Piyush Somani holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering (electronics) from the University of Pune. He has over 16 years of experience in the information technology sector. As the founder of the Company at the age of 26, he has been instrumental in expanding the operations of the Company in India and several international markets. He is also on the board of our Subsidiaries, ESDS Internet Services Private Limited, SPOCHUB Solutions Private Limited, ESDS Cloud FZ LLC and ESDS Global Software Solution, Inc.
The ongoing pandemic that has been for nearly 18 months has pushed businesses and the entire world into a survival mode of acceptance. We have seen people willing to accept major disruptions & changes taking place in their daily chores to counter & survive this time of crisis. When we talk about the small and medium-sized businesses surviving the pandemic was more oriented towards restructuring their existing IT infrastructures. These businesses were forced to alternate their business models and discover new ways of working to survive in the longer run.
The Increased Demand for Cloud
It was nearly 15 years back when Cloud Computing marked its presence in the Indian technological space. In the initial days of its lifecycle, businesses weren’t ready to adopt this technology as they had various apprehensions. During the ongoing pandemic, we saw businesses ‘close’ their doors and adopt the new normal of Work from Home. Since a large number of employees were remotely working with no physical access to the resources, the adoption of Cloud Services witnessed a multi-fold adoption. Businesses that are already using some part of their businesses running on Cloud-based services & found it easier to survive the initial days.
Why do Businesses Shift to Cloud?
Businesses are now moving to a Cloud-based infrastructure from their existing on-premises setup, addressing the following benefits-
- When businesses make a move to the Cloud, they get faster access to compliance-related requirements. Software systems play an important role here as they manage a business’ and customer’ data. The introduction of the GDPR Act in 2018 has done businesses essentially to store their customer’s data securely. Acts like these ensure the data present on Cloud infrastructure remains rightly encrypted at all times. Data Security regulations make Cloud a much safer & convenient option to align with industry compliances & standards.
- There is very little room for innovation and expanding the service portfolio in the case of on-premises infrastructure. Talking about the Cloud infrastructure, it is relatively easier to add new services by incurring bare minimum or near-zero costs as no additional resource is needed.
- Today, cloud providers invest significantly towards enhancing their Cloud infrastructure, associated resources, and emerging technologies to offer better security measures. Offsite backups in the Cloud reduces all the chances for all online & cybersecurity problems and concerns. Such redundant backups on Cloud infrastructure can be easily deployed anytime, anywhere using an active Internet connection.
- In the case of Cloud Computing, users have greater control of their data. Business heads can easily monitor who all are connected to Cloud, thereby facilitating the collaboration between users. Cloud Computing also offers greater quality control as businesses can ensure consistent reporting of documents as they are present in a single place. Consistency in data helps in overcoming human errors through a clear record of revisions & updates.
- There has been a significant demand for an IT infrastructure that can be planned, built, and implemented to remain competitive. The traditional infrastructures take longer durations for their deployments. On the other hand, the deployment & setup time gets reduced significantly with Cloud infrastructure in place. Cloud allows users to access data anytime from anywhere without being concerned about data theft or breach.
- With Cloud, businesses get an enterprise-class technology, thereby giving them a competitive edge. Over time, Cloud has played a major role in successfully overcoming & avoiding challenges that exist with on-premises infrastructure.
Overview of Indian Cloud Services Market by Revenue
Indian Cloud Services market has grown at a CAGR of 27.8% during 2015 to 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 34.7% from ₹284.4 billion in 2020 to ₹1261.7 billion in 2025.
The Impact of COVID-19 in the Acceleration of the Cloud Services Market
The Cloud Services market in India was undergoing a Cloud transition phase, which got accelerated due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During Q1’20, the enterprise spending on Cloud infrastructure rose to nearly 35% compared to Q4’19. The shift in the work from office culture to virtual workplaces triggered the urgent need for a secure, reliable, Scalable, and cost-effective technology that could be used across the country. SaaS has been the supporting factor for increasing workforce in 2020. Talking on the Year-on-Year, there was a growth of around 15% towards the end of 2020. Amongst the three Cloud Deployment models (Private, Public & Hybrid), the Hybrid Cloud witnessed a significant amount of investment compared to the other two Cloud models. An online report (Enterprise Cloud Index) suggests that 65% of Indian organizations increased their investments in Hybrid Cloud. The ongoing pandemic made the Indian organizations become more data-driven in terms of decision making, leading to the growing use of Cloud technology to make optimal utilization of insights from data. The demand for Cloud Computing for application by educational institutes has also gained momentum during the pandemic period.
Concluding Words
A decade back, Cloud Computing was merely a dream, and migrating to it was accompanied by various apprehensions that business heads faced. Over the past year and a half, we all witnessed an increased demand for Cloud-based services as most businesses had to change their business models and remain competitive. However, with time, as the technology advanced, businesses started understanding its benefits and started making a move to Cloud from their existing on-premises infrastructure.