New Delhi: Web hosting market in India will show highest growth in Asia-Pacific and grow at the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24 per cent till 2008, according to a study.

"Web hosting services market in India is forecast to grow to $ 95.14 million from $ 40.45 million in 2004 at a CAGR of 24 per cent, which is the highest in Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan," the study by research firm IDC said.

"The emerging markets of India and China were found to be the fastest growing markets for Web hosting services," it said.

The overall Asia-Pacific market for web hosting services spending will increase from $ 521 million in 2004 to $ 924 million by 2008, representing a compound annual growth rate of 15 per cent from 2004 to 2008.

The report says significant opportunities for growth still exist in mature markets such as Australia due to the dynamic characteristics of the hosting market. The Australian market is forecast to grow from $ 176.62 million in 2004 to $ 316.88 million by 2008 with a CAGR of 16 per cent.

"Following the rebound of the economy, there has been a renewed business focus to develop an e-business model. This is seen to drive the next level of growth in Web hosting services, particularly at the management services level where the "always-on" networked business environment is the prerequisite for survival in today's business environment," IDC said.

"Given the trend toward managed services, vendors must demonstrate their ability to scale with the growing requirements of their customers if they are to remain competitive," says Osman Tora, research manager, IT outsourcing and Utility Services research at IDC.