Report: Cloud Computing To Create 14 Million Jobs By 2015

Countering what it said is a 'misconception" that cloud computing would eliminate jobs, IDC outlined where and how many jobs would be generated worldwide.

Some 6.8 million jobs will be created in India and China, and 1.2 million in the U.S. The rest of the Asia-Pacific region will see 2.9 million cloud jobs, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa will have 2.9 million jobs generated, according to the report.

In addition, business revenue spurred by cloud innovation will reach $1.1 trillion by 2015, IDC said in the report, titled 'Cloud Computing’s Role in Job Creation'.

China and India will lead on job creation because as emerging markets, their lack of infrastructure will spur investment in private IT cloud services, and they are not as subject to “legacy drag” as developed countries, IDC said in the report.

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In contrast, North America will have the lowest number of jobs generated in 2015, “because it has the smallest workforce and a high 'legacy drag' for both public and private clouds,” IDC said in the report.

The report found that cloud computing will not replace all legacy IT resources within businesses.

“In discussions we have had with CIOs testing and experimenting with cloud computing, we find that most look at migration to cloud computing as a way to free up existing resources to work on more innovative projects, not to do away with the positions entirely,” IDC said in the report. “In that way, cloud computing differs from traditional outsourcing. On the other hand, cloud computing could certainly change the skills requirements in an IT organization.”

Of jobs created by cloud computing, more than half will accrue to SMBs, and more than a million will occur in banking, communications and discrete manufacturing industries, the report said.

"For most organizations, cloud computing should be a no-brainer, given its ability to increase IT innovation and flexibility, lower capital costs, and help generate revenues that are multiples of spending," John F. Gantz, one the report’s authors and chief research officer and senior vice president at IDC, said in a statement.

"A common misperception is cloud computing is a job eliminator, but in truth it will be a job creator — a major one. And job growth will occur across continents and throughout organizations of all sizes because emerging markets, small cities and small businesses have the same access to cloud benefits as large enterprises or developed nations."