The Indian cloud market grew significantly in 2011, reaching between $860 and $912 million, according to a report by Zinnov Management Consulting, a market advisory firm. A large portion of that market growth (78 to 80 percent) was in the private cloud, while 20 to 22 percent came from the public cloud.

For India the public cloud accounted for about $160 to $190 million in 2011, and there is some indication that the push to the public cloud has just begun in India and will continue to grow. As companies become more comfortable with cloud subscription models such as SaaS (software-as-a-service), PaaS (platform-as-a-service), and IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service), they will continue to adopt the public cloud in increasing numbers.

The study also said that much of the public cloud software as a service comprised of email, CRM/ERP, and collaboration tools. The SaaS market alone expanded at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46 percent from $56-$67 million in 2009 to $123-$143 million in 2011. PaaS experienced a CAGR of 75 percent, from $0.5-$1.5 million to $1.5-2.5 million.

India is not the only country to experience cloud growth. Gartner recently predicted that cloud spending in the U.S. would eclipse $109 billion in 2012, $91 billion more than the previous year, making the public cloud one of the fastest growing IT markets.

For India, the cloud has brought in big business. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported in April that it had become the first Indian company to pass the $10 billion mark. Among its products is iON, a cloud-based IT service for SMBs. It has also been the subject of controversy over its questionable business practices.

Nevertheless, the Zinnov report suggests that India will push ahead with the cloud and that the public cloud will eventually become the “default choice for new IT investments.” If cloud spending continues to grow at the rates from 2011, that is a very real possibility.

Image credit: Nikhil Kulkarni