The IDC forecasts that public cloud services spending will total $277 billion in 2021.

The IDC forecasts that public cloud services spending will total $277 billion in 2021.

Worldwide spending on public cloud services and infrastructure is forecast to reach $160 billion in 2018, an increase of 23.2% compared to last year.

This was revealed in the latest public cloud spending guide published by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

The IDC's Worldwide Semi-annual Public Cloud Services Spending Guide examines eight regions and 47 countries, with SA included on the list of markets the report covers.

The market advisory firm forecast that annual spending growth will reach a five-year compound annual growth rate of 21.9%, with public cloud services spending totalling $277 billion in 2021.

The report shows that discrete manufacturing, professional services and banking will spend the most on public cloud services in 2018, with each industry dedicating $19.7 billion, $18.1 billion and $16.7 billion respectively.

The process manufacturing and retail industries are also expected to spend more than $10 billion each on public cloud services in 2018, it states.

According to the IDC guide, those industries will remain at the top through to 2021 due to their continued investment in public cloud solutions. Meanwhile, professional services, telecommunications and banking are expected to see the fastest spending growth over the next five years.

Eileen Smith, programme director for customer insights and analysis at the IDC, explains: "The industries that are spending the most ? discrete manufacturing, professional services and banking ? are the ones that have come to recognise the tremendous benefits that can be gained from public cloud services.

"Organisations within these industries are leveraging public cloud services to quickly develop and launch third platform solutions, such as big data and analytics and the Internet of things, that will enhance and optimise the customer's journey and lower operational costs."

The IDC believes software as a service will be the largest cloud computing category, capturing nearly two-thirds of all public cloud spending in 2018.

Infrastructure as a service will be the second largest category of public cloud spending in 2018, followed by platform as a service, which will be led by data management software, which will see the fastest spending growth of 38.1% over the forecast period, notes the report.