Worldwide Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Grows by 25.1% in the First Quarter on Growing Demand for Public and Private Cloud IT Services, According to IDC

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--()--According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew by 25.1% year over year to nearly $6.3 billion in the first quarter of 2015 (1Q15). This was the second highest growth in the five quarters in which IDC has tracked year-over-year revenue and the second largest in terms of total spending in nine quarters of tracking.

Cloud IT infrastructure spending climbed to nearly 30% of overall IT infrastructure spending in 1Q15, up from 26.4% a year ago. Revenue from infrastructure sales for private cloud grew 24.4% year over year to $2.4 billion while sales for public cloud grew 25.5% to $3.9 billion. In comparison, the non-cloud IT infrastructure segment increased by 6.1% in the first quarter, largely driven by increased sales of servers while storage sales declined and sales of Ethernet switches grew just by 1%. All three technology markets showed strong year-over-year growth in both private and public cloud segments, with servers experiencing the highest growth at 28% and 33%, respectively.

"Cloud IT infrastructure growth continues to outpace the growth of the overall IT infrastructure market, driven by the transition of workloads onto cloud-based platforms," said Kuba Stolarski, Research Manager, Server, Virtualization and Workload Research at IDC. "Both private and public cloud infrastructures have been growing at a similar pace, suggesting that customers are open to a broad array of hybrid deployment scenarios as they modernize their IT for the 3rd Platform, begin to deploy next-gen software solutions, and embrace modern management processes that enable agile, flexible, and extensible cloud platforms."

At the regional level, vendor revenues from cloud IT infrastructure sales declined only in Central and Eastern Europe, which is experiencing political and economic turmoil that impacts overall IT spending. In all other regions year-over-year growth in IT infrastructure sales for public and private cloud remained strong and even accelerated compared to growth rates in the previous quarter.

Top 5 Corporate Family, Worldwide Cloud IT Infrastructure Vendor Revenue, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, First Quarter of 2015
(Revenues are in Millions, Excludes Double Counting of Storage and Servers)

                               
Vendor     1Q15 Revenue     1Q15 Market Share     1Q14 Revenue     1Q14 Market Share     1Q15/1Q14 Revenue Growth
1. HP     $985     15.7%     $716     14.3%     37.4%
2. Dell     $745     11.9%     $555     11.1%     34.2%
3. Cisco     $582     9.3%     $447     8.9%     30.1%
4. EMC     $450     7.2%     $365     7.3%     23.5%
5. NetApp*     $273     4.4%     $269     5.4%     1.5%
5. Lenovo*     $226     3.6%     $26     0.5%    

770.3%

ODM Direct     $1,808     28.8%     $1,468     29.3%     23.1%
Others     $1,207     19.2%     $1,170     23.3%     3.1%
                               
Total     $6,276     100%     $5,017     100%     25.1%
                   

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, July 2015

Notes:

* IDC declares a statistical tie in the worldwide cloud IT infrastructure market when there is less than one percent difference in the factory revenue share of two or more vendors.

IBM's divestiture of its x86 business to Lenovo on October 1, 2014 has a highly positive impact on year-over-year comparisons for Lenovo for 1Q15.

An interactive chart illustrating worldwide market share of the top 5 cloud IT infrastructure vendors in 1Q14 and 1Q15 is available here. Instructions on how to embed these graphics into online news articles and social media can be found by viewing this press release on IDC.com.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker is designed to provide clients with a better understanding of what portion of the server, disk storage systems, and networking hardware markets are being deployed in cloud environments. This Tracker will break out vendors' revenue by the hardware technology market into public and private cloud environments for historical data and also provide a five-year forecast by the technology market.

Taxonomy Notes:
IDC defines cloud services more formally through a checklist of key attributes that an offering must manifest to end users of the service. Public cloud services are shared among unrelated enterprises and consumers; open to a largely unrestricted universe of potential users; and designed for a market, not a single enterprise. The public cloud market includes variety of services designed to extend or, in some cases, replace IT infrastructure deployed in corporate datacenters. It also includes content services delivered by a group of suppliers IDC calls Value Added Content Providers (VACP). Private cloud services are shared within a single enterprise or an extended enterprise with restrictions on access and level of resource dedication and defined/controlled by the enterprise (and beyond the control available in public cloud offerings); can be onsite or offsite; and can be managed by a third-party or in-house staff. In private cloud that is managed by in-house staff, "vendors (cloud service providers)" are equivalent to the IT departments/shared service departments within enterprises/groups. In this utilization model, where standardized services are jointly used within the enterprise/group, business departments, offices, and employees are the "service users."

For more information about IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, please contact Lidice Fernandez at 305-351-3057 or lfernandez@idc.com.

About IDC Trackers
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker products on their iPhone and iPad. The IDC Tracker Chart app is also available for Android Phones and Android Tablets.

About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC.

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Contacts

IDC
Lidice Fernandez, 305-351-3057
lfernandez@idc.com
or
Kuba Stolarski, 508-935-4172
kstolarski@idc.com
or
Michael Shirer, 508-935-4200
press@idc.com

Release Summary

According to IDC, vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew by 25.1% year over year to nearly $6.3 billion in Q1 2015.

Contacts

IDC
Lidice Fernandez, 305-351-3057
lfernandez@idc.com
or
Kuba Stolarski, 508-935-4172
kstolarski@idc.com
or
Michael Shirer, 508-935-4200
press@idc.com