Cloud computing will create 14 million new jobs globally while revenues from cloud innovation could reach US$1.1 trillion by 2015, according to an IDC survey commissioned by Microsoft. IDC forecast the number of jobs to be created by analyzing the trend of cloud investment in more than 40 countries across the world.

In China and India alone, cloud computing will help to generate a total of 6.75 million jobs from 2012 to 2015. China and India are adopting public cloud computing at unprecedented speed, accounting for 12% of the global public cloud services, equivalent to 25% of the total IT expenses. China will account for 4 million cloud-related new jobs, an increase of 84%.

The drivers of cloud-related employment in India and China include the infrastructure in the countries that stimulates investment in private cloud computing. Unlike developed countries, emerging markets are not bound by large legacy system investments.

"We tend to think of China and India as emerging markets, but they are actually early adopters of the cloud," said John F Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice president at IDC. "They are not bound to existing systems. They've skipped that step, so there is less holding them back."

China and India will contribute nearly half of the new job growth worldwide related to cloud-based services. By 2015, the new jobs categorized by industry in Asia include

• Communications and media -- the fastest-growing sectors in Asia with 1.8 million jobs relevant to cloud computing to be created, an increase of 113% compared to 2012.
• Education -- 567,000 cloud-related jobs in the education sector will be created, an increase of 98% compared to 2012.
• Government sector -- approximately 315,000 jobs related to cloud computing will be created, an increase of 75% compared to 2012.

By 2015, cloud-related jobs offered by SMEs with under 500 employees in Asia will achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28%, 2.2% higher than larger enterprises with more than 500 employees.

Cloud computing is freeing up more resources for investment in IT innovation, as well as employing more talent for product sales, financial management, productivity and marketing.

Microsoft, which commissioned the survey, invested US$2.3 billion in cloud computing in 2009 while its R&D investment reached US$9 billion in 2011. Additionally, 75% of its engineers are working on cloud solutions and services.

"Microsoft has closely worked with 2,600 partners to establish a large IT ecosystem, and has created over 53,000 job opportunities in Hong Kong," said Peter Yeung, general manager of Microsoft Hong Kong. "For every HK$1 Microsoft makes in Hong Kong, companies in the ecosystem will make HK$11."