30 Thought-Provoking Cloud Computing Statistics for 2024

Cloud computing is one of the most important technological advances in recent history. It has completely transformed the way we live and work. So, in this article, we’ll take a look at some intriguing cloud computing statistics for 2022 that will provoke your thoughts. 

If this sounds interesting to you, keep reading!

The Top 10 Cloud Computing Stats and Facts

  • The global IaaS public cloud grew by 40.7% in 2020.
  • The global computing market is projected to reach $791.48 billion by 2028.
  • There are four main types of cloud computing.
  • AWS accounted for 33% of the total cloud market share in Q4 2021.
  • Huawei Cloud’s total growth exceeded 116% in Q1 2021 in China.
  • Netflix is currently one of the largest companies that use cloud computing.
  • Dropbox had over 700 million registered users in 2021.
  • There were over 3.1 million cyber attacks on cloud-based users in 2020.
  • Only 22% of Americans admitted to not using any cloud storage system in 2020.

General Cloud Computing Facts

First things first — let’s get familiar with cloud computing and the main concepts related to it! In the next section, we’ll find out what cloud computing is, its main types, when it originated, etc.

Stay tuned!

1. Cloud computing dates back to the late 20th century. 

(Source: EDUCBA)

The foundations of the cloud computing we know today were set by Joseph Carl Robert Licklider in the early 1960s. 

2. There are four main types of cloud computing.

(Source: Google Cloud / Microsoft Azure / Red Hat)

They include: 

  • Private cloud (dedicated to a single user or a group of users)
  • Public cloud (computing services on the public internet available to anyone who wants to get them)
  • Hybrid cloud (a cloud where apps are running in a mix of different environments)
  • Multicloud (a cloud approach consisting of more than one cloud service by more than one public or private cloud vendor)

3. All hybrid clouds are multiclouds by definition. 

(Source: Red Hat)

However, not all multiclouds necessarily have to be hybrid clouds. Multiclouds can become hybrid clouds in case of some type of integration.

4. There are three main types of cloud computing services. 

(Source: Red Hat)

They include: 

  • IaaS (infrastructure as a service)
  • Paas (platform as a service)
  • SaaS (software as a service)

5. The cost of cloud computing rates for services vary from $0 to several hundred dollars per month per server.

(Source: N6 Host)

While some platforms (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) offer free plans, they often have very limited storage, especially for a business that’s taking off. Investing in premium plans is a smart idea for businesses, as such plans offer many more advanced features.

Cloud Service Users — Stats and Facts

Now let’s take a better look at the users. How many people use the cloud? How many companies? How many people still don’t use any cloud storage services? Let’s find out!

6. 94% of enterprises used cloud services in 2019. 

(Source: Flexera)

According to statistics, about 91% of businesses used private cloud services, while 72% opted for a public cloud. Most businesses (69%) simultaneously used both private and public cloud services.

7. According to predictive cloud computing statistics, there could have been 2.3 million personal cloud storage users in 2020. 

(Source: Statista)

Statisticians predicted a steady upward trend when it comes to the number of personal cloud storage users. They expected the number to more than double compared to 2014 (when there were only 1.14 million personal cloud storage users).

8. According to a survey, only 22% of Americans admitted to not using any cloud storage system in 2020. 

(Source: Statista)

This means that, nowadays, an overwhelming majority of the population uses at least some kind of cloud storage service

9. Around 35% of small and medium-sized businesses spent $600,000–$1.2 million on public cloud services in Q4 2020.

(Source: Statista)

According to statistics, the number of businesses spending this amount of money on the public cloud greatly increased in 2020 (from 15% in Q1 2020 to 35% in Q4 2020).

Further indications show that around 37% of small and medium-sized businesses spent $120,000 –$600,000 in Q4 2020, while only 4% spent over $12 million on public cloud services.

Companies That Are Using Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is integrating into modern business models more and more every day. So, let’s take a look at some examples of companies that are already reaping the benefits of using it on a regular basis.

10. Netflix is currently one of the largest companies that use cloud computing.

(Source: CustomerThink)

Netflix is one of the largest streaming platforms in the world, so it’s only logical that they need massive amounts of storage space to function properly. Netflix uses AWS cloud hosting services.

11. Many other large companies are using cloud computing too.

(Source: Google Cloud / CustomerThink)

Pinterest, Coca-Cola, Vivino, and Gameloft use AWS. Kroger uses Microsoft Azure, and Etsy, Twitter, PayPal, Fitbit, and eBay are avid Google Cloud users.

Cloud Service Providers — Facts and Statistics

Now, let’s take a look at the most interesting stats and facts about the world’s most popular cloud service providers. Which is the largest cloud service provider? How many people use which cloud service provider?

Read on to find out!

12. AWS accounted for 33% of the total cloud market share in Q4 2021. 

(Source: Statista)

Other notable cloud service providers in Q4 2021 included Azure (21%), Google Cloud (10%), Alibaba Cloud (6%), and IBM Cloud (4%). 

13. According to recent cloud computing stats, Huawei Cloud’s total growth exceeded 116% in Q1 2021 in China.

(Source: Huawei Report)

This sudden growth in people’s interest in Huawei Cloud services led to Huawei taking up 20% of the total cloud market share.

14. Four cloud service providers covered 80% of China’s cloud infrastructure in 2021. 

(Source: Huawei Report)

They included Huawei Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, and Baidu AI Cloud.

15. pCloud currently has over eight million users. 

(Source: pCloud)

Numerous pCloud users from 192 countries have uploaded a whopping 15 petabytes of data to the cloud so far. 

