• Haar Cloud
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We live in a digital world, and as with everything in this world, the cloud computing landscape is also continuously changing. Innovation in the cloud and the appearance of new tools and services grow with each day, and to prove our point, the latest forecast from Gartner confirms it – the end-user spending on public cloud services is expected to grow 20.7% to nearly $600 billion in 2023, up from $490.3 billion in 2022. And this is higher than the 18.8% growth forecast for 2022.

The numbers speak for themselves – the cloud is transforming tech and business. At the same time, the cloud can seem a confusing space.

To show you how astonishing this space is and also help you decide for yourself if the cloud can benefit your business, we gathered in a single article the most recent cloud computing stats and trends for 2023 and beyond. 

For an easier read, we added the top 10 trends in this next infographic.

If you want to learn more about each of these stats, their sources and many other trends, read on.

1. Worldwide IT spending is estimated to reach $4.5 trillion in 2023

With an increase of 2.4% from 2022, Gartner’s latest forecast projects that IT spending will reach a total of $4.5 trillion worldwide. Even though this is down from the previous quarter’s forecast of 5.1% growth, it seems that enterprise IT spending remains strong.

Source:  Gartner

2. 80% of workers are using collaboration tools for work

According to the same Gartner, Inc, almost 80% of workers seem to be using cloud-based collaboration tools for work. This is an increase of over 40% since the pandemic began, as companies move away from traditional client computing solutions to cloud-based tools, such as communication, project management, videoconferencing, file sharing, knowledge management and more. 

Source: Gartner 

3. By 2025, enterprises will spend more on public cloud services than traditional IT solutions

51% of IT spending on public cloud computing will overtake spending on traditional IT in 2025. The cloud study applies to four categories: application software, infrastructure software, business process services and system infrastructure markets. In 2022, these spendings were 41%.

More than that, almost two-thirds (65.9%) of IT spending on application software will be directed toward cloud technologies in 2025.

Source: Gartner 

4. 72% of all enterprises use a hybrid cloud model

The same study also uncovered that 87% of enterprises embrace a multi-cloud strategy. And among the top challenges organisations face, 82% listed cloud spending, 79% said security and 78% chose the lack of resources/expertise.

Source: Flexera

5. Over 60% of businesses store their data in the cloud

According to Statista, as of 2022, 60% percent of all corporate data is stored in the cloud, be it in a private, public, and hybrid cloud workplace. This means that more companies than ever are moving to cloud environments. 

In 2015, this percentage only reached 30, but since then it has continued to grow, mainly because companies hoped to improve their security, reliability, and business agility.

Source: Statista

6. More than 40 zettabytes of data were in the cloud servers and networks in 2020

Back in 2020, there were over 40 zettabytes of information in the cloud. Well, these days, of course, this amount is much more, and it’s projected to reach 175 zettabytes by 2025. 

Now, in case you don’t know, a zettabyte has one billion terabytes, which in fact is a number with nine zeroes. It can also be a trillion gigabytes, and that’s a number with 12 zeroes. 

Source: Seagate

7. An employee uses 36 cloud-based services every single day

Now, as there are hundreds of cloud services for file and content sharing, as well as collaboration (e.g., Dropbox, Webex, or Google Suite), it’s only natural that employees use a number of cloud tools daily. And that number is on average 36, according to a recent study.

Moreover, the average enterprise uses approx. 1400 cloud-based cloud services, including collaboration, finance, security, education, and communication tools. 

Source: Skyhigh

8. Sustainability criteria are the most important in IT buying decisions

Again, this can’t come as a surprise, as more and more companies want to meet their sustainability goals by moving to the cloud. It’s just more efficient to run an application or workload in the cloud and not on the premises. On a bigger level, running a full data center in the cloud also produces less carbon than running the data center on-prem.

By 2025, IDC estimates that 85% of organizations will have a 35% sustainability increase only by using software and cloud-based infrastructures.

Source: IDC

9. Manufacturing, professional services, and banking are the three sectors planning to spend the most on cloud computing

These three sectors deal with lots of sensitive data which is why they are also the ones that plan to spend the most on cloud computing services. Manufacturing plans to invest $19.7 billion, professional services are expected to spend $18.1 billion, and banking estimates to invest $16.7 billion.

