The question is no longer if you should modernize your applications, but how. Every enterprise leader I speak with is navigating this journey, facing a complex landscape of public, private, and hybrid cloud options. It’s a path filled with both incredible opportunities and significant challenges.
A new white paper from industry analyst firm IDC, sponsored by VMware, “Managing Application Modernization, Migration, and Digital Transformation with VMware in the Public Cloud,” provides a clear analysis of this landscape. The study validates the strategy we’ve built with our hyperscaler partners: in a world of complex choices, a unified, consistent platform is the safest and smartest bet for long-term success.
Let’s explore the key takeaways from this study.
The Modernization Dilemma: Choice Creates Complexity
The IDC White Paper begins by laying out the modern enterprise’s dilemma. The goal is to modernize, but the path is anything but simple. Organizations must choose between various approaches, from a basic “lift and shift” of infrastructure to completely re-writing an application as a cloud-native service.
Each approach has trade-offs in terms of cost, time, and complexity. Compounding this are challenges like a lack of clear documentation for aging applications and the risk of “spaghetti code” from years of custom modifications. When you add multiple public clouds, each with its own set of APIs and management tools, the complexity can slow modernization efforts to a crawl.
The Solution: A Unified Platform Across All Clouds
According to IDC, the clear solution to this complexity is a unified and mature platform. The study identifies VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as a prominent platform that provides a consistent infrastructure layer and operating model, whether on-premises or in the public cloud.
This consistency is the crucial advantage. It allows enterprises to leverage existing skill sets while eliminating the operational friction that comes from juggling disparate environments. In fact, IDC predicts that by 2025, 75% of organizations will favor technology partners who can provide this exact type of consistent application deployment experience across cloud, edge, and dedicated environments.
Stronger Together: VCF and Our Hyperscaler Partners
This is where the power of our partnerships comes into full view. The IDC White Paper highlights how VCF is natively supported in major public clouds, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
This collaboration offers you the best of both worlds:
- Protect Existing Investments: You can continue to leverage your current infrastructure investments and skills.
- Innovate with Hyperscale Services: You gain seamless access to a massive portfolio of adjacent cloud services for data management, AI, machine learning, and more.
Administrators can manage their public cloud and on-premises clusters from the same console, enabling a true hybrid cloud strategy. This integrated approach allows you to migrate and modernize at your own pace, maintaining an application’s current state until you’re ready to refactor or rebuild it.
Beyond Migration: Enabling True Transformation
A unified platform isn’t just about making migrations easier; it’s about enabling genuine transformation. The study notes that to succeed, organizations must foster a robust DevOps culture and involve business stakeholders closely in the process.
VCF is designed to enable this cultural shift by addressing three key areas:
- Modern Infrastructure: It transforms legacy IT into a more agile and adaptable cloud environment.
- Unified Cloud Experience: It provides developers with frictionless access to the tools, libraries, and infrastructure they need to be productive, including an embedded Kubernetes runtime.
- Security and Resilience: VCF delivers a consistent, secure platform that can address challenges like ransomware and disaster recovery, which is critical for regulated industries.
The Path Forward in a Complex World
The journey to application modernization is essential for staying competitive and serving customers effectively. The COVID-19 pandemic proved how critical it is for enterprises to be nimble and adapt quickly.
The IDC study makes it clear: a VCF-powered cloud, built on deep partnerships with the world’s leading hyperscalers, eliminates the key challenges of migration and modernization by accelerating project timelines. It provides the consistent, flexible, and secure foundation you need to transform your business for the future.
To learn more about how VMware and our hyperscaler partners can accelerate your modernization journey, visit our solutions page.IDC White Paper, Sponsored by VMware, Managing Application Modernization, Migration, and Digital Transformation with VMware in the Public Cloud, US53556725 , June 2025
