Cloud Discovery Market Report Scope & Overview:

The Cloud Discovery Market was valued at USD 1.4 Billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 6.0 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 17.24% from 2024-2032.

The Cloud Discovery Market is experiencing rapid growth across key industry verticals like IT, BFSI, and healthcare due to rising demand for real-time asset visibility. Small and large enterprises face varying challenges in managing cloud infrastructure, with smaller firms prioritizing ease of use and larger ones addressing security gaps. Regional trends show North America dominating cloud asset discovery, while Asia-Pacific records the fastest adoption, fueled by expanding cloud deployments. Additionally, the increasing prevalence of shadow IT—unmanaged cloud services—is reshaping security strategies, emphasizing the need for advanced discovery tools to mitigate risks and enhance overall operational efficiency.

The U.S. Cloud Discovery Market is expected to grow significantly due to the increasing adoption of cloud services across industries, driven by the need for enhanced visibility, security, and cost optimization. Factors such as the rising prevalence of multi-cloud environments, the expansion of shadow IT, and stringent regulatory compliance requirements are accelerating the demand for cloud discovery solutions. Moreover, the surge in hybrid cloud deployments is boosting the adoption of asset discovery tools to improve transparency and mitigate security risks. 

Market Dynamics

Drivers

• The growing adoption of multi-cloud environments is boosting demand for cloud discovery tools to enhance visibility and optimize resources.

Enterprises increasingly use multi-cloud strategies, which is a significant driver of the Cloud Discovery Market. As businesses leverage multiple cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud to increase their flexibility and resilience, the need for cloud discovery solutions is growing. Such tools allow organizations to gain insight into their inherent cloud assets in real-time, optimize resource allocation, and solve security threats. Moreover, the fast-paced digital change and transition to hybrid cloud models exacerbate the demand for sound discovery tools to navigate the increasing complexity of cloud environments while fulfilling compliance requirements, cutting operational costs, and mitigating cloud threats.

Restraint

• Data privacy and security concerns hinder market growth due to fears of breaches, compliance risks, and shadow IT.

The data privacy and security concerns and issues associated with cloud discovery tools will act as one of the restraints on the market. Organizations dealing with sensitive information, especially from sectors like BFSI and healthcare, tend to be extremely cautious when it comes to exposing critical data in the cloud owing to threats of breaches, unauthorized access, and data leaks. This reluctance is further exacerbated by compliance hurdles concerning GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulatory environments. The uncertainty is further compounded by fears that shadow IT is widening security gaps. To address these concerns and drive cloud discovery solution adoption, vendors are progressively embedding the new encryption model, zero-trust architecture, and identity management.

Opportunities

• AI-powered cloud discovery solutions offer automation, predictive insights, and enhanced analytics to streamline cloud operations.

Cloud discovery tools that incorporate artificial intelligence offer considerable growth potential. AI-powered solutions can not only automate the detection of these assets but also provide advanced analytics and enhance visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. AI’s predictive capabilities and anomaly detection capabilities enable businesses to automate cloud operations, optimize resource utilization, and enhance overall security. Ready for the future: With the rise of AI and machine learning, dynamic cloud infrastructures will increasingly require intelligent discovery. Moreover, the increasing amount of data being generated in the cloud, and the subsequent demand for time series predictive insights, will likely unlock further innovation and adoption within the market.

Challenges

• Managing hybrid cloud infrastructure remains complex due to integration issues, inconsistent protocols, and scalability hurdles.

Organizations struggle to bring on-premise and cloud-based resources in hybrid cloud environments. It is becoming increasingly difficult to track and manage cloud assets across multiple cloud platforms, as businesses scale operations. This complexity is further complicated by inconsistent discovery protocols, a lack of automation, and integration challenges which can result in operational inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities. Vendors need to work on interoperability, discovery, and dashboards. Enhanced automation, real-time asset tracking, and API integrations are key for overcoming these hurdles, making sure that discovery works seamlessly across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures.

