Parallels has published its 2025 State of Cloud Computing Survey, highlighting a significant transformation in the EUC landscape led by midsize organizations. As they grapple with high costs and outdated VDI systems, 63% are evaluating new VDI or DaaS solutions, with 94% aiming to deploy a new platform within the year.
“Mid-market companies are facing growing IT demands without enterprise-level budgets,” said Prashant Ketkar, Chief Technology & Product Officer at Parallels. “They’re under pressure to streamline operations, from application delivery and cloud management to VDI support—while also strengthening cybersecurity and enabling remote work. This is forcing organizations to reevaluate their application delivery infrastructure strategies in favor of more cost-effective, secure, and flexible solution.”
Top Challenges with Current VDI Solutions
The survey asked mid-market IT leaders to rank the most pressing challenges they face with their current VDI solutions. The results point to a clear trend: complexity, cost, and manageability remain major pain points. Respondents ranked the following issues as their top concerns, with 1 being the most critical:
- Requires too many IT resources
- Lack of centralized control
- Too expensive
- Too complex
- Unreliable/performance issues
As organizations seek to address these challenges, several key factors are influencing their decisions to change their IT strategies.
Key Drivers Behind Shifting IT Strategies
As the VDI market continues to experience disruption, mid-market organizations are reevaluating their IT strategies to better align with their current and future needs. When asked about the leading factors influencing potential change, survey respondents cited the following:
- Rising costs – 43%
- Concern over future support – 26%
- Lack of integration – 18%
- Uncertain product roadmaps – 13%
- Other – 1%
These insights point to a growing demand for solutions that reduce operational overhead while offering long-term stability and seamless integration. IT leaders are not only looking for ways to cut costs, but they’re also seeking trusted partners with clear product direction and the ability to support evolving infrastructure strategies.
According to Gartner, “Vendors push for organizations to embrace 100% cloud deployment, but most MSEs continue to find benefits in a hybrid approach that balances both on-premises and cloud advantages. MSE CIOs or the most senior IT leaders report that, on average, 40% of their applications and infrastructure remain on-premises.” This underscores the importance of flexible solutions that can support both cloud and on-premises deployments, allowing businesses to modernize at their own pace, without sacrificing performance, control, or budget.
Cybersecurity Budgets on the Rise
With cybersecurity threats continuing to evolve, mid-market organizations are prioritizing stronger defenses in their IT strategies. According to the survey, an overwhelming majority – nine out of 10 – plan to boost their cybersecurity investments in 2025:
- 41% reported their cybersecurity budget is increasing significantly
- 48% said it’s increasing moderately
- Only 9% plan to maintain current spending levels, and just 1% anticipate a decrease
These results underscore how critical cybersecurity has become, not just as a protective measure, but as a foundational element of digital transformation and business resilience.
“What we’re hearing from IT leaders is a desire for choice, security & simplicity without compromise—solutions that are easy to deploy, run & manage,” said Ketkar. “At Parallels, we’re focused on delivering powerful, streamlined application delivery & infrastructure solutions that help midsize businesses stay agile, reduce costs, and modernize at their own pace.”
Survey Methodology
Parallels’ 2025 State of Cloud Computing Survey was conducted in December 2024 with data from 600 IT professionals across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and the European Union about their cloud journeys to discover what’s working, what isn’t, and what’s next. To see the full results of how these mid-market IT leaders responded in the study, click here.
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*Note: Mid-size companies are defined as those with 300 to 1,000 employees.
Gartner Attribution
Gartner, Midsize Enterprises Optimize Cloud and On-Premises Strategies, By Mike Cisek, Megha Bawa, 30 October 2024.
