Where do analysts predict the majority of data will be generated by 2022?

Question

Options

• AThe public cloud
• BOn-prem data centers
• CCo-located data centers
• DThe edge

• A
  70% (14)
• B
  5% (1)
• C
  15% (3)
• D
  10% (2)

Explanation

Option A reflects analyst consensus from the late 2010s predicting that public cloud adoption would accelerate rapidly, with the majority of enterprise workloads and data shifting to platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud by the early 2020s - driven by cost efficiency, scalability, and the move away from capital-intensive infrastructure.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• B (On-prem data centers): The trend was explicitly away from on-prem as organizations sought to reduce hardware maintenance and operational overhead.
• C (Co-located data centers): Colocation is a transitional step, not the predicted destination - analysts saw it as a bridge, not the end state.
• D (The edge): While edge computing is growing, the question asks specifically about the majority of data - and analysts pointed to cloud-first strategies as the dominant trajectory for that timeframe.

Memory tip: Think "cloud by 2022" - cloud was the exam-era buzzword for digital transformation, and every major analyst firm (Gartner, IDC, Forrester) published reports framing cloud as the default destination for enterprise data growth.

Note for exam takers: Some real-world analyst reports from this era also cited edge as a major data-generation source (IoT, sensors). If your exam source specifies "public cloud," go with A - but be aware this reflects a cloud-centric framing specific to that curriculum.

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