In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the proportion of IT spending that is shifting to the cloud is predicted by Gartner to accelerate, with cloud projected to make up 14.2% of the total global enterprise IT spending market in 2024.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) remains the largest market segment, and is forecast to grow to $117.7 billion in 2021. However, application infrastructure services (PaaS) is anticipated to grow by a higher margin at 26.6%.

This increase in PaaS investment by end-users, according to Gartner, will be driven by the need for remote workers to have access to high performing, content-rich and scalable infrastructure, which mostly requires modernised and cloud-native applications.

“The pandemic validated cloud’s value proposition,” said Sid Nag, research vice-president at Gartner.

“The ability to use on-demand, scalable cloud models to achieve cost efficiency and business continuity is providing the impetus for organisations to rapidly accelerate their digital business transformation plans.

“The increased use of public cloud services has reinforced cloud adoption to be the ‘new normal,’ now more than ever.”

As businesses increase investments in mobility, collaboration, and other remote working technologies and infrastructure, Gartner believes that growth in public cloud will be sustained through 2024.

Further market growth could be driven by the rising trend of partnerships between cloud service providers and telecommunications companies, in an aim to extend reach to the edge, and facilitate hybrid workforces.

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“The Covid-19 pandemic forced organisations to quickly focus on three priorities: preserve cash and optimise IT costs, support and secure a remote workforce, and ensure resiliency,” said Nag. “Investing in cloud became a convenient means to address all three of these needs.

“As CIOs think more strategically about how to lay the foundations to support a return to growth, it is clear that the move to digital and associated services will play a big role for organisations in the future.

“Cloud adoption therefore becomes a significant means to stay ahead in a post-Covid-19 world focused on agility and digital touchpoints.”