Photo: Getty Images/Vladimir Vladimirov
Cloud spending has accelerated during the pandemic. Online collaboration and remote working tools, e-commerce, remote learning and content streaming hit new records during lockdowns, according to Canalys, the research firm.
Canalys found worldwide cloud infrastructure services market spending jumped roughly 11 percent during the second quarter from the previous three months and 30 percent year-over-year.
The growth comes as a number of reports have arrived touting cloud as one of the primary focuses for corporations overall as 2020 IT budgets shrink in response to COVID-19.
Gartner noted that in a budget-conscious environment, SaaS and other pay-as-you-go models supporting outsourced cloud services enable CIOs to invest significantly less cash upfront rather than scaling up on-premises data center capacity or acquiring traditional licensed software. Cloud systems also enable technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and 5G that drive digital transformation.
“Any debate around the utility of public cloud has been put aside since the onset of COVID-19,” said Sid Nag, research VP at Gartner, in a statement. “For the remainder of 2020, organizations that expand remote work functionality will prioritize collaboration software, mobile device management, distance learning educational solutions and security, as well as the infrastructure to scale to support increased capacity.”
In a new KPMG report based on a survey of 900 technology execs, 56 percent said cloud migration has become an “absolute necessity” instead of “piecemeal migrations of small datasets" due to COVID-19. Demand for hybrid cloud models far surpassed other strategies, including multi-cloud, that dominated pre-crisis.
Only a minority of executives considered their organization’s cloud capabilities to be strong. While initially utilizing cloud systems to drive down costs, organizations were found to be struggling to ensure new workloads and tools were adequately functioning and secured.
“When it comes to cloud, many companies have been comfortable moving
at their own pace and doing the easy things first — one application at a time, one proof-of- concept at a time,” said Priya Emmanuel, managing director, cloud strategy and transformation, KPMG in the U.S. in the report. “The COVID-19 situation has put into perspective how unprepared many organizations are to suddenly have to do things differently.”
- Global cloud services market Q2 2020 – Canalys
- Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Public Cloud Revenue to Grow 6.3 percent in 2020 – Gartner
- Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending to Decline 7.3% in 2020 – Gartner
- Gartner Says Global IT Spending to Decline 8% in 2020 Due to Impact of COVID-19 – Gartner
- Companies Shift Emerging Tech Investments Amid COVID-19 – KPMG Research