New reports says cloud market will be worth nearly $17 billion by 2013

According to a new report by the 451 Market Monitor, the cloud computing marketplace will reach $16.7 billion in revenue by 2013. The monitor is run by the 451 Group, a leading IT research and analysis organization.

According to the report, cloud computing, including software-as-a-service, will grow in revenue from $8.7 billion in 2010 to $16.7 billion in 2013, a compound annual growth rate of 24 percent. Excluding SaaS, cloud platform and infrastructure services will grow from $694 million in revenue in 2010 to $3.9 billion in 2013.

The report expects the market to grow at a rapid pace as cloud computing becomes accepted as a mainstream IT strategy and is embraced by corporations and government agencies. The core cloud market includes infrastructure-as-a-service offerings and cloud-delivered software used to build cloud environments.

Additionally, cloud data storage will play a significant role in cloud growth. Cloud storage represented 40 percent of core cloud services in 2010.

Cloud computing has been growing rapidly, as governments and corporations look to take advantage of its storage and service capabilities. Recently, New York City agreed to a deal that connected 100,000 city employees to the cloud, a deal that is expected to save the city $50 million.