Cloud IT infrastructure spending grew 12.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing the total 2019 growth into positive territory, according to IDC.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker, total end-user spending on IT infrastructure products (server, enterprise storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud environments, including public and private cloud, recovered in the fourth quarter of 2019 (4Q19) after two consecutive quarters of decline.
The 12.4% year-over-year growth in 4Q19 yielded $19.4 billion (€17.97 billion) in spending. The fourth quarter results also brought the full year into positive territory with annual growth of 2.1% and total spending of $66.8 billion (€66.88 billion) for 2019. Meanwhile, the overall IT infrastructure market continued to struggle after its strong performance in 2018, up 3.3% to $38.1 billion (€35.3 billion) in 4Q19 but declining 1.1% to $134.4 billion (€124.55 billion) for the full year. Non-cloud IT infrastructure fell 4.6% to $18.7 billion (€17.33 billion) for the quarter and declined 4.1% to $67.7 billion (€62.72 billion) for the year.
In 4Q19, growth in spending on cloud IT infrastructure was driven by the public cloud segment, which grew 14.5% year-over-year to $13.3 billion (€12.32 billion); private cloud grew 8.2% to $6.1 billion (€5.64 billion). As the overall segment is generally trending up, it tends to be more volatile at the quarterly level as a significant part of the public cloud IT segment is represented by a few hyperscale service providers, IDC explained. After a weaker middle part of the year, public cloud ended 2019 barely up 0.1% to $45.2 billion (€41.83 billion). Private cloud grew in 2019 by 6.6% to $21.6 billion (€19.99 billion).
As investments in cloud IT infrastructure continue to increase, with some swings up and down in the quarterly intervals, the IT infrastructure industry is approaching the point where spending on cloud IT infrastructure consistently surpasses spending on non-cloud IT infrastructure.
According to this latest research by IDC, the fourth quarter of 2019 marked the third consecutive quarter of cloud IT leadership with the annual share just slightly below the midpoint (49.7%). From here on out, IDC expects cloud IT infrastructure will stay above 50% of the IT Infrastructure market at both the quarterly and annual levels, reaching 60.5% annually in 2024.
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