No one could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic and the profound impact it has had on our lives, our society, the way we now work, how we market our products, and the ripple effects on IT infrastructure and data in general. This once-in-a-lifetime event is placing data protection at the top of many lists, something that our research highlighted in 2020 and, looking ahead to 2021, will directly affect IT strategies against a backdrop of accelerated digital transformation/optimization.