Cloud Computing Statistics in Canada

Most people use cloud computing every day without even realising it. For example, we store our pictures in online folders, use email to communicate with people or share files, all of which are examples of using a cloud.

Cloud computing is a sector of the IT industry that is growing fast and is expected to continue growing in the future. In this article, we look at cloud computing statistics in Canada as well as globally to give you a wider picture of the industry. 

Cloud Computing Statistics for Canadians

• Cloud computing refers to a physical network of servers that host data. These networks can be public, private, or hybrid.
• The revenue from IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS platforms has grown from 90 billion USD to around 340 billion USD between 2016 and 2020.
• The global cloud computing revenue is expected to exceed 400 billion USD in 2022.
• Canadian companies allocate 29% of their IT budgets to cloud computing.
• 92% of Canadian companies use some form of cloud computing.
• 41% of Canadian companies have plans to invest in hybrid or multi-cloud technology.
• Eleks, Leonovus, and Sync.com are some of the biggest Canadian cloud computing providers.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud is a physical network of servers that host data you can access online. All you need is an internet connection, which makes cloud computing convenient for both business and personal users.

Cloud services include everything from cloud storage to infrastructure platforms such as Amazon Web Services. All online streaming content is hosted on cloud servers, including Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube videos.

Cloud computing is an integral part of any modern business and often takes up a large portion of IT infrastructure spending. Personal users also depend on cloud services, even if they are not aware of it. For example, if a user has a Gmail account or shares files through Dropbox, they are using cloud services.

Types of cloud computing

There are three main types of cloud computing which are public, private, and hybrid. Public clouds are the most common type and they are owned and operated by third-party service providers such as Microsoft Azure, iCloud, and Sync.com. Users of public cloud services have lower costs, high reliability, and no maintenance.

Private clouds are used by a single organisation and the organisation is responsible for maintaining the servers that host the cloud. Examples of private cloud users include government agencies and large companies. Using a private cloud gives the users better control and privacy as well as increased flexibility.

Hybrid clouds allow users to combine the advantages of public and private clouds. For example, users can use public cloud resources when they need them and save money.

There are also community cloud systems, but these are not very popular, as the statistics show.

IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS

In this article, we will also use the terms IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS, which refer to:

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)

According to BigCommerce, these platforms have grown over the last decade with the worldwide revenue increasing from 90 billion USD to around 340 billion USD between 2016 and 2020.

SaaS platforms involve software available from third parties over the internet. Examples of SaaS include Google Workspace, MailChimp, and DocuSign. SaaS is the most common service within the cloud market, with the platforms making software available to users over the internet. Often, there is a monthly subscription fee for the service. With SaaS, vendors can manage data, storage, and servers.

PaaS focuses on hardware and software tools available over the internet. Examples include Heroku, Google App Engine, and OpenShift. Using PaaS provides companies with a framework, software, and tools they need to build apps and software accessible through the internet. The main difference to SaaS is that users access an online platform rather than online software.

IaaS is a cloud-based and pay-as-you-go service including storage, virtualization, and networking such as Rackspace, Digital Ocean, and Google Compute Engine. IaaS offers companies an alternative to on-premises physical infrastructure. With IaaS, companies can purchase resources when they need them rather than having to buy and manage hardware.

The global market for cloud computing continues to grow

According to Statista, the cloud and storage companies generated over 340 USD in 2020, and the figure is expected to grow further. In 2022, it is expected to exceed 400 billion USD.

The market has shown no signs of slowing down. Quite the opposite, as there is a lot more potential for development worldwide. For example, large regions in Africa, Asia, and South America are still waiting to have the infrastructure in place that will allow efficient employment of cloud computing services.

Public cloud is the most popular cloud service model worldwide and in Canada

Because of their different characteristics, it is quite challenging to compare the market sizes of public, private, and hybrid models exactly. However, it is safe to say that public cloud servers bring in the most revenue. This is partly because of the widespread adoption of cloud services in industrialised countries.

Globally, the biggest public cloud providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure (by Microsoft), and Google Cloud.

AWS leads the industry with a 32% share of the public cloud services market, followed by Azure with 20%, and Google with 9%. The AWS also has the fastest growth rate, which was further increased during the global pandemic. These companies provide more than just public cloud services. However, most of their revenue comes from public cloud services.

In Canada, 29% of the IT budget of all Canadian companies was allocated to public clouds in 2020. Based on the current trends from Statista, spending on public cloud computing will reach 10.3 billion USD in 2023. This will be nearly double the spending in 2019, which was 5.8 billion USD. This is representative of a 16% CAGR over four years and mirrors the global patterns of cloud spending and market size.

