The value of the cloud market will rise to $240bn (£154bn) by 2016, up from its current valuation of $77bn (£49bn), according to the latest independent research released last week.

This was taken from ‘Mobile Cloud Computing Industry Outlook Report: 2011-2016’ which was produced by Visiongain, an independent business information provider for the telecoms, pharmaceutical, defence, energy and metals industries. The document assesses the cloud market and examines how the mobile cloud is being incorporated within business strategies and solutions.

When evaluating how a cloud provider can succeed in this thriving yet competitive cloud marketplace, Visiongain advises that “for operators to win in the cloud marketplace, they must determine where in this new ecosystem they can play most successfully.”

The 156-page report also makes the prediction that mobile cloud service revenues will hit $45bn (£29bn) in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate of 55 per cent from this year. The vast majority of this revenue is expected to come from mobile apps as a result of ever-expanding smartphone distribution and 3G coverage.

London-based Visiongain, established in 1998, believes that technological developments in BONDI, OneAPI and HTML5 will be another factor which will contribute to the expansion of the mobile cloud and applications market.

The company does highlight a few inhibitors to the advancement of the cloud market though. “Issues with mobile cloud security, privacy, feasibility and accessibility remain a major concern for both the customers and the enterprises,” Visiongain states. “However with complex and secure products now available on the market, many enterprises are jumping into the mobile cloud bandwagon.”

The full report is available here.