iCloud, the content hosting service unveiled by Apple yesterday, will accelerate the use of the consumer technology giant’s products in the workplace, according to IT analyst Richard Holway.

The service will allow users to store up to 5GB-worth of documents, including word processor files and spreadsheets, for free. TechMarketView’s Holway believes this will only increase employees’ desire to use their Apple devices at work.

"More and more, Apple is coming into organisations through the back door," he said. "And if people are going to use their devices with a cloud environment at work, then clearly Apple took a major step forward towards an Apple cloud for business activities last night."

Holway described the service as an "ace move" by Apple that effectively means it is no long necessary to own a desktop or laptop to use its online services. "If I was Microsoft, I would have gone from concern to downright despair," he remaked. 

iCloud will be available in the US in August, and will be hosted across three US-based three data centres, including Apple’s $1 billion new facility in North Carolina, believed to be one of the world’s largest data centres.

The company gave no details of when iCloud will be available in the UK, or where UK customers’ data will be hosted.