Where Cloud Migration Still Falls Short – Again and Again

Many companies recognize the benefits of cloud migration but still hesitate – or even roll applications back on-premises. A new IDG study, developed jointly with T-Systems and Lufthansa Industry Solutions, identifies the biggest roadblocks.

TL;DR

• 38 % of surveyed companies have already launched or completed at least one cloud migration project.
• The top reasons for delays are complexity (38 %) and lack of support from top management (31 %).
• Large enterprises (1,000+ employees) are further ahead: 44 % have migrated, versus just 29 % among smaller companies.
• 71 % of companies approach cloud migration strategically; 42 % embed cloud firmly into their overall IT strategy.
• CRM systems (45 %) and business intelligence applications are the most frequently migrated workloads.

Employees – already deeply accustomed to smartphones – are often far ahead of their employers when it comes to harnessing cloud advantages and driving digital transformation. Yet many large and small companies remain hesitant about migrating to the cloud.

The two biggest barriers? Complexity (38 %) and insufficient backing from top management (31 %). That’s the finding of a new study titled Cloud Migration 2025, published by IDG’s CIO and Computerwoche in collaboration with T-Systems and Lufthansa Industry Solutions. The survey polled 346 C-level business and IT executives, IT leaders, and departmental representatives across diverse industries.

When Leadership Doesn’t Buy In

Only 38 % of respondents have initiated or completed at least one cloud migration project. Another quarter plan to do so in 2025. More than one-fifth (21 %) intend to wait another one to three years.

Large enterprises – with over 1,000 employees – are typically further along: 44 % have already executed at least one migration project. Among smaller firms with fewer than 500 employees, that figure drops to just 29 % – a full 15 percentage points lower.

Lack of management support ranks as one of the biggest brakes – second only to complexity itself. Complexity primarily affects IT infrastructure (45 %), data protection and compliance (37 %), and data security – including disaster recovery (32 %).

Budgets and Resources Often Fall Short Too

The frequent absence of leadership support is especially concerning, since executive sponsorship remains one of the most critical success factors for any major initiative. Tight IT budgets and protracted migration timelines each hinder progress in roughly 27 % of cases. An ill-suited or absent corporate culture poses a stumbling block for 22 % – a challenge closely tied to the broader issue of weak management buy-in.

At sixth place, around 20 % cite a shortage of necessary resources – including headcount and in-house skills. Security and privacy challenges were cited by 17 % and 16 % respectively as reasons for delaying cloud adoption. Another 16 % questioned the tangible business value, while roughly 15 % pointed to the need to adapt or overhaul existing business processes.

That said, those who’ve already completed one or more migrations report high satisfaction: 31 % say they’re “very satisfied,” and 47 % “satisfied” with the outcomes. Just 3 % describe themselves as “somewhat dissatisfied,” “dissatisfied,” or “not satisfied at all” with how one or more applications performed post-migration.

What Drives Workloads Into – and Out of – the Cloud

According to Computerwoche, one possible explanation for this high satisfaction rate is that 71 % of companies pursue cloud migration strategically – not ad hoc or on impulse. In 42 % of cases, cloud technology is now an integral part of the organization’s overarching IT strategy.

The strongest driver for moving to the cloud is expected cost savings: 46 % of respondents cited this, rising to 53 % among mid-sized firms – but dropping to just 39 % among smaller businesses.

42 % anticipate improved IT security in the cloud; 38 % expect accelerated digitalization. Modernizing application landscapes and strengthening compliance and data protection rank nearly equally, at 31 % and 25 % respectively. Flexible scalability of IT solutions matters less – just 22 % see it as a key objective.

Lift-and-Extend Over Lift-and-Shift

The study also unearthed several unexpected insights. Most respondents favor the “lift-and-extend” approach (49 %), compared with 35 % opting for “lift-and-reshape.” Only 24 % still rely on the traditional “lift-and-shift” method – where applications are moved to the cloud without code changes or modernization. This conservative tactic has historically proven problematic.

The most commonly migrated applications are CRM systems (45 %), business intelligence (BI) and data analytics (38 %), enterprise resource planning (ERP, 33 %), and human resource planning (HRP, 29 %). Data analytics appears again separately at 25 %. Supply chain management (SCM) has migrated for 24 % of respondents, finance and risk management for 23 %. Surprisingly low on the list are workflow management (11 %) and collaboration tools (8 %). Office productivity suites sit squarely in the middle, cited by 20 %.

Vendor Lock-In Seems to Bother Few

What surprises both Computerwoche and CIO is that fewer than half of companies (47 %) have adopted a dedicated multi-cloud strategy to avoid vendor lock-in. And only 41 % of respondents even perceive vendor lock-in as a significant risk.

Despite the high satisfaction levels noted earlier, a quarter of respondents have rolled applications back into their own data centers. Another 28 % plan to do so in 2025, and 19 % expect to follow suit in the foreseeable future. Potential explanations include unmet expectations around cost savings and IT security – or negative experiences with vendor lock-in.

More than seven in ten respondents plan to increase spending on cloud technologies, related services, and migration projects in 2025 – while sustainability is gaining prominence too. Slightly more than half (51 %) say reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions now exerts a “very strong” or “strong” influence on how their company plans and executes cloud initiatives. Another third (37 %) describe sustainability’s impact as “moderately strong.”

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Translated from the German original using artificial intelligence. The German version is authoritative.