Research

Report: Pandemic Investment in Cloud Infrastructure Will Have Lasting Impact

• By David Nagel
• 07/07/21

According to a new analysis, one of the “lasting impacts” of COVID-19 will be an increased reliance on cloud infrastructure in education and a few other sectors.

The report from market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) stated that worldwide growth of cloud-based enterprise infrastructure grew at a greater rate than non-cloud — 12.5 percent versus 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. Cloud infrastructure reached $15.1 billion, versus $13.5 billion for non-cloud in Q1.

Cloud includes shared and dedicated. Investments in shared cloud infrastructure increased 11.6 percent year over year, reaching $10.3 billion. Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure increased 14.7 percent in the same period, reaching $4.8 billion. According to the report, 45.5 percent of dedicated cloud infrastructure was deployed on premises.

Education is one of the sectors that will feel a lasting impact from COVID-19 on cloud enterprise infrastructure, the report noted: “A lasting impact on IT infrastructure will be an increased reliance on cloud platforms for delivering commercial, educational, and social applications, as well as an intensified focus among organizations on business continuity and risk management, helping to drive digital transformation initiatives and increase usage of as-a-service delivery models.”

The United States saw some of the slowest growth in cloud infrastructure in the first quarter, increasing 4.5 percent. Canada saw the greatest growth (40.3 percent), followed by China (35 percent).

For more information, visit IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker: Buyer and Cloud Deployment.