Ovum: Cloud Services Set To Explode

The worldwide market for public cloud services is set for a massive expansion over the next five years, with infrastructure and platform services particularly well placed to gain traction, according to researcher firm Ovum.

Ovum predicted the overall market would grow from £11.4 billion this year to £42 billion in 2016, as enterprise adoption grows.

European growth

North America is to continue dominating the market but its share will decline from 54.6 percent this year to 50 percent in 2016, Ovum said.

Western Europe is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.2 percent over the next five years, from $4.4 billion (£2.8bn) to $17.2 billion, a worldwide market share of just above 25 percent.

The Asia Pacific market, meanwhile, is poised to expand at a CAGR of 33.9 percent, from $2.9 billion to $12.4 billion, Ovum said.

The coming wave of market expansion is set to fuel the development of new cloud-based technologies further down the line, Ovum said.

“Although the market size will see strong growth, the evolution of cloud computing within enterprises, and the IT trends that follow, will happen more slowly,” said Ovum analyst Laurent Lachal in a statement.

Ovum predicted that software-as-a-service will decline from its currently dominant 87 percent share of the market to 62 percent, as infrastructure and platform services grow more popular.

Lachal said IT departments will need to change their roles as cloud-based services become more common.

“IT teams will take a more holistic approach to connecting networks, hardware and software,” he stated. “They will also reduce their emphasis on maintenance and increase their innovation, while being encouraged to take more risks, by giving employees the capacity to tackle high-reward ventures. But, as ever, preparation is the key to ensuring that cloud computing delivers a positive outcome.”