As Cloud Computing Ramps Up, Where Are the Opportunities?

As I noted last week, enterprises are beginning to embrace the concept of cloud computing, in which applications and computing power are moved from individual desktops to a shared network.

Over the next few years, this shift will account for a greater share of IT spending and a huge part of its growth. This week, we’ll take a look at how that growth will evolve and at a few companies that stand to benefit.

A study by IDC shows that global spending on cloud computing is growing a rate of 27% a year, or nearly four times as fast as the overall information technology market. Total spending on cloud computing — which includes business applications, servers, storage, application development and deployment and infrastructure software — will more than double between 2008 and 2012, according to IDC. It was $16.23 billion, or 4%, of the $383 global IT market in 2008.

Spending on the cloud is expected to rise to $42.27 billion, or 9% of the $493.71 billion IT market in 2012.

Cloud computing is becoming more important to every element in the tech food chain, from suppliers of infrastructure and applications to the clients who buy it. The growing importance is even more dramatic when one considers just how much of the market’s growth is being channeled into the construction of the cloud. The IT market is expected to grow from $462 billion in 2011 to $493 billion in 2012. The cloud is expected to account for 25% of that $31 billion in new spending.

“The implication for IT suppliers is clear. During the next several years, IT suppliers must position themselves as leaders in IT cloud services, or forfeit an ever-expanding portion of the industry’s growth,” Frank Gens of IDC concludes.

See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/cMy3TS

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