COVID-19 has increased reliance on the cloud

According to a report, 65% businesses have reported an increased dependency on cloud solutions due to the pandemic and, after the switch was made, 92% reported an increase in cloud usage during the peak of the pandemic and said the cloud usage continued to increase in 2021, indicating that there is no slowdown in terms of digital acceleration and cloud adoption. Developers and SMBs require a different approach to the cloud that addresses their needs. The cloud represents a massive opportunity for developers and SMBs to test their ideas and build their businesses and it’s more important than ever that they have access to easy-to-use cloud solutions that meet their unique needs.

SMBs of all types have less technical staff than enterprises and are more likely to have multiple priorities when it comes to managing cloud solutions. The report found that the responsibility of managing cloud services often falls on the CEO, President, or even on the owner of the traditional SMB. On top of limited technical staff, traditional SMBs note cost (19%), technical training and education (13%), and time required to manage services (12%) as barriers to cloud adoption, showing traditional SMBs are calling for cloud solutions that are less complex and easier to manage.

Secondly, traditional SMBs suffer from a knowledge gap around cloud solutions, which means their cloud setups are less complex than tech-focused SMBs and enterprises. Meanwhile, 56% of respondents from traditional SMBs are not familiar with the term “digital native,” compared to the 18% of respondents from enterprises who are not familiar. Of the respondents who reported increased cloud usage in 2020 due to COVID-driven digital acceleration, 82% of traditional SMBs, 82% of tech SMBs, and 92% of enterprises said their cloud usage has continued to increase this year. 69% of respondents believe the cloud has helped their business recover from the ongoing pandemic.

Businesses of all sizes say coping with the impacts of COVID-19 is the biggest challenge they face right now, but for traditional SMBs, keeping up with the technology curve is just behind. At the same time, Enterprises and tech-focused SMBs were more likely to be cloud native businesses than traditional SMBs–64% of enterprises, 58% of tech-focused SMBs, and 35% of traditional SMBs say they are cloud native. Cloud native businesses are also more likely to consider themselves startups, find hiring and training employees on technology solutions a greater challenge, and say the complexity of cloud solutions is more of a challenge than non-cloud native businesses.