Usage of public cloud options has been tipped by research firm In-Stat to rise 153 per cent by 2015, with software as a service (SaaS) accounting for much of the boom in the next four years.

A recent report from the analysts projected SaaS to grow at a rate of 142 per cent covering the span from 2010 to 2015. The firm also found that infrastructure as a service (IaaS) would also grow during the same timeframe, with IaaS reaching a total of $4 billion in revenues by 2015.

"Growth is expected in all public cloud service segments," Greg Potter, analyst for In-Stat, said in press release. "Many SaaS applications have been around for a long time, but only now since the advent of entire platforms for applications ... are these applications gaining the necessary visibility among businesses to gain traction in the software market.

"Infrastructure as a service is also gaining traction, especially in the small business market," he said.

Indeed, In-Stat found companies under the small business label to be the largest growing segment of cloud users, with firms comprising from five to 99 employees projected to grow from a cloud spend of $2.5 billion in 2010 to $6.6 billion in 2015.

For IaaS, the researchers found hospitality and food businesses to be amongst the most keen adopters of the service, followed quickly by healthcare and social services, and retailers. Industries at the lower end of IaaS uptake include mining, forestry, fishing and agriculture.

Written by

Jason Morton

Public cloud projected to grow 153 per cent by 2015