HyperFRAME Lens Research 2
State of the
Enterprise Infrastructure & Operations
1H 2026
Primary Research · June 2026
01
Research Overview
The HyperFRAME Research Lens: State of Enterprise Infrastructure & Operations is primary research illuminating how enterprises plan, deploy, secure, and scale the systems that underpin modern business. It's based on a global study of 520 enterprise I&O leaders across North America, EMEA, APAC, and South/Central America. The study benchmarks Infrastructure & Operations maturity across cloud strategy, compute modernization, cyber-resilience, observability, talent, and AI readiness. Published as open research updated every six months, the Lens establishes a foundational baseline for tracking how enterprise priorities, risks, and execution realities evolve over time — and serves as a companion to the State of the Enterprise AI Stack, reflecting the growing interdependence between infrastructure strategy and AI readiness.
Key Highlights
-
72%
rank security as the #1 barrier to scaling infrastructure, yet only 30% feel very confident in recovery speed after a cyber-attack or loss of cloud-based data.
-
55%
rely on hybrid cloud models, but only 23% of compute workloads are actually processed in hybrid environments — a clear intent-to-execution gap.
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79%
of public/hybrid enterprises use multiple cloud providers, including 27% running four or more — a potential sign of architectural sprawl and operational complexity.
-
40%
are Mass Adopters who require validated business cases and proven ROI before investing — discipline now tempers the innovation rush.
-
37%
face a significant Kubernetes skills gap, and 49% struggle to find staff with both technical and legal AI expertise — a talent wall slowing progress.
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84%
report that AI deployment has consumed more budget and operational resources than originally planned, straining I&O readiness.
Enterprise infrastructure is undergoing a period of profound disruption as organizations confront the combined pressures of cloud adoption, escalating cybersecurity threats, rising operational complexity, global data governance requirements, and the resource-intensive demands of enterprise AI. These forces are reshaping how Infrastructure & Operations (I&O) teams plan, deploy, secure, and scale the systems that underpin modern business.
At a time when execution speed and architectural integrity are becoming competitive differentiators, I&O decisions increasingly determine the success, resilience, and velocity of both technology initiatives and the enterprise itself. This report provides an empirical view into how organizations are navigating this transition, prioritizing investments, and confronting the constraints that continue to slow progress.
This 1 HyperFRAME Research Lens on the State of Enterprise Infrastructure & Operations provides a comprehensive analysis of the I&O landscape, including:
- Infrastructure, Cloud & Networking: The prevalence of hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, the push toward unified management platforms, and the rise of SDN.
- Compute & Mainframe Strategy: Workload distribution across public, private, and hybrid clouds, virtualization trends, container adoption, and mainframe AI readiness.
- Storage, Cyber-resilience & Security: Why security leads every priority, the confidence gap in recovery, and the rise of immutable backups and SaaS data protection.
- Observability & Operational Maturity: Pervasive tool fragmentation, alert fatigue, and the slow march toward AIOps and unified monitoring.
- Talent & Vendor Strategy: The acute Kubernetes and network/security skills gaps, plus the shift from custom builds toward commercial off-the-shelf software.
- AI Adoption & Governance: Budget overruns from AI deployment, regulatory readiness across the EU AI Act and beyond, and the talent barriers constraining competitive AI advantage.
Study Profile
To ensure findings reflect real-world constraints rather than vendor-led narratives, this study reflects perspectives across a diverse mix of organizations and regions:
- Total Respondents520 qualified I&O leaders
- Organizational ProfileUnder 1,000 to more than 50,000 employees
- Geographic MixEMEA (26%), North America (25%), APAC (25%), South/Central America (24%)
- Key Stakeholder Roles25% Strategic Owners, 25% Decision Leads, 23% Technical Sponsors
- Functional ConcentrationIT (30%), Operations (28%), Information Security (20%)
Figure 3a: Most Significant Challenges to Deploying & Scaling IT Infrastructure
Figure 7 & 8: IT Budget Allocation for I&O Software — Today vs. Next 12–24 Months
Figure 17: Organizational Concern Levels for Types of Security Threats
02
HyperFRAME Research Lens: Enterprise Infrastructure & Operations 1 Raw Data
Welcome to the data-first view of the State of Enterprise Infrastructure & Operations. This section is designed for architects, researchers, and strategic planners who require the raw empirical evidence behind our analysis. Below are the foundational metrics covering cloud and compute strategy, budget, cyber-resilience, observability, talent, vendor strategy, and AI governance readiness.
