Worldwide Public Cloud Services to Grow 17 Percent in 2016

The worldwide public cloud services market is projected to grow 17.2 percent in 2016 to total $208.6 billion, up from $178 billion in 2015, according to recent reports by tech market research firm Gartner.

The highest growth is expected to come from cloud system infrastructure services, which are projected to grow 42.8 percent in 2016. Cloud application services, one of the largest segments in the global cloud services market, are expected to grow 21.7 percent in 2016 to reach $38.9 billion.

“Growth of public cloud is supported by the fact that organizations are saving 14 percent of their budgets as an outcome of public cloud adoption, according to Gartner’s 2015 cloud adoption survey,” said Sid Nag, research director at Gartner, in a prepared statement. “However, the aspiration for using cloud services outpaces actual adoption. There’s no question there is great appetite within organizations to use cloud services, but there are still challenges for organizations as they make the move to the cloud.”

IT modernization is currently the top driver of public cloud adoption, followed by cost savings, innovation, agility and other benefits, according to Gartner’s reports.

Security and/or privacy concerns continue to be the top inhibitors to public cloud adoption, despite the strong security track record and increased transparency of leading cloud providers.

Gartner clients can read more about the public cloud services market in the following reports: “Forecast Analysis: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2Q16 Update” and “Market Trends: Cloud Adoption Trends Favor Public Cloud with a Hybrid Twist.”

The outlook for the cloud services market will be further discussed during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2016, which will be held in various international locations this fall and in Orlando, FL Oct. 16-20.

About the Author

Richard Chang is associate editor of THE Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].

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