We all know cloud is table stakes, but how do different industries use the technology? We blind surveyed more than 1,000 leaders and technologists at every organizational level and across the globe to find out.
Dig into the findings for each industry:
Download the full report with our analysis and next steps
Financial services: Multicloud power users
Organizations in the financial services companies are the most likely to operate in a multicloud environment, with 84% of companies reporting their environment uses multiple platforms. While these companies tend to prioritize the top 3 platforms (AWS, Azure, and GCP), they’re also the industry most likely to include Oracle in their multicloud mix.
So it’s good that its cloud engineers are also the most likely to have significant experience in more than one cloud provider. In fact, more than 90% of cloud engineers in financial services say they have significant experience with Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle.
In addition to using the most platforms, 53% of financial services companies adopt cloud features and services as soon as they’re released.
Opportunities and challenges for cloud in financial services
Organizations in the financial services industry—more so than other industries—are using the cloud to create new operational processes and expand into new markets. But not without challenges.
While clear and accurate measurement of cloud services is a lesser concern, leaders in financial services struggle with security concerns and constraints. This might be due to more than 75% of financial services companies not extending cloud learning opportunities to their non-technical teams—a move that, according to a Gartner survey, creates more opportunities for security failures.
However, for their technical teams, financial services companies lead the charge in tracking course consumption. They’re also more likely to set dedicated learning time for their technical teams and include learning as a part of role responsibilities.
But there’s a disconnect between leaders and technologists when it comes to how that learning time should be prioritized. Leaders say their top skills gaps are cloud architecture and security, while their technologists report data and automation as their top skills gaps.
And yet, 88% of leaders and technologists are very confident they have the skills for their current workloads. Leaders aren’t taking any bets, though. 49% are hiring for security roles in 2023 and 46% are hiring for data analytics, engineering, or storage roles.
How is the financial services industry handling economic pressures?
Nearly half of financial services companies reported completing a layoff, with another 50% saying they’re planning one for the next 12 months. Of the 50% reporting a future layoff, 15% have already completed one.
While cloud roles were relatively secure in the first round (41% of leaders reporting less than 25% of cloud roles were impacted), that’s not true for future layoffs. 44% of leaders are reporting more than 50% of their impacted roles will be cloud roles.
Download the 2023 State of Cloud report for more trends, analysis, and insight in the cloud computing industry
Manufacturing: The most secure industry for cloud computing jobs
Manufacturing companies have some of the most skilled cloud engineers, with 66% of technologists reporting they have significant experience with one or more cloud platforms. And those skills are primarily in GCP and AWS—the platforms most of these companies use for their cloud solutions.
77% of manufacturing companies use multiple cloud platforms primarily to leverage “best of breed” cloud-native services and improve resiliency. They’re also quick to adopt new cloud services. 90% of companies adopt new cloud services before, or as soon as, best practices are established. Only 8% wait until services have become commonplace.
Opportunities and challenges for cloud in manufacturing companies
Manufacturing companies lead the charge for cloud literacy in their companies. 65% of leaders report their entire IT staff is certified, and the rest of their companies understand basic cloud concepts. They’re also the most likely to find more value in cloud solutions.
73% of manufacturing leaders say cloud technology is more efficient than non-cloud solutions and helps drive better customer value. This is probably because they’re the most likely to offer learning resources to their teams and track their effectiveness. 49% of leaders use analytics to monitor skill progression, not just course consumption.
Surprisingly, while manufacturing leaders track skill progression, 41% struggle with a lack of clear and accurate measurements for their cloud solutions.
Like the financial services industry, there’s a disconnect over skills gaps between leaders and technologists in the manufacturing industry. Technologists rank infrastructure as their top skills gap, while only 12% of leaders agree it’s in the top three. Leaders are instead prioritizing security, with more than half looking to fill security roles in 2023.
Regardless, 85% of leaders and technologists in the manufacturing industry are very confident in the skills they have to master their current cloud roles.
How are manufacturing companies handling economic pressures?
Manufacturing companies were, and are, the least likely to experience a layoff or workforce reduction. Less than 25% reported a layoff in the last 12 months. Another 25% are planning one for the next 12. And of those planning a layoff, only 2% had already completed one.
