Global spending on public cloud services is forecast to hit $266 billion (approx. £204 billion) in 2021, according to new research released by the International Data Corporation (IDC).
In the study, titled Worldwide Semiannual Public Cloud Services Spending Guide, IDC predicted that while spending on public cloud services and infrastructure will slow over the forecast period, the market is expected to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21%.
The research suggests that public cloud spending will reach $128 billion in 2017 – an increase of 25.4% over 2016.
According to the study, the U. S. will be the largest market for public cloud services with over 60% of global revenues. The U.S. is expected to reach a total spend of $163 billion in 2021.
Western Europe and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) will follow the U. S. as second and third largest public cloud regions, spending $52 billion and $25 billion respectively. Latin America is predicted to experience one of the fastest spending growth rates in the same period, with a CAGR of 26.2%.
‘In Western Europe, the public cloud market is going to more than double in the 2016-2021 time frame led by strong spending growth in Germany, which is also the largest national market, Italy, and Sweden,’ commented Angela Vacca, senior research manager in Customer Insights and Analysis.
‘The industries that will grow the most in the period under investigation are utilities, discrete manufacturing, insurance, and professional services. The growth of the cloud market is further pushed by the rise of Digital Transformation (DX), as cloud is expected to be the default delivery mode for DX projects in Europe,’ she added.
The U. S.-based industries which will experience the fastest growth in public cloud spending are forecast to be professional services, media, retail and telecom. Those industries which will spend the most on public cloud are expected to be manufacturing, professional services and banking.
The research suggests that Software as a Service (SaaS) will remain the most in-demand cloud computing service, with almost two-thirds of all public cloud spending in 2017 and nearly 60% by 2021.
