cloud draws. Here are some fascinating facts to wrap your mind around:
Nearly one-half of US Government agencies use the cloud.
Annually, these agencies spend $2 billion on creating, supporting and maintaining cloud services. Some experts say that the government is the largest user of the cloud in the world. Within the different branches of the government that use the cloud, commercial clouds, private clouds and shared clouds are all used. Private clouds, specifically, are employed by the government in an attempt to maintain security and control over the cloud.
Banking produces the most activity within the cloud.
This is due in large part to the introduction of widespread mobile banking services in 2013. Additionally, the rise of crowdfunding services and money management services like PayPal have grown, driving the act of paying virtually for goods through the roof. With the rising popularity of virtual currencies like Bitcoin, this trend of cloud computing for banking is only projected to continue.
The cloud computing market is projected to reach $106 billion by 2016.
This represents a 30% growth rate from 2013. This is especially stark when you take into account that the entire enterprise IT industry is only expected to experience a 5% growth rate between 2013 and 2018. Additionally, experts project that by 2018, 59% of all of the cloud’s workload will be the result of Software-as-a-Service This represents a 41% increase since 2013.
60% of U.S. IT decision makers trust the security of the cloud.
When it comes to storing sensitive data in the cloud, the grand majority of IT experts aren’t concerned. Additionally, 80% of enterprises globally use the cloud to store their data. What’s more, 82% of companies reported saving money when they adopted the cloud and 14% report downsizing their IT department as a result of the presence of the cloud.
Within the next five years, the public cloud will experience a 44% growth.
This is in contrast to the 9% growth rate that is projected for “on premise” and hard drive based forms of computing.
80% of companies that adopt the cloud see improvements within their IT departments within six months.
These improvements were generally in the areas of efficiency, quality and security. Additionally, moving to the cloud helped these companies save money, cut costs and use staff more efficiently. After adopting the cloud, upwards of 90% of IT decision makers saw marked improvements in at least one area of the IT department.
2014 represented the first year when the majority of workloads were on the cloud.
In 2014, 51% of workloads were processed via the cloud. This is compared to 49% processed in traditional IT space. Since global data center traffic is predicted to increase threefold between 2012 and 2017, this number will only continue to go up.
With these statistics in mind, it’s clear that the future of the cloud looks bright and that companies that choose to adopt the cloud see large and almost immediate benefits. From high-level enterprise data storage to simple financial processing, the cloud is a fantastic go-to system for businesses in all industries and of all sizes. In addition to providing unparalleled security and ease of access, the cloud offers the added benefit of helping companies stay connected, access data easily and do business in a more streamlined fashion.
To learn more about cloud computing, visit Allied Telecom today.
