India could be the global hub for cloud solutions

While cloud computing has been gaining importance from several years, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated its growth further

- Kashyap dalal

At the simplest level, cloud computing refers to the on-demand availability of computer system resources and services such as storage, databases, software, and analytics. These are delivered via ‘clouds’ that are housed in data centres across multiple locations spread throughout the globe. Cloud computing offers several advantages such as scalability, flexibility, cost savings, remote access to infrastructure, mobility, etc.

While cloud computing technologies have been steadily gaining significance for over a decade, the Covid-19 pandemic has considerably accelerated their growth across the globe. A Markets and Markets report estimates that the cloud computing market will grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.5% to touch US$832.1 billion by 2025. Similarly, Gartner expects worldwide enduser spending on public cloud services to grow 23.1% in 2021 to total $332.3 billion.

The Covid-19 crisis and accompanying social distancing norms forced professionals across the globe to stay home for extended periods of time. This created a greater demand for remote working capabilities and collaboration technologies in order to maintain business continuity.