SAP-Commissioned Study Estimates Cloud Computing To Create Hundreds Of Thousands Of Jobs

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloud computing is a powerful catalyst for job creation and has greater potential for employment growth than the Internet did in its early years, according to a new study by the Sand Hill Group, sponsored by SAP America, Inc., a subsidiary of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP). 

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110126/AQ34470LOGO)

At a briefing Wednesday morning in Washington, DC, the study's authors said cloud computing is already generating a sizable number of jobs in the U.S. today. Based on numerous trends and indicators, it has the future potential to create very large business opportunities and hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the U.S. The study, titled "Job Growth in the Forecast: How Cloud Computing is Generating New Business Opportunities and Fueling Job Growth in the United States," looked at several ways cloud computing may create jobs and found specifically:

• Eleven cloud computing companies added 80,000 jobs in the United States in 2010, and the employment growth rate at these organizations was almost five times than that of the high-tech sector overall.
• Companies selling cloud services are projected to grow revenues by an average of US$20 billion per year for the next five years, which has the potential to generate as many as 472,000 jobs in the U.S. and abroad in the next five years.
• Venture capital investments in cloud opportunities are projected to be US$30 billion in the next five years, which could add another 213,000 new jobs in the U.S.
• The economic impact for companies buying cloud services can be even more significant. Cloud computing could save U.S. businesses as much as US$625 billion over five years, much of which could be reinvested to create new business opportunities and additional jobs.

The study says three industry megatrends are propelling the growth of cloud services and employment: the boom in mobile computing devices such as smartphones and tablets; the "social" trend in online services; and the growth of "Big Data" flows that require more data management services. Government policies and purchasing decisions at all levels will also have a major influence on cloud adoption and job growth.

1 2 3 Next › Last »