Source: Business Wire

10. Cloud spending to reach nearly $679 billion in 2024 

Now, we are talking about the worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services. 

So, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc., it’s estimated that the global end-user spending on public clouds will reach over $679 billion in 2024, up from $563 billion in 2023.

Source: Gartner

11. In 2023, AI adoption is a must-have

Artificial intelligence adoption has been growing as enterprises look for new ways of increasing their efficiency and driving innovation. And the cloud is the ideal environment for getting the most out of AI investments.

A McKinsey & Company survey on AI found that 64% of companies run their AI workloads on public or hybrid cloud.

Source: McKinsey & Company

12. More than half of enterprises will use industry cloud solutions by 2027

Industry cloud platforms are actually made of a combination of software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). And according to Gartner, more than 50% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to help their business grow.

Source: Gartner

13. 40% of companies will take a cloud-native-first strategy in 2023

First, let’s see what a cloud-native-first strategy means. Well, this strategy involves a modern approach to software development, which can include microservices, containers, declarative APIs, and service meshes.

And according to a Forrester report, more enterprises will adopt cloud-native strategies as they will want to run their workloads in containers rather than legacy virtual machines, for example. 

Source: Forrester

14. 90% of large enterprises have adopted a multi-cloud infrastructure 

And 76% of mid-sized businesses and 60% of small businesses use a multi-cloud (using more than one public or private cloud) operating model on a worldwide level. An overwhelming 9 out of 10 respondents that have adopted a multi-cloud approach confirm that this has already helped their organization advance or achieve its business goals.

The multi-cloud is the new normal, with 60% already multi-cloud, and another 21% plan to be multi-cloud within a year.

Source: HashiCorp

15. 80% of companies report operation improvements within the first few months of adopting the cloud

In case you were wondering about the positive impact of cloud technology on your small business or startup, here’s a report for you. According to this research, conducted mostly within startups and SMBs, 80% of companies saw operation improvements within the first few months after moving to the cloud.

So, cloud computing is not just for enterprises, and smaller businesses are starting to adopt the cloud too. 

(Source: Multisoft)

16. SMBs find it more cost-effective to choose third-party cloud platforms than to maintain an in-house system

Affordability is an important reason why small and medium businesses choose the cloud. Another important report states that most companies find it 40% more cost-effective to work with third-party cloud platforms rather than maintaining an in-house infrastructure. Which is not surprising, right? 
Source: Multisoft

17. 94% of businesses report significant improvements in online security after moving their data to the cloud

Furthermore, 91% of the same companies involved in the study also state that cloud helped them deal with government compliance requirements. That’s because cloud infrastructure companies use advanced encryption methods to secure the data, ensuring no unauthorized access to a business private information.

Source: Salesforce

18. Top reasons companies choose to trust the cloud: 71% for speed improvements, 63% want greater flexibility, and 57% look for improved customer support

That’s what a study from IDG revealed last year. Speed improvements, greater flexibility, and improved customer support are the top 3 reasons for companies when choosing to move their systems to the cloud. 

More than that, it seems that companies with over 1000 employees believe the cloud will give them flexibility and reduced operation costs, while smaller companies think the cloud will ensure their business continuity.

Source: IDG

19. Email services and file storage are the predominant uses for cloud computing in the EU

A Eurostat research reveals other top reasons for companies to adopt the cloud. 66% state that they use the cloud for email management and 53% for file storage reasons. Other needs include hosting company databases, such as virtual private server (VPS) hosting. 

Source: Eurostat

20. Organizations will deploy 95% of digital workloads in cloud-native environments by 2025

By 2025, Gartner estimates that over 95% of new digital workloads will be deployed on cloud-native platforms, up from 30% in 2021. In the same report, it’s also stated that more than 85% of organizations will need to embrace a cloud-first principle by 2025.

Source: Gartner

21. Cyber security is the no. 1 investment priority for organizations in 2023

According to the Google Cloud report, approx. 31% of 4,332 global enterprise cloud decision-makers said cyber security is a top investment priority for their organization in 2023. And that’s over data management and/or data analytics, app and/or infrastructure modernization.

Source: Google Cloud Brand Pulse Survey

22. When it comes to trusting a cloud provider, data protection and interoperability/openness are the two most important capabilities

IT leaders feel that “protecting and controlling my data in the cloud” (40%) and “working well with existing security solutions and other security vendors” (38%) are the top ways cloud providers can gain their trust. 

