New Study Shows that Knowledge and Experience Need to Ramp Quickly to Meet the Massive Expectations for Cloud-Native Development

Global survey from OutSystems finds that while analysts expect nearly all apps to be built using cloud-native development by the end of 2025, the majority of companies are still just getting started

OutSystems, a global leader in low-code application development, today released findings from a global survey of IT leaders and developers gauging the benefits and challenges of cloud-native development, with results highlighting stark contrasts between expectations and readiness. The report, “Cloud-Native Development: Ready or Not? What IT Executives and Developers Say,” reveals that while analysts expect a sharp rise in cloud-native development globally, more than half of respondents (53%) still don’t know much about it.

“Cloud-native technology unlocks new possibilities for application speed, reliability and massive scale – if it’s done right,” said Patrick Jean, CTO of OutSystems. “Many businesses are showing a delta between their desired future state and their current knowledge and expertise. Our research reveals that most businesses don’t know enough about cloud-native’s challenges and don’t have the staff to successfully implement it. The answer lies in high-performance low-code tools that can help speed and simplify the path forward and dramatically improve the way they build and manage apps for the future.”

Based on the global survey of more than 500 IT leaders and developers across industries, including cloud-native leaders (those who currently use cloud-native) and laggards (those who do not), the OutSystems report pinpoints the current state of the technology, in terms of its adoption, challenges and opportunities. Key findings include:

• Knowledge Gap - While 72% of respondents expect that the majority of their apps will be created using cloud-native development by 2023, only 47% of them know a lot about it.
• Unexpected Challenges - Cloud-native leaders say that selecting the right tools/platforms (52%), and architectural complexity (51%) are the top two challenges of cloud-native development, whereas cloud-native laggards rank these significantly lower.
• Talent Need - Both cloud-native leaders and laggards agree that engineering team growth is a necessity – and a struggle. Respondents share the need for talent across 13 different roles, from back-end, full-stack, and mobile developers to enterprise architects and designers, with cloud architects standing out as a critical role to fill.
• Low-Code Advantage - Cloud-native leaders see low-code platforms as winning partners in their cloud-native journeys, with 60% saying low-code platforms are “very good” or “excellent” tools for cloud-native implementation. More than seven in ten (72%) cloud-native leaders work with low-code platforms already.

Methodology

Findings in “Cloud-Native Development: Ready or Not? What IT Executives and Developers Say” are based on a survey of 505 information technology decision-makers and developers spanning enterprises, commercial companies, and small businesses around the globe. Fielded with research technology company Lucid (a Cint Group Company), the online survey was conducted in February 2022 across the United States, Europe, Australia, Latin America, Canada, and Singapore.

The OutSystems full report on the state of cloud-native application development can be read here. For more, tune into OutSystems Cloud Innovation Summit taking place virtually June 7-8.