When you think of national critical infrastructure, electricity distribution grids, transportation networks, banking systems, bridges, power plants, water filtration plants, airports, etc. come to mind. What about the clouds? With billions of people confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of "critical infrastructure" needs to be extended. To the traditional list, we may need to add cloud-based web conferencing (think Zoom, Webex, & Skype), online financial services, telehealth services, e-commerce, online delivery, and more.
Cloud computing has come a long way since it came onto the scene some 15 years ago. An IDC study in October 2020 revealed that the total spending on cloud infrastructure has exceeded that on traditional IT on-premise infrastructure for the first time. A CIO magazine article dated April 2021 shared that CIOs have moved most, if not all, their IT to the cloud. During the pandemic outbreak, many enterprises have pivoted to the cloud; there has been increased cloud usage and greater cloud adoption.