Cloud roles in the manufacturing industry were also the most secure. Of layoffs completed in the last 12 months, 90% of leaders report they affected less than 50% of their cloud roles. And for those planning a layoff, that number drops to only 80%.
Download the 2023 State of Cloud report for more trends, analysis, and insight in the cloud computing industry
Technology: Driving business value with cloud computing
One would assume that the industry with the most software-oriented workforce would have the most experienced workers. Surprisingly not. The technology industry is more than twice as likely to have brand-new cloud talent than other industries surveyed. More shocking than that, they’re also less likely to have cloud engineers with significant cloud-related experience than the financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing industries.
Unlike other industries, AWS is the primary cloud platform technology companies use for their cloud companies. But Azure and GCP were tied for a close second, with 58% of tech leaders reporting they use those platforms. 63% of them reported operating inside a multicloud environment. More than half reported choosing multicloud to improve resiliency, enable flexibility, or leverage “best of breed” cloud-native services.
Opportunities and challenges for cloud in tech companies
Like in other industries, security remains the top challenge for tech companies. Where they deviate is in how they use cloud technology. While other industries are using cloud to develop new operational methods or processes, tech companies are focused on optimizing costs and expanding their product or service offerings.
Unsurprisingly, tech companies are the most likely to have a documented cloud learning strategy and include cloud learning as part of their team’s role responsibilities. And their leaders and technologists are on similar wavelengths when it comes to their skills gaps. Both leaders and technologists identified cloud architecture and cloud security as their top two skills gaps.
But the biggest challenge tech companies face right now is layoffs.
How are technology companies handling economic pressures?
Tech companies were the most likely to have experienced a layoff in the last 12 months. They were also the most likely to see cloud roles eliminated, with 39% of leaders reporting more than 50% of their cloud roles lost. But nearly half of tech companies are planning for a future layoff. What’s most shocking is that of those companies planning for a layoff in the next 12 months, 75% of them had already experienced one.
Download the 2023 State of Cloud report for more trends, analysis, and insight in the cloud computing industry
Healthcare: Methodical approach to cloud computing
Technologists’ cloud computing skills are either all or nothing in healthcare. While 20% said they were new to cloud and looking to build basic skills, 60% said they have significant cloud-related experience with one or more cloud platforms. And those skills are predominantly in GCP (83%) and Azure (80%). Healthcare is the only industry where more of its technologists had skills with Oracle (76%) than the market leader, AWS (63%).
Healthcare organizations are the least likely to use multiple platforms, though half reported multicloud environments. They predominantly use GCP (61%) and Azure (54%), but AWS isn’t far behind. 49% of healthcare leaders report it’s part of their cloud infrastructure.
Opportunities and challenges for cloud computing in healthcare
Healthcare organizations are the most conservative of the four industries we surveyed when it comes to adoption of cloud services. Only 33% of companies report they adopt cloud services as soon as they’re available, preferring to wait until industry best practices have been established (48%).
But where they’re conservative in the speed they adopt cloud technology, they’re the most likely to have the majority of their infrastructure in the cloud. They’re also the most likely to teach cloud skills to their non-technical teams. So it’s surprising that they’re the least likely to have a documented learning responsibility, include learning as a part of role responsibilities, and feel confident in their cloud skills.
Despite not having a documented strategy, nearly half of healthcare organizations use analytics to track course consumption and monitor skill progression. Healthcare is also the industry with the least disparity between what its leaders identify as skills gaps versus its technologists. Both groups identified data analytics, engineering, and storage as their top skills gap, with 41% of companies hiring for the roles in 2023.
How are healthcare organizations handling economic pressures?
One-third of healthcare companies experienced a layoff in the last 12 months. For 85% of those companies, their layoff impacted less than half their cloud roles. But that security isn’t guaranteed. 40% of healthcare companies report they’re currently planning for a layoff in the next 12 months, with nearly the same percentage expecting to lose more than half their cloud roles.
But once these companies experience a layoff, they’re not likely to see another. Only 11% of healthcare leaders planning a layoff reported they’d already experienced one.
Download the 2023 State of Cloud report for more trends, analysis, and insight in the cloud computing industry
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