New Delhi: Public cloud services market is expected to grow by 62 per cent to over USD 160 billion by 2015 globally compared to 2012 helped by increased spending on such services, research firm Gartner said.

Worldwide spending on public cloud services stood at USD 111 billion last year.

This year, the market is expected to grow by 18 per cent to USD 131 billion, Gartner said in a release.

"Gartner predicts continued strong growth in public cloud services, with end-user spending on public cloud services expected to grow 18 per cent in 2013 to total USD 131 billion. By 2015, the public cloud services market is predicted to exceed USD 180 billion," it added.

Initial resistance to public cloud has begun to subside and customers are beginning to realize its efficiencies as the solutions mature, Gartner Research Vice President Ian Marriott said.

In India, the public cloud services market is forecast to grow by 36 per cent in 2013 to total USD 443 million, the firm said.

Gartner cautioned that service providers that are slow, unable or unwilling to invest in the shift to the cloud will risk hampering offshore services revenue growth.

While the increased use of industrialized services will reduce the volume of traditional and customized services, the impact on offshore providers will be counterbalanced by new revenue from investments in cloud-based services, it added.

Cloud-based services will not replace offshore services, but will complement them Marriott said adding they will not 'make or break' all offshore providers.

"There will always be a need for pure-play providers that operate a labor-intensive delivery approach. But, broad-based offshore providers that operate in multiple geographies, industries and service lines and who seek to compete for significant wallet share in major accounts, strategic investments in cloud-based services are mandatory," he said.

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