The global market for PaaS (platform as a service) is set to leap from US$3.8 billion last year to more than $14 billion in 2017 as companies look to cut infrastructure costs and speed up application development, according to newly released research from analyst firm IDC. Overall, the compound annual growth rate for PaaS during this period will be roughly 30 percent, compared to the 4 percent growth rate this year for IT spending overall, according to IDC.