UK enterprises lead the way on containerization, but skills gaps could hinder progress

The UK risks fumbling its lead on cloud native deployments due to skills issues, according to Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) survey.

As it stands, firms in the UK lead the way in containerization, a foundational element of cloud native application development.

UK-specific figures from the report revealed that more than 90% of firms are at least in the process of containerizing applications. Nearly one-third (32%) are ensuring that all new applications are containerized, outpacing the global average of 27%.

“By embracing containers at pace, UK organizations are positioning themselves for greater agility, portability, and automation,” the report said.

A looming skills gap threatens the UK’s lead, however, with less than half (42%) of IT leaders confident in the ability of their teams when it comes to supporting cloud native adoption.

UK firms are focusing on skills investment to address this issue, the report said, with 59% now actively hiring for roles in containerization and staff with cloud native expertise. This attention to talent development will be crucial in sustaining momentum, the report added.

“The UK is at a pivotal moment in its GenAI adoption journey. While organizations are eager to leverage AI-driven productivity and automation, security, integration with existing infrastructure, and skills shortages continue to slow progress,” James Sturrock, director of systems engineering at Nutanix, said.

“The findings from this year’s ECI highlight the need for a strategic approach that ensures secure, scalable, and well-governed AI implementations. A hybrid multicloud foundation and strong data security and governance frameworks will be critical in moving from early experimentation to real-world impact,” he added.

Cloud native adoption gathers pace

Additional findings from the report suggest cloud native deployments are becoming increasingly popular, with 54% of global firms reporting that all of their applications are now containerized.

This is partly driven by cloud-only organizations that are running their entire portfolio of applications in one or more public loud. 66% of these firms report that all of their applications are containerized.

Almost all (98%) of surveyed firms said they are at least in the process of containerizing applications, including both legacy and newly developed applications.

A shift to containerization is also being driven by the development of new AI applications that are often built on containers. The trend towards containerization is therefore expected to continue, the report said.

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