Source: Google Cloud Brand Pulse Survey

23. Cloud security – the fastest-growing segment of the security market

We don’t think this can come as a surprise, considering that more and more data is now on the cloud. The global cloud security market size is projected to grow from USD 40.7 billion in 2023 to USD 62.9 billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 9.1%. 

The reasons behind this have to do with factors like the increasing adoption of multi-cloud environments or the growing usage of advanced technologies such as AI and ML for cloud security.

Source: Report Linked

24. Only 3 out of 10 companies know where their cloud spending is going

Yes, companies don’t know how much they are actually spending on the cloud. Only 30% of companies have a clear understanding of how their cloud costs are allocated according. That’s according to a survey of over 1,000 cloud engineering and finance professionals. 

The same report revealed that nearly 50% of respondents believed their cloud costs exceeded their expectations. And 11% reported that their costs were significantly higher than anticipated. 

Source: CloudZero

25. Human error is the leading cause of cloud data breaches

According to the 2023 Thales Global Cloud Security Study conducted on 3,000 respondents in 18 countries, human error is the main cause of cloud data breaches. The second highest is the exploitation of vulnerabilities, at 21%. 

The study has also revealed that the world has become cloud-first and multicloud and as such it’s now more complex to secure the cloud.

Source: Thales

26. Cloud investments are not slowing down despite economic concerns

Despite all the economic uncertainties, the future of the cloud remains promising, or so is stated in Wasabi’s 2023 Global Cloud Storage Index.

According to this report, an overwhelming 84% of respondents expressed their intention to increase their investment in public cloud storage within the next year. 

They also plan to allocate resources to IT initiatives like infrastructure migration (56%), business initiatives like digital transformation (45%), and new data security measures such as backup and data recovery (44%).

Source: TechRepublic

27. Effectively managing cloud spend is among the biggest challenges for companies

According to a recent survey conducted in 2023, technical executives, managers, and practitioners of cloud technologies worldwide said that managing cloud spend is among the challenges they face when using cloud computing technology. 

An impressive 82% of respondents stated that effectively managing their cloud spend is a significant challenge. Moreover, other frequent obstacles they faced included issues around security, governance, and the lack of resources and expertise in the field.

Source: Statista

28. 70% of all technology infrastructure will be cloud-based within two to three years

More than 1,000 businesses and over 4,000 migrated applications in 15 different categories were part of the study. Among many other significant benefits, it seems that companies are seeing a post-migration reduction in technology infrastructure costs of 12%. 

Other benefits of migrating to the cloud include: 

– A 36% increase in developer time devoted to innovation 

– A 45% reduction in time to market for new product features and functionality 

– A 53% reduction in the time to achieve actionable insights from data 

– A total of 44% fewer security and other critical infrastructure incidents

 – A 52% average reduction in down-time. 

Source: Cloud Computing News

29. 81% of companies had a cloud security incident in the last year

And almost half (45%) experience at least four incidents. According to a study that has evaluated the complexity of cloud environments and their impact on cybersecurity, these are the most common cloud-related security incidents respondents have experienced:

– Security incidents during runtime (34%) 

– Unauthorized access (33%) 

– Misconfigurations (32%) 

– Major vulnerabilities that have not been remediated (24%) 

– A failed audit (19%) 

Source: Venafi

30. The demand for cloud encryption increased as 60% of business data is now kept on the cloud

According to Future Markets Insight (FMI), businesses are investing in the modernization of data storage strategy with the adoption of cloud technologies for digital transformation. This is expected to drive growth in the cloud encryption market. 

The demand for cloud encryption is estimated to increase at a CAGR of 30.8% from 2023-2033 and the market revenue is projected to increase by US$ 45.6 billion by 2033.

Source: Future Markets Insight

Cloud computing is here to stay

As you can see, we are long past seeing the cloud as optional. Adopting the cloud is the new normal, and as more companies make the change, their needs will create new cutting-edge solutions and business strategies. From hybrid and multi-cloud strategies to amazing innovations like Kubernetes containers, cloud technology is here to stay. 

We will keep updating this list with new and exciting facts and trends as we all know how fast the cloud changes and the data around it.