300,000 IT jobs in cloud for India

Gung-ho on the phenomenon of `cloud computing', Steve Ballmer, the CEO of software giant Microsoft, said it will help generate 300,000 jobs in India over the next five years. Speaking at a CII event here on Thursday, an ebullient Ballmer projected that India would be a base for development of cloud-based IT applications for the world.
“The cloud computing phenomenon will enable (other) businesses to use IT more productively which in turn will enable growth in the IT sector,“ Ballmer said.
Cloud computing refers to the practise of making software services and data storage facilities available over the Internet, enabling companies to hire them on a use them on a pay-per-use basis instead of investing in its own IT infrastructure.
As businesses expand, the demand for IT budgets is increasing rapidly; data storage demands are growing at around 30% annually, and a cloud service comes as welcome relief for companies.
Consultancy firm Zinnov Management estimates cloud computing market in India to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 58% to touch $1.08 billion (R4,900 crore) by 2015. The cloud market in India was $110 million in 2010.
Microsoft is already in partnership with Indian firms such as Wipro, Infosys, Godrej Industries, HCL and Dabur for its cloud applications.
“Super vibrant and super interesting times for us to get our cloud initiatives going fast in India,“ Ballmer said at his packed press conference.- HT