(c)iStock.com/Spondylolithesis
The global public cloud services market is set to break the $200 billion mark, going to $208.6bn (£157.8bn) at a 17.2% increase by the end of this year, according to the latest prognostication from analyst house Gartner.
Gartner’s verdict comes primarily through the rapid growth of cloud system infrastructure services, which the analysts expect to grow 42.8% this year, with cloud application services – SaaS – growing at a 21.7% clip, to reach $38.9bn.
The forecast also argues that the main driver of public cloud adoption was IT modernisation, followed by cost savings, innovation, and agility. Yet the key here is not that revenues continue to rise – but how more and more organisations are trusting cloud security, always a moaning point for many survey respondents.
“Gartner’s position on cloud security has been clear – public cloud services offered by the leading cloud providers are secure. The real security challenge is using public cloud services in a secure manner,” said Ed Anderson, Gartner research vice president. “More education is needed to help organisations overcome the hype associated with the security concerns. This should be a key area of focus for providers in working with their clients to unlock the benefits of public cloud services.”
Yet according to Angelo Di Ventura, director at end to end technology provider Trustmarque, it’s not all plain sailing. Citing the growth in SaaS services, Di Ventura said: “It’s important CIOs are able to retain visibility over the cloud services in use throughout the business. In particular, if left unchecked, easy to purchase SaaS services can cause considerable disruption.”
Gartner adds that while hybrid cloud is expected to dominate, challenges still remain in this field, including integration, application incompatibilities, and a lack of management tools, APIs, and vendor support.
“Cloud integration can offer serious challenges to today’s organisations,” added Di Ventura. “Ultimately, maximising the ROI of cloud demands new skills and capabilities of businesses.”
You can read the Gartner note here.