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What Is Cloud Computing? 

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, including storage, processing, and networking, over the internet (the “cloud”) rather than through local servers or personal devices. This model allows organizations and individuals to access and use shared resources on-demand, with minimal management effort. 

There are several key models within cloud computing: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Cloud computing eliminates the need for companies to maintain physical servers and infrastructure, while providing access to a range of tools and capabilities that would be expensive and difficult to deploy on-premises.

Cloud services are typically delivered by major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, but there are also smaller niche providers and hybrid solutions. The cloud provides significant advantages, such as faster deployment, cost savings, scalability, and improved collaboration across teams and locations.

This is part of a series of articles about cloud migration

Key Cloud Computing Statistics 

Cloud Adoption and Spending

Cloud adoption is widespread across industries as companies leverage its benefits for scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. Today, nearly all enterprises use cloud computing in some capacity:

  1. 94% of enterprise organizations have at least some workloads in the cloud (Source: RightScale)
  2. 33% of organizations are spending over $12 million annually on public cloud services in 2025 (Source: Flexera)
  3. 71% of organizations expect their cloud spend to increase in 2025 (Source: Flexera)
  4. 58.7% of IT spending is still traditional, but cloud-based spending will soon outpace it (Source: Gartner)
  5. 60% of organizations expect their cloud spending to increase slightly in 2025, with 13% expecting a significant increase (Source: Flexera)

Sources: Flexera State of the Cloud Report, Gartner, RightScale State of the Cloud Report

Cloud Waste

As cloud spending grows, so does the challenge of wasteful spending, which stems from inefficient cloud resource management.

  1. 32% of cloud budgets are wasted annually (Source: Flexera)
  2. 75% of organizations report an increase in cloud waste as their cloud spend grows (Source: StormForge)
  3. 49% of cloud-based organizations struggle to control cloud costs (Source: Anodot)
  4. 54% of cloud waste stems from a lack of visibility into costs (Source: Anodot)
  5. 66% of organizations report wasted spend due to idle or underused resources (Source: Flexera)

Sources: Flexera State of the Cloud Report, StormForge Cloud Waste Survey, Anodot Survey, VentureBeat

Cloud Computing Models: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS

The cloud market is primarily driven by IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS models, each serving different organizational needs across industries.

  1. SaaS will generate $390.5 billion in 2025 (Source: Statista)
  2. The IaaS market is growing at a CAGR of 26.2% through 2025 (Source: TechJury)
  3. Google Cloud’s IaaS market share reached 11% in 2024 (Source: Statista)
  4. PaaS revenue will reach $208.64 billion in 2025 (Source: Statista)
  5. IaaS is the fastest-growing segment, outpacing both DaaS and PaaS adoption rates (Source: Bure Valley Group)

Sources: TechJury, Statista, Blue Valley Group

Cloud Strategies: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid vs. Multicloud

Organizations are increasingly adopting multicloud and hybrid cloud strategies to improve flexibility, scalability, and security.

  1. 80% of organizations use multiple public cloud providers (Source: Virtana)
  2. 73% of organizations have adopted a hybrid cloud approach (Source: Flexera)
  3. 59% of tech leaders use hybrid or multicloud for security (Source: Zesty)

Sources: Virtana, Flexera State of the Cloud Report, Zesty CIO and CTO Survey Report, O’Reilly

Cloud Applications and Workloads

Cloud applications and workloads continue to expand as organizations migrate more services to the cloud.

  1. The average company uses 254 SaaS apps (Source: Productiv)
  2. Enterprises use an average of 364 SaaS apps (Source: Productiv)
  3. 68% of SaaS sprawl occurs in companies with fewer than 500 employees (Source: Productiv)

Sources: Productiv 

Cloud Security

Security remains a top concern for cloud users, with organizations focusing on protecting their cloud infrastructure and data.

  1. 96% of companies are concerned about cloud security (Source: Fortinet)
  2. 41% of security leaders consider lack of awareness the top barrier to cloud security (Source: Fortinet)
  3. 61% of organizations report breaches within the last 12 months (Source: Miratech)
  4. 68% of security incidents in public clouds are caused by misconfiguration (Source: Fortinet)
  5. 41% of organizations are implementing zero-trust security policies (Source: Fortinet)

Sources: Fortinet 2024 Cloud Security Report, Miratech, 

Cloud Challenges

Cloud adoption presents several challenges, from managing costs to integrating new technologies.

  1. 84% of cloud decision-makers cite managing cloud spend as their main challenge (Source: Flexera)
  2. 49% of organizations face cloud waste issues due to overprovisioning (Source: Anadot)
  3. 56% of enterprises report lack of control as a barrier to cloud adoption (Source: Fortinet)

Sources: Flexera, Anadot, Fortinet Cybersecurity Insiders Cloud Report

Visibility for Cloud Computing Environments with Faddom

As cloud adoption continues to grow, statistics reveal not only the significant investment involved but also the challenges related to cost control, visibility, and security. Many organizations face issues such as cloud waste, misconfigurations, and unmanaged SaaS sprawl due to a lack of visibility into their hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This is where Faddom can help. 

Faddom is an agentless application dependency mapping platform that offers real-time visibility into servers, applications, and traffic flows across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid infrastructures. By automatically discovering resources and their dependencies, it enables IT teams to reduce waste, enhance cloud security, and maintain compliance. With Faddom, organizations can pinpoint underutilized assets, segment environments to prevent lateral movement, and establish a single source of truth for informed decision-making. 

Book a demo today to see how Faddom can eliminate cloud blind spots and optimize your environment!