Roughly 10 to 15% of companies are actually “good” at using the cloud.
HashiCorp 2024 State of Cloud Strategy Survey
Connecting cloud maturity to business success
To be truly cloud-mature, organizations must scale key infrastructure and security practices across their entire estate.
Read the study from Forrester Consulting: Cloud Maturity Drives Business Success
This site presents key insights revealed in the 2024 State of Cloud Strategy Survey, commissioned by HashiCorp and conducted by Forrester Consulting. Forrester surveyed nearly 1,200 technology practitioners and decision makers in companies with more than 1,000 employees in a variety of industries around the world, drawn from random samplings as well as the HashiCorp opt-in contact database. Note: Total percentages may not equal separate values due to rounding.
Executive summary
The fourth annual HashiCorp State of Cloud Strategy Survey tackles the critical importance of cloud maturity: the ability to scale key infrastructure and security practices across the organization — and the business impact of doing so.
Out of nearly 1,200 respondents around the world, only 8% qualified as highly mature. In this “haves” vs. “have nots” world, a few trailblazers are already enjoying the fruits of cloud maturity while many others continue to struggle. Highly cloud-mature organizations are making more and bigger cloud investments, waste less of that spending, and get a better return while speeding development and improving security.
Why? High-maturity organizations cope better with common cloud challenges:
- When faced with the ongoing shortages of skilled technical staff, they’re scaling platform teams and internal development platforms to maximize the impact of staff expertise.
- While others struggle with cloud security, they’re using cloud operating principles to strengthen their security posture.
- They’re leading the way toward experimenting with generative AI to automate cloud infrastructure and security.
Our previous State of Cloud Strategy surveys describe the trends for organizations entering the multi-cloud era (2021) and the resulting business value (2022). Last year's surveyintroduced the concept of operational cloud maturity — defined not by the amount of cloud usage or the number of clouds used, but by how organizations were adopting, standardizing, and scaling best practices.
For 2024, we again commissioned Forrester Consulting to perform the survey and collaborate with us to refine our cloud maturity model to focus on the impact of scaling key practices across the entire organization. The results demonstrate that achieving true cloud maturity is difficult but more than worth the effort. (For more on the survey methodology and the cloud maturity model, see the section on Cloud maturity is elusive but valuable and the Forrester study: Cloud Maturity Drives Business Success
Numbers to remember
Cloud maturity
8%
of respondents qualify as highly cloud mature
2x
greater likelihood that high-maturity organizations have standardized on platform teams
86%
of high-maturity organizations are getting stronger security in the cloud
The cloud today
66%
increased cloud infrastructure spending in the last year
91%
are wasting money in the cloud
64%
are experiencing a shortage of skilled staff
Looking ahead
45%
of low-maturity organizations are still waiting for their cloud strategy to pay off
79%
have or are planning multi-cloud deployments
70%
are using (or are planning to use) AI to support cloud infrastructure
Cloud maturity is elusive but valuable
For 2024, we refined our cloud maturity model to better reflect the actual state of organizations in their cloud journey. Unlike the relative, points-based model we used in 2023, this year’s gated, logic-based maturity model focuses on the prevalence of 21 key practices in cloud infrastructure and security:
Infrastructure maturity practices
Security maturity practices
Cloud maturity is rare
In 2024, only 8% of respondents qualified as highly mature. To be considered highly mature, most of their teams had to be using all the adopting (basic) and standardizing (intermediate) best practices across both Infrastructure and Security Lifecycle Management, and the org had to be at least starting to use scaling (advanced) practices. Organizations that had not spread their use of even basic best practices were considered low maturity (33%), while everyone in between (59%) were categorized as medium maturity. We took this matrixed approach because both security and infrastructure play a critical role in organizational success. Growing maturity in one area cannot succeed without growing maturity in the other. (Last year, the top-scoring 25% of respondents were considered high maturity, the lowest-scoring quartile were low maturity, and everyone in between was medium maturity.)
Cloud maturity is rare
Cloud maturity is powerful
Highly cloud-mature organizations invest more in the cloud (71% boosted cloud spending last year, compared to 60% of low-maturity orgs), but they get a lot for their efforts, including stronger security, faster cloud development, agile provisioning, and the ability to attract and retain talented practitioners. High-maturity orgs were almost 20 percentage points more likely to say they have the right amount of staff expertise than were low-maturity orgs.
To what extent has your organization gained the following benefits from its cloud infrastructure strategy?
