Cloud-first strategy

So even after two years of the corona pandemic, there is still growth potential in the cloud market, although the year-on-year increase is lower at two percentage points. The proportion of companies for which cloud computing is not an issue is stagnating at a low three percent. This is the result of the Cloud Monitor 2022, a representative survey of 552 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of KPMG. Four out of ten companies are now pursuing a cloud-first strategy in which they prefer to implement new IT projects in the cloud, but not necessarily in the cloud, and migrate existing systems or applications to the cloud as required.

Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of nine percentage points. The trend towards cloud solutions is also reflected in the proportion of companies with a cloud-only strategy: in 2021, five percent used cloud computing for all systems or applications; in 2022, the proportion has risen to nine percent.

The current situation of economic uncertainty is keeping many companies looking at their fixed cost positions. In the IT sector, cloud solutions represent a cost-efficient and cost-flexible option compared to on-premises solutions. Accordingly, more than three quarters of companies cite cost reduction as a goal of their cloud computing strategy. The reduction of CO2 emissions also plays an important role for every second company when deciding on a cloud solution.

Cloud deployment enables experimentation with new applications and business models at lower cost and greater flexibility and speed. One in three companies therefore hopes for more agility from cloud solutions, for example in the form of flexible cooperation with partners via cloud platforms. One in four aims for greater innovation capability, for example through the development of innovative products and or services. In recent years, the entry into the cloud has been cost-driven in many companies.