The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) released an in-depth report showing that cloud computing will be one of the fastest-growing segments in telecommunications through at least 2017. The Cloud Computing & Data Centers Report is part of a new series of reports providing detailed study of key segments of TIA’s 2014 ICT Market Review & Forecast (MR&F) – the industry’s most comprehensive data review and analysis.
The Cloud & Data Centers Report predicts a nearly 50 percent increase in spending on cloud services and data center construction over the next four years as the demand for data continues to grow. According to the report, business and consumer spending on cloud computing will increase from nearly $67.8 billion this year to $107 billion in 2017, while spending on data center construction will rise 26 percent, from $23.5 billion in 2014 to $29.7 billion in 2017. The report forecasts continued double-digit spending growth in data center construction in 2014 and 2015, followed by single-digit gains in 2016 and 2017.
The TIA analysis identifies several factors and trends that will fuel continued growth in the cloud and data center sector, including:
- Large companies will increasingly move to the cloud as their data needs grow.
While small-to-medium-sized businesses have been a major driver of cloud services spending, accounting for 41.3 percent of the total U.S. market in 2013, the TIA Cloud Computing Report finds that large companies will be the chief driver of cloud computing services spending over the next four years – with enterprise cloud spending increasing from $40 billion in 2014 to $64.5 billion in 2017.
- Explosive growth in the Internet of Things and ongoing increases in mobile smart devices will contribute to increased cloud spending.
According to the TIA report, U.S. spending on IoT services rose more than 60 percent in 2013 and is projected to more than triple by 2017.
- Following its recent shift to the Cloud First Policy, the federal government will be a major contributor to the growth of cloud computing.
The report notes that under the Cloud First Policy, where federal agencies must look to cloud options where practicable, federal IT spending decreased from $81 billion in 2010 to $75 billion in 2013. Over the previous decade, prior to the adoption of Cloud First, federal IT spending increased at a 6 percent annual rate. The efficiency created by cloud computing will drive growing government investment.
Copies of TIA’s new cloud computing report are available for members of the media. To request a copy, please contact Farrah Kim at farrahkim@rational360.com or (202) 568-8986.