Stronger security posture86%66%Improved speed/pace of change in cloud service options85%64%Agile infrastructure provisioning84%66%The ability to attract, motivate, and retain talented practitioners84%63%Increased/improved automated tooling83%64%High maturityLow maturitycaption
High-maturity orgs are also far more likely to have standardized their cloud operations via platform teams (67% vs. 31% for low-maturity orgs). And they’re at the forefront of looking to genAI to support their cloud infrastructure and security objectives (85% vs. 67% of low-maturity orgs). Perhaps that’s why 89% of high-maturity organizations say their cloud strategy has helped them achieve their business goals, compared to just 55% of low-maturity orgs and 68% of all respondents.
Of course, cloud maturity isn’t distributed evenly around the globe. Only 5% of respondents in Europe/Middle East/Africa were highly mature, while 12% of North American respondents qualified. Looked at by country, Singapore, the US, Brazil, Canada, and India had the highest percentage of high-maturity respondents, while South Korea, France, Mexico, the UK, and Australia had the lowest (among countries with a statistically significant number of respondents).
Highly cloud-mature organizations invest more in the cloud, and they get a lot for their efforts, including stronger security, faster cloud development, agile provisioning, and better staff retention.
Cloud spending keeps rising — but cloud waste persists
Almost two-thirds (66%) of respondents said they increased their cloud spending in the last year, up from 56% in 2023. Notably, 71% of highly mature organizations boosted cloud spending compared to 60% of low-maturity organizations.
Using your best estimate, how has your organization's spending on cloud infrastructure changed over the last 12 months?
overall
Even as organizations pour money into the cloud, some of it is going down the drain. 91% of respondents report wasted cloud spending.
More than three-quarters (78%) of respondents are spending that money on multi-cloud deployments (or are planning to do so), and more than a third (36%) are expanding their multi-cloud infrastructure. These findings solidify the notion that multi-cloud deployments are the most pervasive choice, while many orgs continue to maintain on-premises datacenters and private clouds.
Which of the following describes your organization's multi-cloud infrastructure strategy?
overall
Even as organizations increase cloud spending year over year, they continue to struggle with how they spend it. More than 9 out of 10 respondents (91%) report waste in their cloud spend (down slightly from 96% in 2023). The three most-commonly cited contributors to cloud waste were lack of needed skills, overprovisioning of resources, and idle or underused resources — the same trio of issues that topped the list in 2023. The order has changed, however, with skills shortages taking the top spot this year, cited by 41% of respondents.
Which of the following factors contribute to avoidable cloud spend, also known as cloud waste, at your organization? (Important/Very important)
Lack of needed skills (e.g. employee knowledge, training)41%Over provisioning of resources40%Idle or underused resources35%Inability to automate enforcement of policies/regulations 35%Lack of expiration date on temporary cloud resources 33%Overall
Another potential contributor to cloud waste is that only two-thirds (66%) of respondents are incentivizing cloud cost optimization with showback or chargeback processes for their business units. Not surprisingly, that percentage jumps to 85% at highly cloud-mature organizations, compared to just 59% at low-maturity orgs.
Cloud maturity drives business success
As in previous years, the overwhelming majority (90%) of respondents say their cloud infrastructure strategy has already or is about to help them achieve their business goals. But high-maturity organizations were much more likely (89%) to already be reaping cloud benefits, compared to just 55% of low-maturity respondents and 68% overall.
Has your organization’s cloud infrastructure strategy helped it achieve its overall business goals?
Yes:68%89%55%No, but we expect it to within the next 12 months:22%7%32%No, and we don’t expect it to:6%2%8%Don't know:4%2%5%OverallHigh maturityLow maturitycaption
Security (81% important or very important) is the most commonly cited factor determining cloud infrastructure success, followed by infrastructure scaling (75%), uptime and availability (75%), budget (74%), and staffing/skill levels (73%). The prioritization is due to the ever-increasing complexity of interconnected services and third-party applications, coupled with the challenge of secret sprawl and the lack of full Security Lifecycle Management.
How important are the following factors in determining the success of your organization's cloud infrastructure strategy?
Security81%Infrastructure scaling75%Capability to deliver uptime and availability75%Budget74%Staffing/Skill Level73%Caption
But while security sits at the top of the list for both high- and low-maturity organizations, the rest of their top five differ significantly. High-maturity firms are more focused on getting the right people on the right projects, orchestrated through a centralized platform team, factors they rank third and fourth, respectively. Low-maturity respondents were more worried about important but tactical issues like budgets and regulatory requirements.
The big question, of course, is exactly what benefits organizations are getting in the cloud. While we didn’t see big deltas between the 11 options we presented (68% - 73%), stronger security and better visibility into infrastructure topped the list. While the answers remained closely bunched, high-maturity orgs were much more likely to get any given benefit.
Security is the #1 factor high-maturity organizations use to assess cloud success and the #1 one benefit they say they get from their cloud program.
