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For the last decade, the strategy for many IT departments was simple: move everything to the cloud to save on costs. The promise was moving faster, with less downtime and less maintenance, but as we settle into 2026, the reality is looking a bit different for some teams. Parallels has just released its 2026 State of Cloud Computing Survey. The results paint a picture of an industry that is tapping the brakes on “cloud at all costs” because teams are starting to realize that it’s leading them into vendor lock-in.
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About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.
The fear of vendor lock-in
The most striking number in the report is that 94% of organizations are concerned about vendor lock-in. This stat confirms a lot of what I’ve heard from IT teams as well. SaaS has worked great, but continuous license increases across all your tools have pushed many of your costs to the point where teams start questioning their ROI. I know that as I start to get license renewals for tools I manage in my job, I am in the same bucket. Something that was a three-figure purchase originally has drifted to four figures.
Nearly half of the respondents said they are “very concerned,” citing uncertain product roadmaps and fears over future support as key drivers. This tells us that the era of blindly trusting a single platform vendor is over. IT directors are now prioritizing architectures that give them an exit strategy if pricing or features go sideways. The AI era is certainly not helping here.
AI: Moving from hype to help
In 2025, everyone was scrambling to figure out their “AI Strategy.” In 2026, the dust had settled, and the survey found that organizations were no longer interested in AI for its own sake. They want it to reduce the grunt work. Here’s what those surveyed are saying:
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