Majority of Canadian businesses are using public cloud services

More and more Canadian businesses have been investing in cloud computing in recent years and 92% of all businesses now use public cloud services in Canada. In addition to public cloud computing, 34% of Canadian companies use IaaS, and 47% use PaaS in some form.

The recent statistics for cloud computing in Canada show that IaaS and PaaS are less popular than public cloud services among Canadian businesses. However, some experts predict that there will be further increases in the adoption of IaaS and PaaS users in the near future.

Private cloud market

In 2020, the private cloud market size was around 60 billion USD, lagging behind the public cloud market. The main reason for this is that most businesses do not have to opt for private clouds, at least not completely. Notably, organisations that have to pay close attention to the security of information are more likely to opt for private cloud providers.

The private cloud market is more even than the public cloud market. While Amazon and Microsoft represent over 50% of the public market, in the private cloud sector, VMWare is the market leader with just a 7% share.

IBM has the second largest market share in the private cloud sector at 4%. The company also has a significant share of the market in the public cloud sector with 5%. While there are not as many private cloud users as there are public cloud users, those who use private cloud systems pay much more for the services compared to cloud or hybrid users.

Hybrid cloud market

The hybrid cloud market is expected to grow more in the future as businesses might opt to use private clouds for sensitive data and communications and public clouds for activities that are less sensitive. In 2020, the hybrid cloud market was approximately 52 billion USD.

According to Newswire, 41% of all Canadian organisations have plans to invest in hybrid or multi-cloud technology. This trend reflects the global picture with most companies benefiting from combining different cloud services.

Community cloud services have not proven popular

Community cloud is when different stakeholders from a community (not necessarily a geographical community) invest together to create a cloud infrastructure, which they then share. The market share of community cloud systems was 1.5 billion USD in 2017 and is predicted to reach 6 billion USD in 2023, which shows a lot slower growth rate compared to the other cloud types.

Community clouds are similar to public clouds, but instead of using a third-party provider such as Microsoft or Google, the organisations develop their public clouds only within their strictly defined community.

SaaS market

The global SaaS market will be more than 145 billion USD in 2022. Using the SaaS model, the consumer doesn’t own the software in any way and has no right to change it, except within the scope allowed by the service provider. Most people use SaaS daily when using a web browser or sending and receiving emails.

Canadian revenue in the SaaS segment is projected to reach US$5.42bn in 2022, according to Statista, and grow at the annual rate of 7.87%.

IaaS market

The trends indicate that the global revenues from IaaS will amount to 107 billion USD in 2022. The consumer has more control of the software with IaaS than with SaaS, and things like virtual machines, storage, and networks are some of the main components of the IaaS cloud computing market.

According to cloud computing statistics from 2021 collected by Statista, the IaaS cloud computing market in Canada was expected to exceed 1.5 USD by the end of the year. The Canadian IaaS market has an annual growth rate of almost 17%, which means that the market has the potential to climb up to 3 billion USD by 2025. The spending per employee in IaaS in Canada was estimated to be 76.68 USD in 2021.

PaaS market

The global PaaS market is set to reach 71 billion USD in 2022. In Canada, the PaaS segment revenue is expected to reach 1.14 billion USD in 2022, according to Statista. The expected annual growth rate between 2022 and 2027 is 21.62%, which would result in a 3.92 billion market value by 2027.

The biggest Canadian cloud computing providers

Eleks, which has over 25 million USD in annual revenues, is one of the biggest cloud companies in Canada. The company’s headquarters are in Toronto, Canada’s hub for international IT and it employs over 1,600 computer cloud experts. The company also has several offices in Europe.

Leonovus, which is a highly specialized Canadian cloud computing company, has received significant investments from the Government of Canada, with 1.5 million CAD worth of software sales. The company provides cloud services to the Department of National Defence.

Sync.com is based in Toronto and is one of the biggest cloud hosting companies in Canada in terms of the number of users with 400,000 Canadian users. The company has an annual revenue of 1.71 million CAD.

Cloud companies that have the largest market shares in Canada

While the above companies are popular in Canada, the most popular cloud service providers are large international companies. Amazon Cloud Storage Canada, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud have by far the largest market shares in the country.

Conclusion

Cloud computing is used by most computer users in Canada every day for example, when using email or web-based storage. The Canadian cloud computing trends follow the global trends with public clouds the most popular type of cloud computing.

While there are popular Canadian cloud computing companies, the market is dominated by international giants such as Amazon and Microsoft. Revenue from cloud computing has grown year by year and experts predict this trend will continue in the future.