In addition to being the top cloud infrastructure success factor, security was also the most-cited benefit resulting from the cloud strategy at high-maturity orgs, rising from third place in last year’s survey. For low-maturity respondents, improved uptime and availability topped the list. Critically but not surprisingly, highly mature respondents were more likely to get all of these benefits.
To what extent has your organization gained the following benefits from its cloud infrastructure strategy? (% having seen these benefits shown)
Stronger security posture73%Better visibility/insight into cloud infrastructure73%Increased/improved automated tooling72%Agile infrastructure provisioning72%Improved speed/pace of change in cloud service options72%caption
Platform teams play an increasingly critical role
While more and more organizations are realizing the importance of centralizing and standardizing key functions and processes in the form of a platform team, most are still early in this journey. Some 95% of respondents say they have at least started the process of establishing a platform team, but less than half (42%) rely on their platform teams to fully standardize cloud operations throughout the organization. The small segment of highly mature orgs are more than twice as likely to say they have standardized their operations this way (67%), compared to 31% of low-maturity respondents.
To what extent does your organization utilize a platform team to manage its cloud infrastructure strategy and centralize/standardize developer consumption of cloud services?
Our platform team has fully standardized cloud operations throughout the organization42%We have established a platform team with foundational offerings38%We are in the process of building a platform team15%We do not have a platform team4%caption
Organizations that don’t employ a platform team often instead distribute responsibility for cloud infrastructure across the company, an approach cited by almost half (46%) of respondents who don’t have a platform team. But this low-maturity, every-team-for-itself approach foregoes the significant benefits of standardization — sharing and reusing of code, comprehensive policy enforcement, fewer images to maintain, and so on.
The leading barrier to platform teams? A lack of skills/staff (38%, up slightly from 36% in 2023). As noted later in the skills-shortages section, however, high-maturity orgs are flipping the script and relying on platform teams as a solution to skills shortages.
You said that your organization doesn't have a platform team in place to manage its cloud infrastructure strategy. Why is that?
We have distributed the responsibility for cloud infrastructure strategy46%We lack skills/staff38%We plan to have a centralized cloud management function or group, but we have yet to implement it29%We are still exploring the need to build a centralized cloud management function or group like this29%Our cloud usage is not significant enough to warrant a centralized cloud management function or group27%A platform team is too costly27%We use cloud extensively, but we don't see the need for a centralized cloud management function or group23%caption
The vast majority of organizations that do use platform teams rely on them to enable standardized and accelerated execution of many key functions, from standardizing cloud infrastructure strategy and building in security and compliance to risk management and tracking site reliability.
Choose the response that best describes how your organization's platform team manages each of the following practices
Develop and standardize cloud infrastructure strategy40%35%
76%
Architect cloud solutions39%36%
75%
Build in security and compliance41%34%
75%
Take operational responsibility for site reliability39%35%
74%
Work with business stakeholders to continuously increase automation and improve tooling42%32%
74%
Our platform team has begun to standardize this practiceWe have fully standardized this practice at scale acoss the organization
caption
High-maturity orgs are much more likely to be standardizing on using platform teams to manage best practices.
Compared to low-maturity organizations, however, high-maturity orgs can be half again more likely more likely to be standardizing each practice.
Choose the response that best describes how your organization's platform team manages each of the following practices: (% begun to standardize this practice/fully standardized this practice)
Create and distribute cloud management and operational policies and best practices97%63%Take operational responsibility for site reliability96%62%Develop and standardize cloud infrastructure strategy94%67%Build in security and compliance93%65%Encourage platform adoption across the organization via developer advocacy practices93%60%High maturityLow maturitycaption
For many organizations, deploying an internal developer platform (IDP) is the culmination of a platform team’s charter to standardize cloud infrastructure and security best practices. IDPs — pre-approved deployment environments incorporating all relevant governance and security policies — are increasingly finding homes in highly cloud-mature organizations where they help accelerate developer productivity.
While 43% of the limited number of high-maturity organizations claim to have deployed an IDP with robust features and adoption, only 20% of overall respondents say they have done so. That means a true IDP remains an aspirational goal for the vast majority of organizations — for example, just 14% of low-maturity organizations have deployed robust IDPs.
To what extent has your organization's platform team deployed an internal developer platform (IDP)?
We've deployed this with robust features and/or adoption20%We've deployed this with modest features and/or adoption26%We plan on deploying this within the next 12 months20%We're decreasing or eliminating this capability14%Interested but no plans to deploy this11%Not interested5%caption
Cloud maturity strengthens security
Done right, the cloud can help organizations bolster their security posture: stronger security remains the most commonly cited cloud benefit.
Has your organization’s cloud infrastructure strategy helped it achieve its overall business goals?
