IT leaders must ensure modernisation programs are leveraging the best technologies to ensure they are delivered on time and able to impact.
Foundry’s Cloud Computing Study 2025 shows that around a third of IT decision makers (32%) say integration or migration challenges stalled cloud adoption.
AWS plays a central role in overcoming these barriers, offering flexible migration pathways, more than 200 native services, and a global partner ecosystem to support scalable, secure modernisation with a clear route to return on investment. Recent advances in automation, AI, and workload optimisation (many enabled by AWS) are helping CIOs move faster while maintaining service continuity and control.
Cloud native as the foundation for migration success
Cloud-native principles become especially valuable when enterprises move complex estates. Microservices and containers enable workload decomposition into modular components, making phased migration easier and safeguarding service continuity.
Automation further compresses timelines and improves precision. IDC research shows that organisations reduced staff time required to migrate workloads by 52% when moving to VMware Cloud on AWS, compared with other native public clouds. For CIOs, this means migration can be executed more quickly, with tighter control and less disruption to operations.
AI simplifies migration and accelerates value
AI is increasingly being applied to the most resource-intensive stages of migration, such as dependency mapping and workload planning. By surfacing interconnections and highlighting risks, AI helps enterprises cut planning cycles and sustain business services during change. IDC forecasts that, by 2026, 60% of Global 2000 enterprises will embed AI into workflows, driving a 45% improvement in operational efficiency and employee productivity. For CIOs, the implication is clear: AI brings discipline and foresight to modernisation, turning migration into a managed process with measurable outcomes.
Faster, more secure, and with a reduced budget burden
Advances at the hardware level are also reshaping migration performance. AWS instances include built-in accelerators designed to handle demanding workloads, compressing and encrypting data securely and at speed while reducing overheads. Together, these features boost throughput, strengthen security, and accelerate workloads that underpin modernisation. For enterprises modernising VMware environments, the result is stronger performance without added complexity.
From modernisation to measurable impact
Modernising infrastructure is no longer just about cost or control; it’s about enabling innovation at speed. By aligning cloud-native design with enterprise IT standards, VMware Cloud on AWS helps IT leaders accelerate project timelines and surface business value sooner. Faster provisioning, automated scaling, and seamless workload mobility give CIOs the agility to respond to business change while laying the groundwork for AI and data-driven innovation. This approach empowers CIOs to move from reactive infrastructure upgrades to proactive innovation cycles, where IT investment directly fuels competitiveness, adaptability, and long-term business growth.
Lowering barriers to VMware modernisation
Many enterprises run VMware estates that underpin core applications, making tech leaders cautious about disrupting workloads at scale. Large estates built on vSphere®, vSAN™, and NSX® often support mission-critical services. Among the solutions reducing these barriers is the combination of AWS scale, and VMware continuity. This alignment helps leaders tackle complexity directly, simplify execution, and move forward with a clearer route to return on investment.
Strategic takeaway
Enterprises are entering a new phase of modernisation in which migration is no longer a disruptive hurdle but a platform for innovation. Cloud-native design, AI-driven planning, and the combined strengths of AWS and VMware now give CIOs the means to modernise at pace and position IT as a driver of competitiveness in the AI era.
Transform cloud migration with AWS.