The move to the cloud is simultaneously both a long-awaited answer to enterprises’ prayers and a looming threat to business security. But that’s only because the trend for cloud solutions has picked up so quickly over the past few years, leading many organizations to hurriedly adopt systems or practices that don’t necessarily guarantee the compliance or data safety they desire. Done right, however, cloud computing is all benefits for serious enterprises—no strings attached.

To understand more about how cloud computing has taken over the business landscape and the everyday experience of most employees operating these cloud technologies, we collected six illuminating statistics on the forecast of cloud computing. Keep reading to see how your organization matches up with the industry trends. 

1. 83 percent of enterprise workloads are expected to be on the cloud by the end of 2020.

Let’s start with an easy one. It’s no secret that cloud solutions are taking over businesses of all sizes, and the surge in enterprise adoption is among the fastest. 

Are all of your business processes catching the cloud current? Or are there some workstreams that have gotten lost in the tide? Make sure each department and process is accounted for in your cloud solution because having every process integrated into the same cloud strategy is crucial to avoiding data silos.

2. The market for cloud computing (hosting, storage, and computing) is estimated to be worth $163 billion by 2021.

Setting up cloud computing in your company infrastructure isn’t as simple as getting licenses from one vendor and calling it a day. For a top-notch cloud tech stack, you’ll need to consider a lot more. 

Identify how your organization will address the servers, data storage, and daily operations of cloud computing. Take a high-level approach to start, making sure you pick cloud partners that play nice with each other, like MuleSoft as a data integration provider for Salesforce operations. 

3. People without a background in IT are increasingly involved in cloud computing-related decisions in their organizations.

Is your IT department getting larger, or are IT decisions just reaching a bigger audience? The long-awaited wake-up call has finally come: corporate information technology involves more than just the formal IT team.

From finance and HR to sales and marketing, executives and managers from various departments are all coming to the IT table with expanded knowledge sets and mission-critical priorities they hope to achieve through cloud computing. This means training and IT knowledge transfer is more critical than ever before. 

4. The average enterprise employee uses 36 different cloud services for work.

Let’s face it: enterprise business gets complicated fast. Global businesses with multiple subsidiaries spanning different departments, geographies, and functions… this means many enterprises need a whole host of cloud solutions to service their needs completely. 

Using multiple clouds is perfectly fine, but it can be even better and yield greater ROI for your company overall if you take the time to integrate the data flow between all of these solutions properly. This way, you avoid creating information bottlenecks between business units. 

5. Over 90 percent of cloud security breaches are attributed to users, not providers.

Good old user error. Like Billy Joel said, you’re only human. And making mistakes with technology is inevitable for your end users. The technology is tried and true, but the hands operating it aren’t nearly as reliable. 

However, one of the best ways to minimize user error (and find your second wind) is to leverage a change management team from the start of a technology project. Learn more about why getting change practitioners involved early is critical for widespread success. 

6. At least 60 percent of organizations are using cloud technology to store confidential or sensitive data.

With the amount of sensitive information being stored on the cloud on the rise, formulating and executing a data security strategy is an urgent priority for any-sized organization. 

Be sure to research what security measures your chosen tech stack already include and how these services may minimize the amount of additional security you need to purchase. For example, Salesforce Shield involves three different tools for embedding governance and compliance into your most critical Salesforce applications. 

Whether it’s adapting to a newly remote work environment, piecing together your data retention strategy, or implementing new cloud applications for a stronger customer experience, Simplus has been there and helped countless organizations do the same. Reach out today to start getting your cloud computing questions answered.