Our cloud infrastructure strategy has helped us gain a stronger security posture: 73%86%66%OverallHigh maturityLow maturitycaption
At the same time, of course, internal and external security remains a huge, multifaceted, and continuously evolving cloud concern. When asked to name their top five security threats, data theft (47%) topped the list (up from number two in 2023), followed by phishing (46%) and password/secrets leakage (45%). IoT attacks (29%), cryptojacking (27%), and state-sponsored attacks (26%) generated less concern.
The number one cloud benefit for highly mature organizations is stronger security.
What are the biggest threats that your organization faces when it comes to cloud security?
Data theft47%Phishing/social engineering attacks46%Password/credential/secrets leakage45%Attacks on third-party software and cloud providers41%Ransomware40%caption
Internally, data/privacy protection (41%) is the most commonly cited security threat, followed by threat detection and remediation (39%), and cloud complexity (35%). These threats were followed by higher-level concerns, such as the ubiquitous lack of skills/staff (34%) and a poor security culture (34%). The order flips, though, when looked at by maturity level. For low-maturity organizations, the skills issue jumps to the number two position (40%) and remote work environments comes in at number four (35%). For high-maturity orgs, the skills issue (18%) doesn’t even make the top 10 for security threats, replaced by overprovisioned/issued access (34%).
What are the biggest threats from within your organization when it comes to cloud security? (Top 5 ranked)
Data/privacy protection41%Threat detection and remediation39%Complexity of cloud infrastructure environment35%Lack of the necessary staff/skills34%Poor security culture34%caption
Skills shortages remain critical
Previous State of Cloud Strategy surveys highlighted the ongoing shortage of skilled cloud staffers that has dogged enterprises for years, and the problem shows no signs of letting up. This year, almost two-thirds (64%) of respondents said they don’t have all the staff expertise they need to support their cloud infrastructure strategy. And while the problem is even worse for low-maturity organizations (71%), it also affects more than half of highly mature enterprises (52%).
Which of the following statements best describes the level of expertise held by staff members in your organization that are focused on accomplishing its cloud infrastructure objectives?
My organization has the right amount of staff expertise dedicated to supporting our cloud infrastructure strategy36%48%29%My organization has a slight shortage of staff expertise dedicated to supporting our cloud infrastructure strategy34%29%37%My organization has a significant shortage of staff expertise dedicated to supporting our cloud infrastructure strategy29%23%34%OverallHigh maturityLow maturitycaption
The cloud skills shortage is deep and broad. As noted above, for example, the skills shortage is the most commonly cited contributor to cloud waste, a key security concern especially for low-maturity firms, and the second factor keeping companies from establishing a platform team. Tellingly, highly mature organizations know the importance of having the right cloud skills — it’s their third most-cited cloud success factor, while it doesn’t make the top five for low-maturity respondents, who tend to worry more about budget issues.
Highly mature organizations know the importance of having the right cloud skills — it’s their third most-cited cloud success factor — while it doesn’t make the top five for low-maturity respondents.
Staffing issues may also be pushing enterprises toward increasing their use of automation tools. Three-quarters of respondents called automation tools important (36%) or very important (39%) to carrying out their cloud infrastructure strategy. And highly mature organizations better understand the need for automation tools, with more than half (54%) calling them very important, compared to less than a third (32%) of low-maturity companies.
How important are automation tools for your organization to operationalize its cloud infrastructure strategy?
Extremely important39%54%32%Important36%29%41%Somewhat important19%12%20%Not important6%4%7%OverallHigh maturityLow maturitycaption
According to survey respondents, consistent and automated tooling improves security (49%), efficiency (47%), flexibility (47%), and IT response speed (45%). The more organizations can automate their processes and workflows, the more their limited supply of skilled cloud staffers can focus on building competitive advantage instead of repetitive manual maintenance and management.
How has (or would) consistent and automated tooling contributed to your organization's cloud infrastructure strategy?
Improved security and governance49%Better utilization of cloud resources47%More flexible IT infrastructure47%Faster response to IT issues/events45%Self-service infrastructure41%caption
Finally, even as AI promises to address the skills shortage by automating operational tasks and processes (the most commonly cited AI use case and most important AI benefit), a lack of skills is the most commonly cited barrier keeping organizations from adopting generative AI for their cloud infrastructure strategy. (Interestingly in this context, AI-powered skills training was the fourth most-cited benefit.)
AI: Exciting but still experimental
With all the hype around generative AI, it should be no surprise that 95% of respondents are at least interested in using it to support cloud infrastructure and security. But these are still early days for AI: just 40% of respondents have actually implemented even rudimentary versions of the technology, while another 30% plan to do so in the next year. Once again, highly mature firms are taking a much more aggressive approach, with 85% implementing or planning to implement genAI compared to just 67% of low-maturity respondents.
