SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Cisco released the seventh annual Cisco® Global Cloud Index (2016-2021). The updated report focuses on data center virtualization and cloud computing, which have become fundamental elements in transforming how many business and consumer network services are delivered.
According to the study, both consumer and business applications are contributing to the growing dominance of cloud services over the Internet. For consumers, streaming video, social networking, and Internet search are among the most popular cloud applications. For business users, enterprise resource planning (ERP), collaboration, analytics, and other digital enterprise applications represent leading growth areas.
Strong Multicloud Traffic Growth Projected
Driven by surging cloud applications, data center traffic is growing fast. The study forecasts global cloud data center traffic to reach 19.5 zettabytes (ZB) per year by 2021, up from 6.0 ZB per year in 2016 (3.3-fold growth or a 27 percent compound annual growth rate [CAGR] from 2016 to 2021). Globally, cloud data center traffic will represent 95 percent of total data center traffic by 2021, compared to 88 percent in 2016.
Improved Security and IoT Fuel Cloud Growth
In the past, security concerns have been a major barrier to cloud adoption. Improvements in data center governance and data control have helped to minimize enterprise risk and better protect consumer information. Security innovations coupled with tangible cloud computing benefits, including scalability and economies of scale, play key roles in fueling the cloud growth projected in the study. Additionally, the growth of Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as smart cars, smart cities, connected health and digital utilities requires scalable computing and storage solutions to accommodate new and expanding data center demands. By 2021, Cisco expects IoT connections to reach 13.7 billion, up from 5.8 billion in 2016.
Hyperscale Data Centers Doubling
The increasing need for data center and cloud resources has led to the development of large-scale public cloud data centers called hyperscale data centers. In this year’s forecast, it is expected that by 2021 there will be 628 hyperscale data centers globally, compared to 338 in 2016, 1.9-fold growth or near doubling over the forecast period. By 2021, hyperscale data centers will support:
“Data center application growth is clearly exploding in this new multicloud world. This projected growth will require new innovations especially in the areas of public, private and hybrid clouds,” said Kip Compton, Vice President of Cisco's Cloud Platform and Solutions Group.
Global Cloud Index Highlights and Key Projections:
1. Data center virtualization and cloud computing growth
2. Growth in stored data fueled by big data and IoT
3. Applications contribute to rise of global data center traffic
4. SaaS most popular cloud service model through 2021
For the purposes of the study, cloud computing includes platforms that enable ubiquitous, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Deployment models include private, public, and hybrid clouds. Cloud data centers can be operated by service providers as well as private enterprises.
Index Overview:
The Cisco® Global Cloud Index (2016-2021) was developed to estimate global data center and cloud-based traffic growth and trends. The report serves as a complementary resource to existing Internet Protocol (IP) network traffic studies such as the Cisco Visual Networking Index™, providing new insights and visibility into emerging trends affecting data centers and cloud architectures. The forecast becomes increasingly important as the network and data center become more intrinsically linked in offering cloud services.
Embedded Infographic:
View our infographic: Growth in the Cloud.
Supporting Resources:
Visit the Cisco Global Cloud Index webpage.
Read the Cisco Global Cloud Index, Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021 White Paper.
Explore the Cisco Global Cloud Index Highlights Tool.
Editor’s Note:
Cisco welcomes analysts, bloggers, media, regulators, service providers and other interested parties to use Cisco’s research with proper attribution: “Source: Cisco Global Cloud Index.”
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