Super-standard cloud: megatrend pushes risks into the background

Pfungstadt, July 16, 2025 - In a study, eperi took a close look at the planning, procurement and deployment of cloud applications in companies in Germany to find out the state of data protection in cloud use - with impressive results.

Use of cloud services is becoming the standard

The use of cloud services has become the super standard. On average, 85.8% of all companies surveyed stated that they use cloud services. However, when looking at the size of the companies, clear differences can be seen at this high level: At 90.9%, companies with 2,000 - 4,999 employees are the top users of cloud services, while the figure for large companies with more than 5,000 employees is a comparatively low 82.1%.

These results are interesting in terms of where the data is stored. Overall, only 33.6% use external data centers when using the cloud, with companies with 999 to 1,999 employees relying on external data centers more frequently than average at 50%. In an industry comparison, the results regarding external data centers in connection with the cloud are surprising: an above-average 52.2% of public administrations rely on external data centers; this figure is by far the highest in the industry comparison.

"In connection with external data centers, cloud services, such as Office applications, can quickly become a challenge for data protection. Unfortunately, only 37.4 percent use encryption technology for data to date, although data protection cannot be guaranteed by the cloud operator in many cases. Despite all the advantages of the cloud, the euphoria must not hide the fact that it also entails economic risks due to data protection breaches," says Andreas Steffen, CEO of eperi. "More sensitivity is needed at this point."

Polarizing decision

In connection with the very widespread use of cloud services, the question of who makes decisions in the company or organization when planning and providing a cloud solution is particularly interesting. Surprisingly, in 65.4 percent of all companies surveyed, these decisions are made by just one person and only 34.6 percent are made by a team.

"This result is very surprising, as the provision of a cloud solution almost always affects various areas of the company. The specialist department is the beneficiary, IT is responsible for operations and security and the boardroom bears the responsibility if something goes significantly wrong, such as sensitive or confidential data leaking into the wrong hands due to insecure cloud solutions," says Steffen. "To be honest, I would have expected more teamwork in companies with the current and widely known risk situation around cloud solutions and the need for data security and compliance."

At 75.8%, "sole control" over the planning and provision of cloud solutions is particularly pronounced in companies with 2,000 to 4,999 employees, i.e. the upper midmarket. Energy and water utilities, which have a particular duty of care as critical infrastructure operators, even top this figure with 87.5%.