To what extent is your organization using/planning to use generative AI (genAI) to support its cloud infrastructure objectives?
Expanding or upgrading implementation23%Implemented, but not expanding/upgrading17%Planning to implement in the next 12 months30%Interested but no plans to implement15%Decreasing or removing10%Not interested4%caption
The most common AI use cases are low-hanging fruit such as the automation of operational tasks (47%), analyzing large data sets (43%), chatbots (43%), and natural language processing for internal use (39%). More complex AI use cases, like supporting real-time analytics or text-to-code queries, have yet to see as much uptake.
Highly mature firms are taking a much more aggressive approach to using AI to support cloud infrastructure, with 85% implementing or planning to implement it.
Across the board, however, high-maturity organizations are significantly more likely to use AI for almost all use cases. Several respondents noted that they were still searching for the right AI use cases: “We are sorting through the pieces of our organization, trying to find where genAI fits into the bigger picture,” said one Vice President of Technology at a North American media company.
For which of the following cloud infrastructure strategy use cases does your organization use genAI?
Automating operational tasks such as data ingestion, transformation, and analysis47%Supporting chatbots for external user interactions (e.g., customer service, etc.)43%Analyzing large data sets and extracting valuable insights43%Using natural language processing for internal use by employees39%Generating code (e.g., Co-Pilot or Code Whisperer)39%caption
As AI adoption ramps up, it’s not too soon to ask what benefits these pioneers are getting. The top answers include better automation (47%), security (44%), customer experience (42%), skills training (41%), and code development (41%).
Which of the following are the most important benefits of using a genAI solution to augment your existing cloud infrastructure strategy?
Automated processes47%Improved security44%Improved customer experience42%Optimized skills/training41%Automated code development41%caption
Not everyone is getting those benefits yet, of course, for a variety of reasons. The most common factor holding back AI adoption is a lack of skills (33%), followed by data privacy concerns (31%), and difficulty scaling (27%). But organizations also cited a variety of concerns around AI’s readiness for prime time and a lack of compelling use cases.
Which of the following factors are preventing your organization from adopting genAI for its cloud infrastructure strategy?
Lack of skills needed to onboard/operate genAI solutions33%Data privacy concerns31%Inability to operationalize at scale27%Lack of technology maturity24%We are not sure how or where it applies to our business24%caption
To overcome those barriers, respondents are “creating teams of experts and specialists,” “offering reassurance and training” to workers, “collaborating with industry partners,” “prioritizing pilot projects to test the feasibility of genAI tools in real-world scenarios,” and “ensuring that genAI initiatives align with our strategic objectives.” To keep their AI efforts safe, many are also “drafting corporate policies on AI use” and “implementing data privacy protocols and encryption measures to … ensure compliance with regulations.”
Finally, while AI is already affecting how organizations consider the future of their infrastructure and security around the world, countries such as Australia (79%), the US (78%), and Japan (76%) lead the way.
Forrester's key findings and recommendations, maturity model, and methodology
Want to know more about the survey methodology and the maturity model? Want to see Forrester's key findings and recommendations on cloud maturity, security, skills shortages, and AI?
Read the study from Forrester Consulting: Cloud Maturity Drives Business Success
Making Multi-Cloud Work
Forrester Research Report: Unlocking Multicloud’s Operational Potential
This site presents key insights revealed in the 2022 State of Cloud Strategy Survey, commissioned by HashiCorp and conducted by Forrester Consulting. Forrester surveyed more than 1,000 technology practitioners and decision makers from around the world, drawn from random samplings as well as the HashiCorp opt-in contact database.
For our second annual State of Cloud Strategy Survey, we commissioned Forrester Consulting to expand our respondent universe beyond the HashiCorp contact database and add independent analysis. Even with this refined approach to the survey questions and sample methodology, the 2022 results clearly reiterate and expand upon the key trends revealed last year: the prevalence and success of a common multi-cloud operating model (a consistent framework for adopting cloud services), the ongoing importance of cloud security, and the impact of gaps in critical cloud skills.
This year’s survey sheds new light on how organizations are adopting centralized cloud operations — often, for example, in the form of platform teams driving automation as the path to success. But even as these developments drive good outcomes — 90% say multi-cloud is helping their organizations achieve their business goals — there’s more to be done. This year, we also saw that while organizations are boosting their cloud spending, more than 9 out of 10 are wasting some of their cloud investment. To cope, companies are turning to automated tools to enable central platform teams to leverage scarce cloud skills and enforce and manage a common cloud operating model.
