• Spending forecast to top $45bn next year
• Manufacturing, retail/wholesale to grow fastest
• Opportunities abound for telcos to specialise

Digital transformation looks set to pick up the pace next year, as IDC predicts double-digit growth in global spending on industry cloud by five major sectors: manufacturing, retail, healthcare, public sector, and finance.

According to the research firm, spending is expected to reach $45.4 billion in 2019, up from $37.5 billion this year. Three of the five aforementioned industries are expected to show growth above the market average of 21.5 percent.

In a sign that more sectors of the economy are migrating to hosted solutions, IDC said cloud spending will continue to accelerate over the next three years, thanks to "rapidly-digitising industries".

Industry cloud is term used for cloud architecture tailored to the specific needs of individual verticals, from an operational, security and regulatory perspective. In terms of size, it is dwarfed by the public cloud services sector, where IDC forecasts that spending will reach $160 billion in 2018, rising to $277 billion in 2021.

Nevertheless, with industry cloud growth expected to accelerate in the years ahead, it represents an opportunity for telcos to specialise in delivering solutions for certain sectors. This is already happening, as IDC notes that NTT Data, which is majority owned by Japan's NTT, has emerged as one of the top two providers of cloud services for the healthcare industry.

Read the full press release below:

According to the latest release of the Worldwide Semiannual Industry Cloud Tracker from International Data Corporation (IDC), five large industry groups are expected to spend a total of $37.5 billion on industry cloud solutions in 2018. The five industry groups are healthcare, public sector, finance, retail/wholesale, and manufacturing. Among them, manufacturing grew the strongest while retail/wholesale was next.

IDC's spending forecast for the five industry groups shows a small increase in 2019 growth, relative to 2018. The overall market is expected to reach $45.4 billion in 2019 with three of the five groups growing above the market average of 21.5%. Healthcare provider and public sector spending are both forecast to grow below the market average, although their 2019 growth rates will be higher than those for 2018.

"IDC's latest forecast shows that industry cloud growth rates will continue to accelerate over the next three years, which is very unusual for multi-billion-dollar markets. This growth is being driven by rapidly-digitizing industries like healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing, where industry clouds are becoming the cornerstones for next-generation growth and innovation strategies," said Frank Gens, senior vice president & chief analyst at IDC.

From a geographic perspective, the United States market will make up close to three quarters of the overall market in 2018. Most of the other regions will enjoy stronger than average market growth with Japan and China expected to grow the most year over year at 54% and 47% respectively. These two countries are also forecast to grow at an even higher annual rate in 2019. The other regions, such as U.S., Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, will also outperform their 2018 growth rates.

The healthcare provider market in the U.S. is expected to pass the $10 billion mark in 2018 for the first time while the Western Europe market for healthcare industry cloud is also forecast to hit a landmark in 2018 by crossing the $1 billion mark. Relative to all other regions, Japan can be considered a late adopter to industry cloud deployment. Having said that, the region will fast track to pass the $1 billion mark by 2022. Meanwhile, China is expected to reach that landmark two years earlier.

Worldwide Industry Cloud Spending in 2018 and Growth for 2019 (US$ Billion)

Industry

2018 Total Industry Cloud Spend*

2019/2018 Growth*

Finance

$7.3

22.8%

Healthcare Provider

$12.1

20.6%

Manufacturing

$3.6

26.3%

Public Sector

$8.4

17.3%

Retail/Wholesale

$6.1

24.6%

Source: IDC Worldwide Semiannual Industry Cloud Tracker, 2018 H1 (December 14, 2018)

*** Note:** All figures are forecast estimates.

According to IDC's vendor estimates for 1H 2018, SAP is still the leading vendor in the finance industry cloud market. After SAP, the next seven vendors in the finance industry cloud market are also expected to capture more than $100 million in revenues over the same period. On the healthcare provider side, IDC currently tracks over 140 industry cloud players with athenaHealth and NTT DATA consistently occupying the top two spots. In the manufacturing industry cloud market, Veeva Systems and Medidata constantly vie for the first two positions while Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman compete at the top of the public sector market. In the retail/wholesale industry cloud market, NCR holds the top spot followed by Shopify.

Zachary Rabel, senior research analyst, Cloud, SaaS, and I ndustry Cloud research at IDC, added, "The industry cloud market continues to accelerate as cloud users demand both vertically-specific capabilities in their solutions and industry expertise from their cloud service providers. To capture this growth, cloud vendors have increasingly shifted their horizontal capabilities to form industry cloud solutions, while industry clouds themselves have created consortiums of collaboration to drive industry innovation. Healthcare has led industries towards this trend, but the finance, manufacturing, and retail industries have internalized the successes and failures from horizontal platforms to form their own paths. IDC believes the industry cloud market is among the largest vertical growth opportunities for both technology vendors and professional services firms through 2025."

For the 1H 2018 release, IDC Worldwide Semiannu al Industry Cloud Tracker looks at five major industries (Finance, Manufacturing, Healthcare Providers, Public Sector, and Retail/Wholesale) with over 450 vendors listed. In the next release, the tracker will expand its scope to include vendor share and forecast data for the Energy industry.