If you'd like to discuss this data further, please contact us.
Which of the following best describes your organization’s overall approach to adopting new technologies?
How would you describe your current IT infrastructure model?
(If using Public/Hybrid Cloud) How would you describe your current use of multiple cloud providers?
How significant a challenge to deploying and scaling your IT infrastructure are each of the following?
Percentage rating each factor a “Very significant” challenge.
Which challenge to deploying and scaling your IT infrastructure would you consider the most significant and/or difficult to overcome?
Which of the following best describes your organization’s approach to networking?
Which of the following best describes how your organization currently manages your compute, storage, and network resources?
How important is a unified, streamlined management platform for your compute, storage, and network resources?
Please estimate what percentage of your overall IT budget is currently allocated to infrastructure and operations software?
Thinking ahead, please estimate what percentage of your overall IT budget will be allocated to infrastructure and operations software over the coming 12–24 months?
What percentage of your data compute workload is currently processed in each of the following cloud environments?
What is the approximate percentage breakdown of your current compute workloads?
How has your investment in virtualization technology changed over the past 12 months?
How do you anticipate your investment in virtualization technology will change over the coming 12–24 months?
What is the primary reason or driver for your organization’s adoption of containers and Kubernetes?
Does your organization currently utilize mainframe systems as part of your overall compute strategy?
“Our existing mainframe environment provides all the necessary infrastructure and tooling to support our organization’s AI strategy” — how much do you agree?
Which of the following best describes your organization’s long-term strategic vision for mainframe use over the coming 3–5 years?
How important are the following in determining your organization’s storage strategy over the next 24 months?
Percentage rating each factor “Critically or very important.”
Which would you consider the most important or primary driver for your organization’s storage strategy over the next 24 months?
How confident are you in your organization’s ability to recover from a major cyber-attack or loss of cloud-based data with minimal downtime?
Please rate your organization’s level of concern regarding the following types of security threats.
Percentage reporting they are “Very concerned” about each threat.
Which of the following best describes your approach to managing storage, backup and recovery?
Thinking about the next 24 months, what is your organization’s primary approach to using or managing storage, backup and cyber recovery?
How important is the use of immutable backups for SaaS applications to your organization’s data resilience strategy?
Which SaaS applications does your organization currently use, and how are they backed up?
Frequency of deployment among respondents (not breadth). 10–15% of users across all apps are “unsure” how their data is backed up.
Thinking ahead 12–24 months, which SaaS applications do you plan to use, and how will they be backed up?
Percentage planning a “both native and immutable” protection model — the emerging dominant strategy.
How would you describe your organization’s primary approach to monitoring and observability today?
How well-integrated are your observability tools with your CI/CD and deployment workflows?
How significant a pain point are the following for your IT teams when responding to an outage or performance issue?
Percentage rating each pain point “Very significant.”
Which of the following pain points is the most significant when responding to an outage or performance issue?
To what extent does your organization use AI for IT Operations (AIOps)?
Which best describes your organization’s use of AI technologies (AIOps) for suggesting and automating next best actions in operational settings?
How significant a skills gap does your organization face in each of the following?
Percentage reporting a “Significant skills gap” in each area.
Which of the following skills gaps would you consider the most significant or challenging to overcome?
How significant are the following in influencing decisions on infrastructure procurement and/or vendor selection?
Percentage rating each factor “Very significant.”
Which of the following best describes your organization’s approach to managing your IT infrastructure?
Please rank the most to least common type of software currently deployed within your organization’s IT infrastructure.
Percentage ranking each type as the #1 most commonly deployed (Rank 1).
How widely deployed do you expect COTS, Open Source, or Proprietary software to be within 12–24 months from now?
Percentage expecting each type to be the “Most widely deployed.”
Please state if you agree or disagree with the following on the impact of AI on IT budgets, implementations and/or innovation.
Percentage who “Strongly agree” with each statement.
Which of the following best describes your organization’s readiness to support the following AI regulatory frameworks?
Percentage who “currently support this legal framework” (Level 1).
Which one framework best aligns with or would be considered the most important (primary) driver of your organization’s AI governance strategy?
How significant a challenge or barrier are the following regulatory-driven risks to your organization’s ability to develop and maintain a competitive AI advantage?
Percentage rating each risk a “Significant challenge.”
Which of the barriers or risks above is the most significant or challenging to overcome to maintain a competitive AI advantage?