According to the study conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) and sponsored by hard drive maker Seagate, the Internet of Things (IoT), in particular, should make the volume of data skyrocket. IoT applications alone are expected to produce 90 zettabytes (90 billion terabytes) of data annually by 2025. The study found that much more data will migrate to the cloud than is the case today. IDC expects up to 40% of global data to be stored in public cloud environments by 2025.

The study also found that edge computing, i.e. the on-site processing of a lot of data, will play a greater role in the future. 2,400 decision makers in companies from all over the world were surveyed on this topic. 82% of decision makers in Europe expect their companies to give edge computing higher priority over the next few years, compared to 99% in China. Edge computing currently plays the biggest role in the financial sector and in industrial production - more than half of all companies in these industries use the technology.