<div>India, a fast maturing cloud market with many new entrants, has been estimated to have grown in the region of $535 million in 2011 by IDC, with over 70 per cent growth expected for 2012 and almost 50 per cent growth forecast for the next 3 years. While a broad range of investments/solutions are playing key roles in the Indian cloud ecosystem, public cloud still lags way behind the private cloud adoption in the country.<br /><br />The India Cloud Market Overview, 2011-2016 released by the International Data Corporation (IDC) provides a reality check and detailed understanding of the adoption in India, the future potential and major trends the market is witnessing. The research also addresses the attitudinal and purchase behaviours of end users and what is influencing them in their choice for adoption.<br /><br />Business priorities have changed in the recent troubled economic times and are influencing the way IT is being looked upon as a strategic tool to grow faster. 2012 has been a tough year so far, but it is rapidly starting to get to a point where mature companies with careful planning and focus on business/ operational efficiency are fast moving into the leadership spots. These companies have been proactively looking at various “disruptive technologies” that will ensure that IT is elastic enough to meet the business needs and growth. Cloud models and the flexibility they bring are definitely featuring high there.<br /><br />IDC’s Research focuses on offering the readers an insight on how the cloud market landscape is evolving and how companies are taking advantage of the new mode of IT usage. In this report, IDC has not limited the discussion to what is currently happening in the marketplace, but gives actionable recommendations to IT/Cloud vendors on areas of focus and user needs/expectations.<br /><br />"We have definitely seen cloud cross the inflexion point in end 2011; use cases especially in IAAS & SAAS areas provide testimony to that. With proper messaging from key vendors and due diligence of opportunities which exist in the cloud delivery models, the market will grow much faster in the coming years" says Nirupam Chaudhuri, Research manager – Software & IT Services, IDC India. "Alliance with key channels and enablement will further intensify the growth for major cloud providers and gradually we will see even core applications moving to cloud much faster. Users need to feel much more comfortable with fewer inhibitions like security and ownership concerns" added Nirupam.<br /><br />Cloud providers also need to strengthen their capabilities to understand the business requirements of the organisations and come up with apt value propositions. “Organisations are more likely to work with firms that understand their business processes better and industry dynamics, and hence are better suited to overseeing the transition of the organisation to a cloud environment without disruption of the business processes”, says Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Senior Market Analyst- IT Services, IDC India.<br /><br />The research pointed out that cloud providers also need to act as partners for the organisations in assessing their cloud readiness, and accordingly recommending a cloud adoption roadmap. This is absolutely essential for a seamless integration of the IT infrastructure into the cloud environment. “Organisations, even the larger ones, are on an increasing level feeling the pinching need to assess their cloud readiness and maturity levels. This would provide a boost to cloud consulting services in the coming 12-24 months. A direct corollary is that vendors need to have robust Cloud Consulting capabilities in place for making a foray into this space”, added Sharma.<br /><br />IDC is a premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. <br /><br /> </div>