According to the IDC Worldwide Semiannual Public Cloud Services Spending Guide, this will mean a 24.4 percent increase over 2016.

Over the 2015-2020 forecast period, overall public cloud spending will experience a 21.5 percent compound annual growth rate - nearly seven times the rate of overall IT spending growth. By 2020, IDC forecasts public cloud spending will reach $203.4 billion worldwide.

Software as a service (SaaS) will remain the dominant cloud computing type, capturing nearly two thirds of all public cloud spending in 2017 and roughly 60 per cent in 2020.

SaaS spending, which is comprised of applications and system infrastructure software (SIS), will in turn be dominated by applications purchases, which will make up more than half of all public cloud spending throughout the forecast period.

Spending on infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) will grow at much faster rates than SaaS growing at about 30 percent.

Customer Insights and Analysis programme director Eileen Smith said that in 2017, discrete manufacturing, professional services, and banking will lead the pack in global spending on public cloud services as they look for greater scalability, higher performance, and faster access to new technologies.

"Combined, these three industries will account for one third of worldwide public cloud services spending, or US$41.2 billion."

Half of all public cloud spending will come from very large businesses (those with more than 1,000 employees) while medium-sized businesses (100-499 employees) will deliver more than 20 percent throughout the forecast.

Large businesses (500-999 employees) will see the fastest growth, while purchase priorities vary somewhat depending on company size, the leading product categories include customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource management (ERM) applications in addition to server and storage hardware.

The US will be the largest market for public cloud services, generating more than 60 percent of total worldwide revenues throughout the forecast. Western Europe and Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) will be the second and third largest regions with 2017 spending levels of US$24.1 billion and $9.5 billion, respectively.

IDC said that in Western Europe, the public cloud market will grow at a healthy 23.2 percent over the forecast period and utilities, insurance, and professional services industries will be the most dynamic market spaces.

European companies have been slower in the adoption of cloud when compared to their US counterparts, but now the market is maturing and it is the right time for cloud providers to target and capture the untapped segments, IDC said.