Is the mining sector seeing the beginnings of a cloud investment boom?

Cloud is one of the key themes across global industries, with top companies around the world completing cloud deals, hiring for cloud roles and mentioning it in company reports at the start of 2021.

GlobalData’s thematic approach to sector activity seeks to group key company information on hiring, deals, patents and more by topic to see which industries are best placed to weather the disruptions coming their way.

These themes, of which cloud is one, are best thought of as “any issue that keeps a CEO awake at night”, and by tracking them, it becomes possible to ascertain which companies are leading the way on specific issues and which are dragging their heels.

One area in which there has been a decrease in cloud investment among mining companies is in the number of deals. GlobalData figures show that there were three cloud deals in mining in the second quarter of 2019. By the second quarter of 2021, that number was one.

Hiring patterns within the mining sector as a whole are pointing towards an increase in the level of attention being shown to roles related to cloud. There were 276 actively advertised-for open mining roles within the industry in the second quarter of this year, up from 71 in the same quarter last year.

It is also apparent from an analysis of keyword mentions in financial filings that cloud is occupying the minds of mining companies to a lesser extent.

Cloud was mentioned in 21 company reports of the biggest mining companies in Q2 2021. This figure represents a decrease compared to the same period in 2019, when 57 industry filings mentioned cloud.

Cloud is also fueling innovation in the mining sector. There was, on average, one mining patent related to cloud granted in the third quarter of 2021, compared to five patents granted in the third quarter of 2019.