In the past year, we’ve seen an interesting change in the private cloud space: Cloud platforms and private cloud hosting are gaining share at the expense of private cloud software suites. In Forrester’s latest private cloud forecast update, we have increased our growth rates for both private cloud platforms and hosted private cloud. ForecastView clients can access more details in the Forrester Data: Private Cloud Solutions Forecast, 2017 To 2022 (Global).

Forecast Update

What’s driving the shift? Cloud platforms are often low cost or free. Companies are building around these basic platforms or using development platforms to directly integrate into cloud platforms. While firms must devote additional in-house IT resources to building a private cloud using platform tools, these solutions will appeal to firms that are comfortable with a DIY approach. We expect the market for private cloud platforms to grow at 5.9% annually over the 2017 to 2022 period.

Hosting, on the other hand, is a complete outsourced turnkey solution offering ease of use and rapid implementation. Hosted private cloud combines the advantages of private cloud with the contractual benefits of traditional outsourcing, such as cost savings, customization, and additional management capabilities. We expect the market for hosted private cloud to grow at 9.0% annually over the 2017 to 2022 period.

However, we still see a solid market for private cloud software. Some companies will prefer an on-premises solution that is simpler to implement than a private cloud platform. We project that the private cloud software market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6.0% over the next five years.

For more information on private cloud, please see these reports by my colleague Lauren E. Nelson: Private Cloud In 2020: Defining The Future Of The Enterprise Data Center; The Forrester Wave™: Hosted Private Cloud Services, North America, Q2 2017.