Global market revenue for cloud services in medical devices was worth $2bn in 2021. This is expected to grow to $4.4bn by 2024, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.1%, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Kevin Dang, Medical Data Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “When people hear the word ‘cloud’, they think about it in the context of technological applications. What they don’t know is that it has untapped potential in the medical device industry. Cloud solutions improve reach between patients and physicians, as well as scope for medical research. It can improve the cybersecurity of medical devices by ensuring proper data encryption and protection from cyberattacks. Additionally, cloud solutions will help reduce the recall rate of medical devices. In 2020, 110 companies were required to recall medical devices due to defective software, or software that poses a risk to health. This was especially common for inserted or implanted devices.”

The leading cloud vendors in medical devices include BrightInsight, Euris and Rackspace. BrightInsight links with Google Cloud to store patient information. Euris offers cloud computing services, which helps sales reps and marketing teams connect with healthcare professionals, and operation managers to monitor and enhance their teams. Rackspace provides managed cloud services and serves healthcare organizations with a Business Associate Agreement.

The leading cloud adopters in medical devices include Edwards Lifesciences, 3M and Johnson & Johnson. Edwards Lifesciences has moved its entire production system to the AWS cloud in under four months, while 3M Health Information Systems is one of the largest software providers in the world within the healthcare industry and has moved to the cloud with AWS. Johnson & Johnson’s IT division also moved to the cloud, using AWS Cloud to run 120 applications.

Dang concludes: “Many medical device companies have shifted their systems over to the cloud to enable scalability, speed and security. This change is taking place across the sector, which will lead to significant growth in cloud services over the next few years.”