5 Numbers To Remember
90%
Say multi-cloud is working
86%
Rely on cloud platform teams
94%
Are wasting money in the cloud
89%
See security as a key driver of cloud success
#1
Rank of skills shortages as a multi-cloud barrier
81% Choose Multi-Cloud
Even though the methodology was slightly different this year, the results reinforce the central findings of our 2021 survey: multi-cloud — using more than one public or private cloud — is the new normal, chosen by more than 4 out of 5 respondents (60% are already multi-cloud, and another 21% plan to be multi-cloud within a year). In HashiCorp’s 2021 State of Cloud Strategy Survey, which polled HashiCorp’s opt-in database with slightly different questions, 76% said they were already multi-cloud, and 86% said they would be multi-cloud within two years.
Which of the following describes your organization's multi-cloud strategy?
In fact, respondents anticipate almost doubling the workloads they run in the public cloud from 2021 to 2024.
Approximately, what percentage of your organization’s IT workloads would you estimate run in the public cloud during the following timeframes?
9 Out Of 10 Say Multi-Cloud Is Working For Them
Critically, multi-cloud is not a hypothetical blueprint without current practical benefits. An overwhelming 9 out of 10 respondents who have adopted a multi-cloud approach say it is already helping their organization advance or achieve its business goals.
That’s a big jump from our 2021 survey, when just 53% of respondents said multi-cloud helped achieve their business goals. Interestingly, the tech industry and large enterprises (15,000+ employees) trailed slightly on this metric, with “only” 87% saying multi-cloud is working for them. Smaller organizations (1,000 - 4,000 employees) were more positive: 92% said multi-cloud was delivering business results. Regionally, multi-cloud benefitting the business was more prevalent in Asia (93%) and Europe (91%), and slightly lower in North America (88%).
Digital transformation was an even bigger driver for multi-cloud adoption this year, cited by 43% of respondents, compared to 34% in our 2021 survey (based on a slightly different methodology). Yet while digital transformation was the top driver in last year’s survey, it came in second to reliability (46%) this year, and was closely trailed by scalability, security and governance, cost reduction, and a broad mix of other factors.
Has a strategy to use multiple clouds helped advance or achieve your company’s business goals?
What are the business and technology factors driving your multi-cloud adoption?
Reliability
46%
Digital transformation
43%
Scalability
42%
Security & governanace
41%
Cost reduction
39%
86% Rely On Cloud Platform Teams
Cloud strategy and operations are so important that the vast majority of organizations have created a centralized organizational group or function such as a cloud platform team or Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) to make the most of their efforts. (Note: In this study, we refer to these centralized cloud functions as “platform teams.”)
Is there a centralized function or group with responsibility for formally managing your cloud operations or strategy? (CCoE, cloud platform team, etc.)
North America
82%Yes
14%No
Europe-Middle East-Africa
90%Yes
8%No
Asia-Pacific
87%Yes
11%No
One reason platform teams are so popular is that they perform a number of critical functions throughout the organization. It's still early days for platform team adoption, and organizations are experimenting with specifically what platform teams can and should do. So while standardizing cloud services, creating and sharing best practices and policies, and centralizing cloud security and compliance top the list, more than three-quarters of respondents rely on their platform teams for all the functions listed.
How much would you agree that each of the following are responsibilities covered by your organization’s centralized cloud strategy function?
Standardize cloud services
44%
43%
Develop and distribute cloud best practices for our organization
46%
41%
Create cloud management and operational policies in collaboration with a cross-functional team
45%
41%
Centralize cloud security and compliance
46%
39%
Keep up with the fast pace of changes in cloud service options
44%
40%
Strongly agree
Agree
Given the essential functions involved, it makes sense that many companies that are not yet relying on a platform team are considering implementing one.
You said that you don’t have a centralized function or group in place to manage your cloud strategy - why is that? (select all that apply)
We are still exploring the need to build a centralized cloud management function or group like this
35%
Responsibility for cloud strategy is distributed
35%
We plan to have a centralized cloud management function or group, but we have yet to implement it
28%
Our cloud usage is extensive, but we don’t see the need for a centralized cloud management function or group
25%
Our cloud usage is not significant enough to warrant a centralized cloud management function or group
22%
99% Think Automation Is Important For Multi-Cloud Operations
Just about everyone knows automation is critical for operationalizing multi-cloud — only 1 out of 100 of respondents thought it was not important — which makes it a key tool for platform teams. Just as telling, 89% thought automation was important or very important:
How important are automation tools for your organization to operationalize your multi-cloud infrastructure?
Popular reasons to embrace infrastructure automation include creating a faster, more flexible, and more reliable self-service IT infrastructure; improving security; better utilization of cloud resources; and faster incident response.
