Cloud computing to grow at 5 times rate of traditional IT, says IDC

Global revenue from public cloud computing services is expected to grow at five times the rate of traditional IT, according to IDC.

As for the hard numbers, public IT cloud services revenue is expected to hit $55.5 billion in 2014, up from $16 billion in 2009. That adds up to a compound annual growth rate of 27.4 percent. Traditional IT product growth is expected to be 5 percent over the same period.

IDC is projecting the following (statement):

• The cloud computing model will dominate growth for the next 20 years;
• There will be a next-generation of killer apps;
• Small and medium-sized business will lead the public cloud computing charge;
• Leading IT vendors will change as cloud computing gains market share.

All of that said cloud computing will still only represent 12 percent of total IT product spending by 2014. However, cloud computing will account for more than a quarter of the net new IT growth.

For now, the U.S. leads in revenue from cloud computing with 70 percent of the global sales pie. By 2014, the U.S. will account for 51.4 percent of global cloud computing revenue. Europe and Asia Pacific are regions expected to grow quickly.

Related: Cloud computing topic center