16. According to the growth of cloud computing stats, Microsoft Azure’s revenue growth amounted to 50% in Q1 2022.

(Source: Statista)

Azure’s steady revenue growth of about 50% since Q4 2020 secured this company second place on the list of the biggest cloud service providers in the world in 2021.

17. Sync has about two million registered users in over 180 countries. 

(Source: Sync)

Out of the two million Sync accounts, 950,000 are business accounts. 

18. According to a survey, 18% of Americans used Dropbox as their cloud storage solution of choice.

(Source: Statista)

This ranked Dropbox fourth on the list after Google One/Google Drive (40%), Apple iCloud (33%), and Microsoft OneDrive (20%). 

19. Dropbox had over 700 million registered users in 2021.

(Source: Dropbox)

Only 16.79 million users were paying users in 2021. Still, this number represents an increase compared to 2020 (when Dropbox had 15.48 million paying users).

Growth of Cloud ComputingStatistics

The number of cloud users has been steadily increasing on a daily basis, making the cloud computing industry exponentially expand. 

So, let’s take a look at the most essential statistics concerning the growth of an industry which quickly turned from an idea to a true empire in the world of technology.

20. The global computing market size was $219 billion in 2020. 

(Source: GlobeNewswire)

North America held the largest market share in 2020 — $78.28 billion.

21. The global computing market is projected to reach $791.48 billion by 2028.

(Source: GlobeNewswire)

The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 17.9% in the 2021–2028 forecast period. 

22. About 80% of organizations opt for hybrid clouds. 

(Source: Flexera)

The finding is indicative of current hybrid cloud computing trends — many companies have either fully implemented or are in the process of implementing hybrid cloud infrastructure.

23. The data stored in the cloud is expected to exceed 200 zettabytes by 2025.

(Source: Cybercrime Magazine)

This staggering amount of data will roughly equate to 50% of all data on the internet in that year. This will be a drastic leap from about 25% recorded back in 2015.

24. According to a 2021 survey, 50% of businesses using cloud services planned to store sensitive data on the public cloud in 2020. 

(Source: Tech Monitor)

The sensitive data included consumer data, corporate financial data, order and sales data, IoT and edge data, etc. This is concerning due to hackers’ recent increasing interest in clouds. 

25. The global IaaS public cloud grew by 40.7% in 2020.

(Source: Gartner)

According to cloud computing growth statistics, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alibaba were the leading companies that helped this type of cloud computing reach new heights. 

Thanks to these companies (and many others), IaaS recorded a staggering growth from $45.7 billion in 2019 to $64.3 billion in 2021.

26. PaaS global revenue is expected to reach $164.3 billion by 2026.

(Source: PR Newswire)

The impressive growth from $56.2 billion in 2020 is expected to occur at a CAGR of a staggering 19.6%. 

27. According to predictive cloud computing statistics for 2022, end-user spending on SaaS services could increase to $171.91 million.

(Source: BMC Software)

End-user spending on other cloud computing services in 2022 is expected to increase too. IaaS is expected to reach $121.62 million, and PaaS is projected to hit $100,63 million by the end of this year. 

Cloud Computing Stats and Facts— Cybersecurity

Cloud computing is far from being a perfectly safe IT solution. Just like any other computer-related thing, it’s still vulnerable to cyber attacks and malware.

In this section, we’ll take a look at some of the interesting statistics and facts regarding these unwanted events.

28. There were over 3.1 million cyber-attacks on cloud-based users in 2020.

(Source: McAfee)

Thailand experienced the largest number of cyber-attacks on the cloud that year (over 600,000 in Q2 2020 and about 500,000 in Q3 and Q4 2020). India followed closely with over 400,000 attacks in Q2 2020 and about 375,000 in Q3 and Q4 2020). 

The US appeared to be the least affected by cyber-attacks on the cloud in that period, having suffered under 200,000 attacks in each quarter of 2020.

29. According to cloud computing statistics, ransomware was the most common type of malware on the cloud in 2020.

(Source: Tech Monitor)

Nowadays, ransomware is one of the most dangerous yet increasingly common cyber-attack methods . According to statistics, over 50% of all cyber-attacks on the cloud were executed through the use of ransomware.

30. Around 42% of small businesses experienced a cyberattack in 2020.

(Source: AdvisorSmith)

As businesses start increasingly relying on cloud computing for their operations, they become more vulnerable and open to cyberattacks. 

That’s why 69% of businesses expressed concerns about the possibility of a cyberattack between 2020 and 2021, and 72% of them implemented some cybersecurity solutions to prevent this. Many have also sought assistance from the best cybersecurity companies today.

Verdict

Cloud computing is becoming more widely accepted in business with each passing day, which becomes obvious if we take a look at the current cloud computing trends

It’s a great way to cut the cost of implementing your own infrastructure and using your own storage, which can get expensive as the business starts scaling up. We hope you found the information in this article useful and that you’ll consider taking your business to the cloud. 

FAQ

What are the security risks of cloud computing?

(Source: SecurityScorecard)

There are various security risks that come with using the cloud:

  • Malware
  • Loss of data
  • Limited visibility into network operations, etc.

What are the cons of cloud computing?

(Source: nibusinessinfo.co.uk)

Cloud computing has its disadvantages, the most common of which include:

  • Data leakage
  • Data loss or theft
  • Account hijacking
  • Technology vulnerabilities, etc.

What percentage of businesses use cloud computing?

(Source: European Commission)

As many as 72% of large enterprises used cloud computing in 2021. The figure represents a growth of 7% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, 53% of medium-sized enterprises used cloud computing, which is a decent increase from 46% in 2020.

Additionally, according to cloud computing statistics, 28% of small enterprises used cloud computing at that time.

Leave a Reply