How has, or how would, consistent and automated tooling help operationalize your multi-cloud strategy? (select all that apply)
More flexible IT infrastructure
47%
Improved security and governance
46%
Better utilization of cloud resources
43%
Faster response to IT issues/events
42%
Reduced downtime
37%
Critically, only about a quarter (27%) of respondents want to build their own tools from scratch — relying on open source or buying commercial tools (either as a service or as running it themselves) are significantly more common choices.
For multi-cloud infrastructure automation tools, what kind of offering does your organization currently use or plan to use? (select all that apply)
Buy commercial tools as a service
47%
Use open source as a service
46%
Buy commercial tools, run it ourselves
46%
Build on open source and run it ourselves
45%
Build from scratch
27%
Why are automated solutions so popular? Because consistent, automated tooling can help organizations more efficiently address multi-cloud barriers around people, processes, and tools, including skills shortages, siloed teams, inconsistent workflows, lack of interoperability, and many others. As noted above, platform teams, automated tools, and a consistent cloud operating model help organizations address all of these challenges.
Automated tools also play key roles in many of the factors driving cloud success. Automated security tools are essential to implementing a zero trust security approach, for example, while infrastructure automation is critical to maximizing uptime and availability and providing visibility into cloud infrastructure. 81% of respondents cite the availability of automated tooling as an important or very important factor for their organization’s cloud strategy. 51% of tech firms rated tooling as very important, compared to just 42% of respondents in other industries.
How important are the following factors in determining the success of your organization’s cloud strategy?
Security
61%
27%
Ability to deliver uptime and availability
49%
36%
Meeting regulatory/compliance requirements
51%
31%
Staffing/skill level
41%
41%
Visibility/insight into cloud infrastructure
41%
40%
Very important
Important
In addition to security and tooling, which were already mentioned above, other keys to cloud success include uptime and availability (86%) and meeting regulatory requirements (82%). Tech firms placed more emphasis on uptime and availability (60% said it was “very important”) than did firms in other industries (46%). Similarly, scalability was rated “important” far more often by tech firms (56%) compared to other industries (37%).
4 Layers Of Infrastructure Are Fueled By Automation
Respondents said automated tools are already bringing significant benefits across a wide range of areas, with scalability (49%), infrastructure as code (42%), cost optimization (40%), and flexible deployments (39%) topping the list. When it comes to benefts respondents hope to gain in the next year, cost optimization (42%) overtakes scalabilty as the most popular choice, and developer productivity (37%), automated workflow-enabled operations (36%), and time to market (35%) also show up in the top five.
What are the top benefits using tools or solutions to manage your multi-cloud operating strategy?
Scalability
49%
Infrastructure provisioning/Infrastructure as code
42%
Cost optimization
40%
Flexible deployment options
39%
Speed of operation/time-to-market
35%
43% say consistent and automated tooling has or would lead to better utilization of cloud resources — 27% say it improves ROI.
In particular, respondents confirmed results from last year’s survey that automated tooling offers significant benefits across four layers of the stack: infrastructure, networking, security, and application deployment.
Benefits of Automated Tools by Segment
Automated workflow-enabled operations
34%
36%
Infrastructure provisioning/infrastructure as code
42%
35%
Benefits already gained
Benefits sought in next 12 months
89% See Security As A Key Driver Of Cloud Success
When it comes to the success of a cloud strategy, nothing is more important than security, which was cited as important or very important by almost 9 out of 10 respondents. Related regulatory and compliance issues were third on the list, named by more than 4 out of 5 respondents, behind delivering uptime and availability. And security was even more important to tech firms, where two-thirds (67%) rated it “very important” (vs. 59% for other industries). For comparison, in our 2021 Survey, security was named the second most important cloud inhibitor (47%), trailing cost concerns (51%).
How important are the following factors in determining the success of your organization’s cloud strategy?
Security
61%
27%
Ability to deliver uptime and availability
49%
36%
Meeting regulatory/compliance requirements
51%
31%
Staffing/skill level
41%
41%
Very important
Important
Data security is by far the biggest concern: The four most-cited external security threats include data theft, ransomware, phishing, and secrets leakage. Internally, data/privacy protection and threat detection and remediation ranked the highest. But the third-place choice, multi-cloud complexity, was ranked as the biggest challenge by 13% of respondents, more than any other choice. (For comparison, data/privacy protection, data theft, regulatory compliance, and software vulnerabilities were the top security concerns in our 2021 survey.)
