• by Jess Nelson , March 23, 2016

GoDaddy entered the cloud business on Monday, releasing a suite of cloud services that allow developers to build cloud-based software applications for business that run Web sites through its services. 

Similar to Amazon’s Amazon Web Service, GoDaddy’s Cloud Servers and Cloud Applications add new features that allow companies to build, test and scale cloud solutions within its infrastructure. 

The company will use a pay-as-you-go model, starting at $5 per month.

“We're looking to make it easy for developers to serve small businesses with the technology they want," states Jeff King, SVP & GM Hosting, Security at GoDaddy. "By offering a powerful, yet simple cloud offering that integrates domains, DNS, security and backups all in one place, developers can save time and exceed their clients' expectations.”

This isn’t GoDaddy’s first dabble in the cloud, having acquired cloud services company Apptix for $22.5 million in 2015. GoDaddy also launched GoDaddy Pro that year, adding SaaS features including WordPress hosting to its menu of technology products that cater to small- and medium-sized businesses.

As a manager of over 62 million domain names, GoDaddy is likely trying to find a niche in the growing cloud services market with hopes to further monetize its 14 million customers.

By offering cloud services catering to the individual developer or small business that need cloud services to expand or complement their business goals, GoDaddy’s move may halt its customers from looking at third-party vendors for those needs.  

GoDaddy, a provider of Internet domain names and Web hosting services known for its often outlandish advertising, became a public company in 2015.

The cloud business has also become a reliable income generator for market leaders. Amazon Web Services generated $7.88 billion in revenue in Q4 2015.

The global public cloud services market is predicted to grow 16.5% in 2016 to $204 billion, according to a recent study by Gartner, Inc.

The research firm projects cloud system infrastructure services to have the highest growth and rise 38.4% year-over-year, while cloud advertising is expected to grow 13.6% this year to reach $90.3 billion.