TAIPEI: Taiwan's "cloud computing" services market is expected to reach an estimated NT$5.56 billion ($172 million) in 2009, a 12.8 percent increase over last year. The market is expected to take another big step forward next year, hitting NT$6.21 billion, a well-known market research institute said yesterday.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), which provides co-location and security operation center services, will occupy the bulk of the "cloud computing" market for 2009, amounting to NT$5.07 billion, according to the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC).

Meanwhile, the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which provides online software solutions such as Salesforce.com CRM and Cisco WebEx, will account for NT$487 million of the "cloud computing" market in 2009, the MIC said.

Lin Hsin-heng, an industry analyst at MIC, said that nearly 35 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan are using "cloud computing" services.

Citing the results of an MIC survey that was conducted between November 2008 and January 2009, Lin said most SMEs use "cloud computing" because of its flexibility in terms of deployment and low investment risks.

Lin said that companies with fewer information technology engineers tend to employ more "cloud computing" services.

On Monday, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan's leading technology research institute, suggested that the government help small industries with "cloud computing" to lower costs and promote their products to the world.

"Cloud computing" is a Web-enabled software solution that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. It allows clients who have no knowledge of or expertise in technology infrastructure to complete common business applications online that are accessed from a Web browser.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/25/2009 page2)