CLOUD COMPUTING GROWTH, Evidence of a Data-driven Paradigm Shift

In the age of information, the cloud computing market is growing at an exponential rate. In his 2019 book, Digital Transformation, Tom Siebel, a true Silicon Valley veteran with over four decades of experience, shared his observations regarding the adoption of the cloud:

In my professional experience, I have never seen anything like the adoption rate of cloud computing. It is unprecedented. As recently as 2011, the message delivered by CEOs and corporate leadership worldwide was clear: “Tom, what don’t you understand about the fact that our data will never reside in the public cloud?” The message today is equally clear and exclamatory: “Tom, understand that we have a cloud-first strategy. All new applications are being deployed in the cloud. Existing applications will be migrating to the cloud.

_Source: 

_{Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction} 

_{Copyright © 2019 by Thomas M. Siebel}

Now, at the end of 2021, the anecdotes Tom Siebel shared (see excerpt above) about the rapid change in attitude toward cloud computing (literally a 180 degree change over the course of only a few years) can be measured by the rapid growth in cloud computing. 

Cloud Computing Market Growth

According to Grandview Research, in 2020, the cloud computing market was worth 274.79 billion with an astounding projection for the market’s continued growth. Grandview Research estimates the cloud-computing market will realize a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.1% from 2021 to 2028. 

If this trajectory holds true, in less than two decades, cloud computing will have moved from an initiative to leverage spare compute and storage resources available in Amazon data centers to support internal software development to a global market worth over 1.1  trillion dollars.  That is a shocking rate of growth by any measure.

In Part III of our series on The Cloud, we will look at current cloud adoption strategies and see if our Lego metaphor stands up in the face of emerging technologies. And we will ask an important question: what does it mean to rely on a “trusted third-party” cloud service provider?  I think we will find our Lego metaphor might be better served if we turn the Legos into liquid form.