What Drives Multi‑Cloud Adoption? Insights from HashiCorp’s 2021 Survey

HashiCorp Overview

Founded in 2012, HashiCorp is a leading DevOps company offering cloud and infrastructure automation tools such as Vagrant, Packer, Terraform, Vault, Nomad, and Consul. Its open‑source software receives nearly 80 million downloads annually, with more than 100 Fortune‑500 companies as customers and a recent valuation of $5.1 billion.

Survey Methodology

In February 2021, HashiCorp surveyed 300,000 email subscribers about “cloud strategy status” and received 3,205 responses from technology professionals and decision‑makers worldwide.

Key Findings

76% of respondents already operate in a multi‑cloud mode.

34% cite digital transformation as the primary driver for adopting multi‑cloud.

57% identify talent/skill gaps as the biggest operational challenge.

47% consider security the top obstacle.

46% say COVID‑19 has not accelerated cloud adoption.

Approximately three‑quarters of respondents use multi‑cloud architectures, and this is expected to rise to nearly 90% within two years.

Enterprises with larger cloud budgets (> $5 million) are more likely to have a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE), with about two‑thirds of such firms operating a CCoE compared to 40% overall.

Value of Multi‑Cloud

53% of respondents believe multi‑cloud delivers value toward business goals, while 18% see no value. Larger enterprises report higher success rates (≈64%) than medium (≈50%) and small firms (≈42%).

Drivers of Multi‑Cloud Strategy

Beyond digital transformation, factors such as avoiding vendor lock‑in, reducing costs, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing security governance also motivate adoption. Industry‑specific drivers vary: software services, telecom, and media prioritize cost; finance, healthcare, and biotech focus on security; government and retail cite skill shortages.

Challenges and Barriers

Key obstacles include cost, security, and lack of skilled personnel. Additional challenges are hybrid‑cloud complexity, regulatory compliance, network intricacy, and insufficient automation tools.

Across industries, cost remains the dominant barrier, while security concerns are paramount in finance and healthcare, and skill gaps hinder adoption in public sector and retail.

Security Concerns

Security is both a driver and a blocker; nearly half of respondents rank security among the top three cloud impediments. Tooling gaps are highlighted as a major issue for security governance.

Impact of COVID‑19

More than half of respondents say the pandemic accelerated cloud or multi‑cloud adoption, yet only 7% view COVID‑19 as a primary multi‑cloud driver. About 46% report no impact, and 39% indicate increased use of open‑source software.

Investment in Multi‑Cloud

51% list cost reduction as a multi‑cloud driver, while 28% cite cost savings as a benefit. Over one‑third of respondents spend more than $2 million annually on multi‑cloud, with 6% exceeding $50 million.

Enterprises with larger budgets are more prone to overspend: 46% of firms budgeting $2 million–$100 million overspend, versus 27% of those under $100 k.

Open‑Source and Automation Tools

Open‑source infrastructure automation tools are the most popular choice across all infrastructure categories. However, security teams still favor commercial tools, with 25% purchasing commercial solutions for self‑hosted use and 18% opting for SaaS offerings.

Automation tools are deemed critical for managing multi‑cloud environments; usage correlates with cloud spend, with higher adoption in finance and media compared to government sectors.

Unified Automation Management

Standardized automation helps organizations efficiently utilize cloud resources, a practice adopted by roughly half of respondents across regions and company sizes.