According to IDC, worldwide IT spending on cloud services will grow almost threefold, reaching $42 billion, by 2012.
As the cloud computing model offers an efficient way for businesses to acquire and use IT, IDC expects its adoption to be amplified by the cost-cutting needs of most organizations today.
In a recent IDC survey conducted with 696 IT executives and CIOs across Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) to gather their views, understanding, current usage and planned usage of cloud computing, it was found that 11 percent of the respondents are already using cloud-based solutions.
A further 41 percent of the respondents indicated that they are either evaluating cloud solutions for use in their businesses, or already piloting cloud solutions.
When asked about their opinion of the current state of cloud computing, 17 percent of the respondents stated that although cloud computing is very promising, there are currently not enough services available to make it compelling.
For IT vendors to be successful in the cloud market, they will have to address user's cost concerns. The survey also revealed that more than 50 percent of the respondents indicated cost cutting as the key driver behind the adoption of cloud computing.
However, it is also important to note that supplying low-cost services alone will not guarantee success, as users are also indicating that any cloud solution they buy must offer competitive pricing, offer Service Level Agreement (SLAs) and offer complete solutions.
