Cloud computing industry continued offer steady growth opportunities during the third-quarter of 2012 with at least one in every four outsourcing opportunities now includes cloud, according to a survey conducted by Information Services Group (ISG).
According to ISG Research’s third-quarter survey of service providers, about half of all respondents revealed that cloud computing has been a feature of nearly 25% of their pipeline opportunities.
Major surveyed anticipated cloud services to rise rapidly over the traditional IT outsourcing functions, mostly driven by opportunities in the US market.
ISG Emerging Technology analyst Stanton Jones said that cloud is a disruptive trend in the enterprise, and this disruption is not only expected to continue, but accelerate, especially for the traditional IT service providers.
"From well-known software vendors to more nimble mid-market players and emerging pure-play infrastructure and SaaS providers, traditional IT service providers face significant pressure in nearly every direction," Jones said.
According to an analysis by TPI Index, the number of outsourcing contracts with cloud has reported steady rise along the same trajectory, from 110 in 2010 to 220 in 2011.
Further, ISG Research forecast that by the end of 2012, about 300 contracts featuring cloud computing will be awarded.
"Cloud services, especially shared platforms, are a new terrain for providers and clients alike, as they are highly standardized, and can’t be easily customized — the antithesis of traditional outsourcing," Jones said.
"Although the rate of adoption isn’t consistent across cloud categories, we’re seeing the greatest potential for growth and momentum in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) – especially for Human Resources, Customer Relationship Management and collaboration.
"We project that Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) will lag behind SaaS in terms of enterprise-wide adoption."
