Spending on public cloud services will hit USD 160 bln in 2017, led by SaaS

Friday 19 January 2018 | 16:36 CET | News
Worldwide spending on public cloud services and infrastructure is expected to rise over 23 percent in 2017 to USD 160 billion, according to the latest study from IDC. Spending in 2016-2021 is expected to slow somewhat, but will still show a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 22 percent, with public cloud services spending going to USD 277 billion in 2021.

Software as a Service (SaaS) will be the largest cloud computing category, capturing nearly two thirds of all public cloud spending in 2018. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will be the second largest category of public cloud spending, followed by Platform as a Service (PaaS). Meanwhile, application platforms, integration and orchestration middleware, and data access, analysis and delivery applications will also see healthy spending levels in 2018 and beyond. 

The US will be the largest country market for public cloud services in 2018 with its USD 97 billion accounting for more than 60 percent of worldwide spending. The UK and Germany will lead public cloud spending in Western Europe at USD 7.9 billion and USD 7.4 billion respectively, while Japan and China will round out the top 5 countries in 2018 with USD 5.8 billion and USD 5.4 billion, respectively. China will experience the fastest growth in spending over the five-year forecast period (43.2% CAGR), enabling it to leap ahead of the UK, Germany, and Japan into the number 2 position in 2021. Argentina (39.4% CAGR), India (38.9% CAGR), and Brazil (37.1% CAGR) will also experience particularly strong spending growth.

The industries that are forecast to spend the most on public cloud services in 2018 are discrete manufacturing (USD19.7 billion), professional services (USD 18.1 billion), and banking (USD 16.7 billion). The process manufacturing and retail industries are also expected to spend more than USD 10 billion each on public cloud services. These five industries will remain at the top in 2021 due to continued investment. Over the five-year forecast period, professional services (24.4% CAGR), telecommunications (23.3% CAGR), and banking (23.0% CAGR) will spend the most.

The US industries that will spend the most on public cloud services in 2018 are discrete manufacturing, professional services, and banking. Together, these three industries will account for roughly one third of all US public cloud services spending this year. In the UK, the top three industries (banking, retail, and discrete manufacturing) will provide more than 40 percent of all spending in 2018, while discrete manufacturing, professional services, and process manufacturing will account for more than 40 percent in Germany. In Japan, the professional services, discrete manufacturing, and process manufacturing industries will deliver more than 43 percent of all public cloud services. The professional services, discrete manufacturing, and banking industries will represent more than 40 percent of China's spending.