What are the biggest threats that your organization faces when it comes to cloud security? (select all that apply)
Data theft
41%
Ransomware
39%
Phishing/social engineering attacks
38%
What are the biggest internal challenges faced within your organization when it comes to cloud security? (select all that apply)
Data/privacy protection
38%
Threat detection and remediation
35%
Complexity of multi-cloud environment (multiple APIs, apps, processes)
33%
88% Rely On Security Tools And Automation
To protect themselves, organizations are turning to security tools and automation. Data protection/encryption tools were most commonly named (88%) as important or very important to cloud success. In addition, access control and session management and secrets management were tied for third place with infrastructure as code and network infrastructure automation (83%).
How important are each of the following tools/initiatives to the success of your cloud strategy?
Data protection/encryption
60%
28%
Continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD)
49%
35%
Infrastructure as code
51%
32%
Access control and session management
48%
35%
Very important
Important
Of course, automated tools are also critical beyond security, with tools for CI/CD (84%), infrastructure as code (83%), access controls and session management (83%) and network infrastructure (83%) also ranking high. Not surprisingly, perhaps, CI/CD was particularly valued in the tech sphere, with 61% calling these tools “very important” vs. 44% in other industries.
Finally, almost half (46%) of respondents said automated tooling has or would help improve security and governance (as noted in the Automation section above).
94% Are Wasting Money In The Cloud
Overspending in the cloud isn’t just common, it’s ubiquitous. More than 9 in 10 respondents noted avoidable cloud spend, most commonly due to some combination of idle or underused resources (66%), overprovisioned resources (59%), and lack of needed skills (47%).
Which of the following factors contribute to avoidable cloud spend, also known as cloud waste, at your organization? (select all that apply)
Idle or underused resources
66%
Overprovisioning resources
59%
Lack of needed skills
47%
Manual containerization
37%
Fortunately, awareness of cloud waste is the first step to bringing it under control — as noted above, 80% of respondents consider “budget” an important or very important driver of cloud success. Notably, many companies already seem to be planning for this and still staying on target for overall cloud spending: less than a quarter (24%) of respondents say they overspent their cloud budget in 2021 (only 5% underspent).
In 2021, did your organization’s projected cloud spend align with your actual cloud spend?
Not surprisingly, the more budgeting and management responsibility respondents had, the more they saw cloud spending meeting expectations. For example, 66% of respondents with titles of director and above said their budget was in line with expectations, as did 69% of respondents who have sole responsibility for cloud strategy. Of course, that doesn’t explain why North American respondents were more likely to report overspending (27%).
Skills Shortages Ranked As Top Multi-Cloud Barrier
In our 2021 survey, skills issues were a critical inhibitor to respondents’ cloud program. In 2022, skill shortages move to the top of the list. In addition, skills-related factors also featured prominently, with siloed teams, lack of training, manual operations, and budget-constrained headcounts also complicating the ability to operationalize multi-cloud.
Which of the following factors complicate your organization's ability to operationalize multi-cloud? (select all that apply)
Skills shortages
41%
Teams working in silos (e.g., no/low collaboration, lack of shared or straight-through processes)
35%
Compliance and risk management
35%
Lack of training
33%
Working across multiple clouds and hybrid environments, each with its own set of tools and workflows, puts pressure on busy teams to be experts on a vast array of technologies and processes. The top approach to solving this conundrum is to standardize on a common cloud operating model — a set of common tools and automated workflows chosen and enforced by platform teams leveraging the most skilled personnel. In addition to boosting training and working more strategically with partners and consultants, a cloud operating model administered by a platform team helps make the most of limited organizational resources.
How will your organization solve these issues?
Standardize on a common operating model (i.e., include a shared set of automated workflows)
59%
Re-skill and/or up-skill staff through certifications and education around our core initiatives
53%
Work more strategically/closely with your reseller/SI partners and consultants
49%
Increase budget to address headcount shortage
36%
Remove environmental or operational silos
31%
Notably, one in five companies (22%) are still struggling to gather the skills needed to staff a platform team. To help, most respondents (59%) are standardizing on a cloud operating model (including shared workflows) to help fill skills gaps. Similarly, since platform engineers are force multipliers, it makes sense to prioritize staffing platform teams.
Staffing/skill level was the third most cited factor in determining success of an organization’s cloud strategy. 82% rated it important or very important, trailing only security and uptime/availability.
100% Can Learn More
Want to know more about the state of cloud strategy and the role platform teams and a cloud operating model play in cloud success?
Download the full Forrester Consulting study (Unlocking Multi-Cloud’s Operational Potential) — and don’t miss their key recommendations, including how to leverage security automation tools, the best ways to trim cloud waste, and tips for addressing skills and staffing shortages.
Also, read HashiCorp’s Scale Your Cloud Operating Model with a Platform Team white paper for details on how to use a cloud operating model to maximize agility, reliability, and security to deliver superior business outcomes.