Redgate survey says hybrid cloud is now long-term reality

Redgate has published survey findings on cloud migration, hybrid environments and AI adoption among AWS users. The report found that 43% of organisations now see hybrid cloud environments as a long-term operating reality.

The figures come from an AWS-focused extension of Redgate's 2026 State of the Database Landscape survey, based on responses from 2,150 IT professionals worldwide. The research points to a gap between cloud migration plans and the practical difficulty of moving more complex databases.

Many organisations have shifted simpler workloads to the cloud while leaving harder-to-move databases in mixed on-premise and cloud environments. As a result, hybrid estates have remained in place longer than intended, particularly where systems are considered high risk or difficult to replatform.

Redgate's data suggests the operational burden of those environments is falling heavily on database and infrastructure teams. Security emerged as a clear pressure point: 82% of respondents said database security has become more complex, and 73% said they feel personally responsible for security outcomes.

Hybrid environments also showed a higher rate of security or privacy incidents than cloud-only setups. Half of respondents in hybrid organisations reported data privacy or security issues over the past year, compared with 44% of those in cloud-only estates.

The survey also highlighted a divide between senior decision-makers and operational teams on cloud cost management. Operational staff were 18% more likely than senior leaders to identify cost control as a challenge, while access to spending data was uneven.

Three-quarters of senior leaders said they had access to cloud cost analytics. Fewer than half of operational teams reported the same, suggesting that those managing day-to-day systems often have less financial visibility than those setting strategy.

Migration Friction

The results add to a broader industry debate over the pace and shape of cloud migration. Businesses have spent years moving applications and data to public cloud platforms, but databases often remain among the hardest workloads to relocate because of performance, compliance, resilience and integration concerns.

The challenge is especially acute in large estates built up over time, where legacy systems sit alongside newer cloud-native applications. In these environments, a hybrid model can shift from a transitional phase to an entrenched operating structure.

John Q Martin, Technology Partner & Alliances Manager at Redgate, said the survey showed a pattern of stalled migrations around more complex systems. "Organisations are successfully moving 'easy' workloads but leaving complex, high-risk databases in a hybrid limbo that was never meant to be permanent," he said.

He added: "This is a strategic dead-end that transforms temporary setups into permanent liabilities, effectively anchoring the enterprise to the very legacy complexity they were trying to escape."

AI Uptake

Alongside the migration findings, the survey recorded a sharp rise in AI adoption, from 15% to 44% in one year among the groups covered by the research.

Respondents using AWS were largely positive about AI's potential effect on software delivery and operational work. Among AWS users, 83% said they expected AI to have a net positive impact on DevOps speed and performance.

That finding reflects a wider push across enterprise technology teams to apply AI tools to automation, monitoring and incident response. In database operations, suppliers and users alike have focused on whether AI can reduce manual work, improve visibility and help teams manage increasingly fragmented estates.

For organisations dealing with hybrid cloud complexity, AI's promise is closely tied to risk management and operational oversight. The survey suggests many teams see automated processes and faster insight as a way to regain momentum in migration programmes that have slowed around difficult database assets.

The findings also underline that cloud adoption is no longer simply a matter of moving workloads from one environment to another. For many companies, the challenge now lies in deciding which systems should move, which should remain in place, and how to manage the costs, controls and accountability of operating across both.