New survey finds latest cloud technology trends and their impact on business operations, growth, and sustainability efforts

Cloudreach has released new data highlighting the latest cloud technology trends, underscoring the impact the cloud skills gap is having on businesses. More than 70% of surveyed IT leaders internationally saw the skills gap as an urgent concern. More than half of respondents claimed it either slowed them down (46%) or posed an existential crisis to the company (9%).

The data was published in an IDC Infobrief ‘How to be a Digital Leader in 2022’ commissioned by Cloudreach, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), ultimately supporting the Atos OneCloud strategic initiative. The research also delves into cloud technology’s present and expanding role in supporting business growth and sustainability efforts.

As more organisations rush to adopt cloud technology to improve efficiency and sustainability, the report shines a light on how the industry needs more skilled professionals than ever to maintain operations. Business leaders are finding that their cloud transformation initiatives are increasingly hampered by a lack of skilled professionals, with 34% of respondents explaining that the shortage has reduced their ability to operate and launch services. 

Low supply of cloud skills is also hitting innovation, causing high staff turnover and wage inflation. Multi-cloud capabilities, cloud system development, and cloud governance were the top three areas most impacted by the skills gap, according to respondents.

“This research confirms that there is a shortage of cloud talent today, threatening cloud transformation projects that are essential to business survival,” said Brooks Borcherding, CEO, Cloudreach. “Talented architects and engineers are vital to delivering on the promise of cloud for businesses, and the opportunities are huge for their careers. This skills gap poses a challenge for organisations to find new ways of recruiting, hiring and upskilling talent; including removing barriers of entry that have historically limited diversity within the industry.

“Businesses recognise the importance of cloud infrastructure to help them grow and become more effective, and this study confirms the demand for cloud services continues to grow,” said Vittorio Sanvito, Director of EMEA Partner Development at AWS. “That is why we are working so hard to help close the skills gap in EMEA and worldwide with our partners like Cloudreach and Atos. AWS has also made a commitment to help 29 million people around the world grow their tech skills with free cloud computing training by 2025. We are bringing more people into professional cloud careers and increasing the diversity of the cloud workforce.”

The concern about the skills gap remained consistent across cloud organizations in both North America and Europe. The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025, half of the global workforce will need reskilling, and 97 million new roles will emerge because of digitization. With fewer skilled workers than open jobs, and growing demand on the horizon, cloud organizations will fight to maintain their teams and operations. 

The study revealed other trends in cloud technology, including the essential role it can play in business operations, growth, and sustainability efforts.

• 48% of respondents are now engaged in business transformation through cloud adoption, driving broader changes in organizational thinking. 

• 71% of respondents see cloud strategy as the biggest driver of sustainability today, with this percentage rising to 85% in 2023.  

"This study shows that cloud is crucial to achieve carbon emissions targets. Enterprises consume less energy and reduce their environmental footprint when migrating to a cloud environment,” said Carla Arend, Senior Program Director and Lead Analyst, Cloud in Europe at IDC. “To be impactful, sustainability practices need to be embedded in the enterprise business processes. These go beyond tracking CO2 emissions or utilities consumption but look for greener practices across the entire asset lifecycle.”

The IDC survey collected data from 610 IT business leaders in North America and Europe at large enterprises across a wide range of industries.

For more details on these insights, plus additional findings, download the report here.

Notes to Editors: Countries surveyed: United States (150), Canada (50), United Kingdom (100), France (80), Germany (80), Italy (50), Spain (50), Nordics (50)