Segmentation Analysis

By Component

In 2024, the solution segment dominated the market and accounted for the largest revenue share of 55%. Demand for cloud discovery tools is driven by the increasing adoption of cloud disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. Cloud resiliency is crucial because it protects organizational data and applications from disruption. Cloud discovery technologies play a vital role in helping ensure that all critical resources are being accounted for and adequately managed as part of DR plans.

The services segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. A major driver of this service segment is the rise in containerization and microservices architectures adoption. However, as enterprises move to cloud-native environments, there is growing dependency on containers and microservices to improve scalability, agility, and operational excellence.

By Enterprise Size

In 2023,  the large enterprises segment dominated the market and accounted for the largest revenue share of 61% in the market. Cloud infrastructure solutions provide the foundation of an organization’s IT operations. Cloud solutions are in multi-regions, multi-cloud service providers, and complex hybrid cloud configurations usually deployed by large enterprises. To manage these rich and wide environments, organizations need robust cloud discovery tools that can provide a consolidated view of all cloud resources so that IT personnel can monitor, audit, and the cloud environment.

The segment of SME is anticipated to witness the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. Demand for the cloud discovery industry is fuelled by the growth of managed service providers providing cloud management services to SMEs. Many SMEs do not have internal resources to manage their cloud infrastructure, so they partner with MSPs to take over this responsibility.

By End-Use

The IT & Telecommunication segment dominated the market and accounted for a significant revenue share in 2023. The peppering rise of technology such as 5G drives the IT and telecommunications sectors and increases cloud discovery industry demand. 5G networks require heavy investments in cloud-based infrastructure to meet the speed and low latency demands of 5G services.

The retail and e-commerce segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period. The rise of omnichannel retailing is a major contributor to cloud discovery solutions in this segment. Retailers must integrate different cloud services to facilitate the omnichannel nature of retailers as consumers move seamlessly between online retail, mobile, brick-and-mortar stores, and even social media.

Regional Landscape

In 2023, North America dominated the market and accounted for 32% of revenue share. Demand for the cloud discovery industry in North America is driven by increasing regulatory and compliance requirements. In an era of increasing data privacy and security regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe, the California Consumer Privacy Act in the U.S., and additional local and regional laws, companies are required to ensure that their cloud environments are compliant.

The Asia Pacific cloud discovery market is anticipated to attain the fastest CAGR over the forecast period in the cloud discovery market. The Cloud Discovery Market is being driven by the rapid growth of the Asia Pacific digital economy. With an increase in e-commerce, digital services and online platforms,  this has resulted in greater dependency on the cloud infrastructure in the region.

Key Players

The major key players along with their products are

• IBM – IBM Cloud Pak for Multi-cloud Management
• Microsoft – Azure Arc
• AWS – AWS CloudTrail
• Google – Google Cloud Asset Inventory
• Cisco – Cisco CloudCenter
• Oracle – Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Discovery
• VMware – VMware vRealize Suite
• ServiceNow – ServiceNow Cloud Management
• Splunk – Splunk Cloud Monitoring
• BMC Software – BMC Helix Discovery
• Zscaler – Zscaler Cloud Security
• Snow Software – Snow Cloud Discovery
• Flexera – Flexera One
• Palo Alto Networks – Prisma Cloud
• SolarWinds – SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability

Recent Developments

• March 2024: Alphabet Inc. (Google) announced its acquisition of cybersecurity startup Wiz for approximately $32 billion, marking its largest deal to date. This strategic move aims to enhance Google's cloud security offerings and strengthen its position against competitors like Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud computing market. ​
• November 2024: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated an investigation into Microsoft's cloud computing division over antitrust concerns. The probe focuses on allegations that Microsoft imposed terms hindering users from migrating data from its Azure service to other cloud platforms, potentially impacting competition within the Cloud Discovery Market. ​