Survey: Number of Cloud Native Users in Germany Grows, Despite Economic Headwinds and Skills Shortages

ISG/EuroCloud Native study shows 92 percent of German IT decision-makers are looking to the cloud for cost savings

FRANKFURT am MAIN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- More than a quarter of German IT decision-makers surveyed by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm, say their companies have created and are running applications in public cloud environments, an increase of five percentage points over 2021.

The survey, conducted in September for EuroCloud Native (ECN), the cloud native initiative of the industry association EuroCloud Deutschland, asked 200 German IT decision-makers about their current and planned use of cloud native technologies. The study found 27 percent of respondents are running applications in the public cloud, up from 22 percent in 2021, and 92 percent of respondents are looking to achieve cost savings. However, economic uncertainty and a shortage of skilled workers are limiting the scope of cloud transformation projects.

"The survey results show a significant increase in the willingness of German enterprises to switch to cloud native applications, especially among companies in the midmarket," said study leader Heiko Henkes, director and principal analyst for ISG Research. “Against the backdrop of worsening inflation, nine out of ten respondents see cloud native solutions as an important means of reducing their IT service operating costs.”

Enterprises are also looking to cloud native technology to automate capacity allocation and to increase the speed of restoring and restarting cloud native-based solutions, Henkes added. Loosening regulatory concerns for cloud solutions in the German midmarket are also helping to boost adoption rates for cloud native approaches.

Labor shortages and inflation inject caution into enterprise plans

The 2022 survey results suggest economic uncertainty and the tight labor market are delaying a true paradigm shift in cloud native development, deployment and operation and holding enterprises to smaller, near-term projects.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said a lack of skilled personnel is a factor in their strategic cloud investment decisions – an 11-percentage-point rise from 2021, when 37 percent of respondents cited worker shortages as an obstacle to implementing their company roadmap. Similarly, the ongoing need for IT departments to focus on onboarding in the face of staff turnover is limiting teams to smaller, more manageable projects.

"In the current economic environment, even pioneering companies are increasingly taking a cautious approach, focusing cloud native budgets on smaller-scale development projects that pay for themselves in the short term,” said Felix Höger, Board Member at EuroCloud Germany.

Forty-one percent of the survey respondents said their software engineering development projects are focusing primarily on application customizations (refactoring). In contrast, only a quarter of respondents said the development of new solutions (rewriting)—which is even more dependent on highly skilled workers—is on their enterprise cloud roadmap.

Cost reduction presents opportunities for specialized service providers

The enterprise focus on achieving cost reductions is presenting market opportunities for specialized cloud native service providers.

“Enterprises are particularly interested in providers that can deliver expertise, implementation and reduced IT expenses," said Dr. Nils Kaufmann, Head of EuroCloud Native. "Cost savings is the main objective for 92 percent of our 2022 survey respondents, followed by automated scaling, cited as a top factor for 88 percent of respondents, and the rapid recovery of cloud services, an important objective for 87 percent of survey participants.”

Note to Editors: ISG and ECN presented the complete findings of the survey during a virtual press briefing today at 10:30 a.m., Central European Time, at the ECN Summit. The briefing was conducted in German. For more information on the ISG Pulse Check Cloud Native 2022 survey, click here.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 800 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

About EuroCloud Native (ECN)

EuroCloud Native (www.eurocloudnative.de) is an initiative within EuroCloud Deutschland_eco e. V. (EuroCloud), the association of the cloud computing industry in Germany. Since 2020, the ECN has specifically targeted providers of public cloud-based solutions and services, which are mostly young companies or start-ups. Founded by experts, the ECN is not only a specialist forum for cloud-native topics, but also a point of contact for questions from the media.

About EuroCloud Germany_eco e. V.

EuroCloud Deutschland (www.eurocloud.de) is the association of the German cloud computing industry and represents it in the pan-European EuroCloud network. EuroCloud Germany is committed to acceptance and demand-oriented provision of cloud services on the German market. In doing so, the association is in constant dialog with the European partners of the EuroCloud network in order to find global solutions and prepare the ground for international business relationships. EuroCloud Germany was founded in December 2009 and is affiliated with eco - Verband der Internetwirtschaft e. V.

About eco - Association of the Internet Industry e. V.

With more than 1,000 member companies, eco (www.eco.de) is the largest Internet industry association in Europe. Since 1995, eco has been instrumental in shaping the Internet, fostering new technologies, forming framework conditions, and representing the interests of its members in politics and international committees. The focal points of the association are the reliability and strengthening of digital infrastructure, IT security, trust, and ethically oriented digitization. That is why eco advocates for a free, technology-neutral, and high-performance Internet.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221027005318/en/

Philipp Jaensch, ISG

+49 151 730 365 76

philipp.jaensch@isg-one.com



René Bernard, eco

+49 221 7000 48-0

presse@eco.de

Source: Information Services Group, Inc.