Source: devops.com. Original research conducted by 451 Research on behalf of Skytap, a cloud service provider.
Overview
A survey of 450 C-level and VP/director-level technology leaders in the United States, UK, and Canada — conducted by 451 Research on behalf of cloud service provider Skytap — reveals a significant shift in how enterprises think about cloud migration. The era of straightforward lift-and-shift is fading. In its place, organizations are increasingly planning to refactor, modernize, or replace legacy applications to take advantage of cloud-native technologies. DevOps practices and skills are emerging as a critical enabler of that transition.
Lift-and-Shift Is Losing Ground
Historically, many organizations approached cloud migration by simply moving existing workloads to a cloud host with minimal or no code changes — the so-called “lift-and-shift” approach. The survey data suggests this strategy is declining in favor of more deliberate modernization:
- 28% plan to refactor applications using a mix of cloud-native and traditional technologies.
- 20% plan to adopt a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) environment.
- 20% plan a pure lift-and-shift with no changes to the underlying code.
- 20% will replace existing applications with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) alternatives.
Jay Lyman, an industry analyst at 451 Research, cautioned that organizations still relying on lift-and-shift may be engaged in “wishful thinking.” In his assessment, most applications migrating to the cloud will require rework to some degree before they can run reliably and cost-effectively in a cloud environment.
Migration Timelines and Scope
The survey paints a picture of ambitious but measured migration plans across the respondent organizations:
- 67% of respondents plan to migrate or modernize at least half of their on-premises applications within the next 12 to 24 months.
- 47% expect to migrate between 50% and 75% of their applications.
- Only 20% plan to move 75% or more of their applications to a cloud platform within the same timeframe.
These figures suggest that while cloud migration is clearly a high priority, full-scale cloud adoption remains a long-term undertaking for most organizations rather than something achievable in a single planning cycle.
DevOps and Agile Are the Dominant Migration Methodologies
When asked which methodologies they rely on to drive cloud migration projects, respondents pointed strongly to DevOps and agile practices:
- 54% said they are already relying on DevOps processes.
- 46% said they are relying on agile methodologies.
This confirms DevOps as more than a software delivery philosophy — it is now a core operational framework for managing complex, multi-phase cloud migrations. The iterative, automation-driven nature of DevOps practices aligns well with the incremental approach most organizations are taking to modernize their application portfolios.
Skills Shortages Are a Major Bottleneck
Talent acquisition and retention emerged as a critical concern. Respondents identified the following skill sets as highest priority:
- 55% — Cloud migration expertise
- 52% — Application modernization using cloud services
- 50% — DevOps skills (tied with multi-cloud operations expertise)
The strong demand for DevOps talent directly reflects how central these practices have become to successful cloud initiatives. Organizations that lack this capability are likely to face slower migration timelines and higher risk of failed modernization efforts.
Workload Placement and Multi-Cloud Realities
The survey also explored how organizations are making workload placement decisions:
- 37% said placement decisions are driven primarily by where the application will run best.
- 26% cited identifying the best-of-breed cloud-native service as the key driver.
- Only 19% said their organizations plan to use multiple public cloud providers in a coordinated way.
Jay Lyman noted that while hybrid and multi-cloud architectures represent the aspirational target for most IT organizations, the practical reality is that most will be running multiple clouds in isolation — rather than as a unified strategy — for many years to come. True hybrid cloud orchestration remains an advanced capability that few organizations have achieved at scale.
On-Premises Applications Still Dominate — And Many Are Mission-Critical
The sheer scale of on-premises application portfolios helps explain why migration is a long-term challenge:
- 80%+ of respondents reported managing more than 100 applications.
- 74% said at least half of those applications are still on-premises.
- 71% said more than half of their on-premises applications are mission-critical.
Migration complexity is further compounded by application type. Just over half of respondents said that core business applications — including CRM, ERP, and data analytics platforms — are the least suited for hyperscale cloud environments. These are precisely the applications that tend to be most deeply integrated with existing infrastructure, making refactoring expensive and time-consuming.
Security Remains the Top Cloud Challenge
Despite years of cloud adoption and maturing security tooling, security continues to be the most-cited challenge in cloud deployments. 56% of survey respondents identified security as the biggest obstacle to deploying applications in the cloud — a finding consistent with broader industry trends at the time of the survey.
Key Takeaways for DevOps and Platform Teams
- Lift-and-shift alone is not a viable long-term strategy. Plan for refactoring, even if initial migrations are phased.
- DevOps capabilities are directly linked to migration success. Teams without established DevOps pipelines and culture will struggle to modernize at the required pace.
- Skills investment is non-negotiable. Cloud migration expertise, application modernization skills, and DevOps proficiency are the top hiring priorities among leading organizations.
- Expect the migration to take years, not months. The volume of mission-critical on-premises applications and the complexity of modernization mean that cloud transformation is an extended program of work, not a single project.
- Multi-cloud strategy is aspirational for most. Focus on getting individual cloud environments right before attempting unified multi-cloud operations.
Survey conducted by 451 Research on behalf of Skytap in 2018, covering 450 C-level and VP/director-level technology leaders in the US, UK, and Canada. Original coverage via devops.com.