PaaS market set to double by 2016

Gartner predicts the market will amount to $2.9bn by 2016

The global platform-as-a-service (PaaS) market is set to more than double by 2016, according to Gartner.

The analyst forecasts that by the end of this year global market worth will reach $1.2bn (£750m), and in 2016 will amount to $2.9bn.

Gartner includes application-platfoms-as-a-service (aPaaS) and integration-platforms-as-a-service (iPaaS) in its market definition, and claims that the sector was worth $900m in 2011. It forecasts annual growth between 2011 and 2016 to be on average $360m.

According to Fabrizio Biscotti, research director at Gartner, PaaS is less evolved than other as-a-service technology markets, such as infrastructure and software, and because of this, it has lots of room for growth.

"PaaS is where the battle between vendors and products is set to intensify the most," he said. "It comes as no surprise that the PaaS competitive landscape is still in flux.

"Traditional application infrastructure vendors [are] facing competition from new large players moving into the market, and... specialised PaaS pure players cutting into their slice of profits."

Western Europe, the US and Japan are forecast to be on the forefront of PaaS adoption, according to Gartner, which said that nearly all of PaaS spending was from mature economies.