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The Cloud Maturity Level That Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Claim to Have

Nine out of ten companies use the cloud. The statistic obscures the real question: usage is not mastery. That's precisely where the Mittelstand thrives.

By Benedikt Langer July 18, 2026 4 min read

The Cloud Maturity Level That Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Claim to Have

Nine out of ten companies use the cloud. The figure sounds like a done deal, yet it obscures the real question: usage is not mastery. There’s a world of difference between a Microsoft 365 subscription and a well-thought-out cloud architecture. It’s in that very gap that mid-sized businesses thrive.

Key Takeaways

Usage is standard, maturity is not. According to the Bitkom Cloud Report 2025, 90 percent of companies use cloud services. Yet only 47 percent of all IT applications actually run in the cloud; the rest remain in on-premises data centers.
Dependence without strategy. Sixty-two percent of firms would grind to a halt without the cloud. When you’re that reliant, you need to master the architecture-not just foot the bill.
Maturity is measured by four questions. Cost control, architecture, exit capability, and governance separate deliberate cloud use from organic chaos.

What the Numbers Really Reveal

Adoption is impressive: 90 percent cloud usage, up from 81 percent last year. But the more telling metric sits beside it: only about half of all IT applications run in the cloud. The other half stays on-premises-sometimes for good reasons, often because a migration was never fully thought through.

// Data Snapshot

47 percent

of all IT applications in Germany run in the cloud. A year earlier the figure was 38 percent. Source: Bitkom Cloud Report 2025, 604 companies with 20+ employees.

This gap is the maturity indicator. A company running e-mail and office in the cloud while leaving everything else in the basement is using the cloud-it isn’t mastering it. True maturity means consciously deciding where each application belongs instead of managing the random outcomes of the past decade.

Four Questions That Reveal Your Cloud Maturity

Maturity shows up in control. Raw cloud share tells you little. Four questions separate deliberate use from sprawl. First, costs: does the company know which team incurs which cloud bill, or does the invoice arrive as a surprise? Without tagging and FinOps basics, the budget remains a black box.

Second, architecture: were applications built for the cloud or merely shifted there? A lift-and-shift without redesign drives costs without benefit. Third, exit capability: could you switch providers without months of downtime? Fourth, governance: who can spin up services, and how is shadow IT prevented?

The Counter-Argument: Maturity Isn’t an End in Itself

Some argue that mid-sized firms don’t need hyperscale architecture-and they’re right. Not every business must be cloud-native. A solid on-premises system beats a half-baked migration. The point is awareness of your own situation; maximum cloud usage matters less.

That’s where the report’s second emphasis lands. Many companies crave more sovereignty and a German cloud option without first clarifying their own dependencies. The desire for control is there; the prerequisite-knowing your own architecture-often isn’t.

What the next step is

The honest starting point is an inventory. Which applications are running where, what do they cost, and what dependencies exist? This audit sounds unspectacular, yet it’s the foundation for any maturity-level improvement. Those who have it can prioritize instead of guessing.

Next comes the deliberate decision per application-not a blanket shift. Cloud maturity grows through greater clarity. More cloud alone doesn’t advance it. The 90 percent usage mark has been reached. The real work begins with the question of what you actually do with the cloud.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does cloud maturity level mean?

Cloud maturity level describes how consciously and competently a company uses the cloud. It measures control over costs, architecture, vendor switching, and governance. Pure usage remains secondary. A high maturity level means cloud decisions are planned rather than grown by chance.

How many companies use the cloud according to Bitkom?

According to the Bitkom Cloud Report 2025, 90 percent of companies use cloud applications, up from 81 percent the previous year. Yet only 47 percent of all IT applications actually run from the cloud.

Why doesn’t a high cloud share equal high maturity?

Because usage and mastery are two different things. A simple Office 365 subscription makes a company a cloud user, but says nothing about cost control, clean architecture, or exit capability. Maturity is shown in control, not in share.

Which cloud types are most common?

According to Bitkom, private cloud leads at 74 percent, followed by public cloud at 59 percent. Forty-one percent use multi-cloud across multiple providers, while 29 percent rely on hybrid cloud combining private and public services.

How can a mid-sized company raise its cloud maturity level?

With an inventory. Which applications are running where, what do they cost, and what dependencies exist? Based on that, you can make deliberate decisions per application instead of blanket migration. Maturity grows through clarity, not through more cloud.