"Should we move our systems to the cloud?" is now on the agenda of many management meetings. The answer differs from one organization to the next, but the data show that large companies are making clear progress along this path. According to the Information Technology Usage in Enterprises Survey published on 10 September 2026 by TÜİK (the Turkish Statistical Institute), the share of enterprises using paid cloud computing services in 2026 is 20.2%. Among enterprises with 250 or more employees, that share rises to 57.0%.
In this article, we read the data for Türkiye and the European Union together, clarify what the cloud actually is through a standard definition, and look at which workloads a migration can start with.
The picture in Türkiye: usage grows with company size
TÜİK data show that cloud use is directly linked to company size. The share using paid cloud is 57.0% among enterprises with 250 or more employees, 33.3% among those with 50-249 employees and 16.7% among those with 10-49 employees.
There is also a clear divide between sectors. The highest rates are in telecommunications, programming and information services at 55.2%; publishing, radio-TV and content at 46.3%; and the repair of computers and communication equipment at 43.2%. The lowest rates are in construction at 10.8%, accommodation and food service at 12.6%, and transportation and storage at 16.0%.
The same bulletin also sheds light on the human-resources side of the cloud decision. The share of enterprises employing information and communication technology (ICT) specialists is 15.2% in 2026, and among enterprises with 250 or more employees it is 73.3%. Of the enterprises that hired or tried to hire ICT specialists, 31.7% reported that they had difficulty in the hiring process in 2025. In short, the team that will manage the technology is as decisive as the technology itself.
The situation in Europe: cloud is nearing the mainstream
According to Eurostat data compiled in January 2026, 52.74% of enterprises in the EU used paid cloud services in 2025, a rise of 7.42 percentage points compared with 2023. The rate is 84.67% among large enterprises, 66.78% among medium-sized enterprises and 49.3% among small enterprises.
The two datasets cover different years (Türkiye 2026, EU 2025) and different country scopes, so a one-to-one comparison would not be accurate. Even so, the overall picture is clear: large companies in Türkiye have turned to the cloud, while at medium and small scale considerable room remains.
First, the concept: what exactly is the cloud?
One problem that comes up often in cloud migration discussions is that everyone understands something different by the word "cloud." Here, the SP 800-145 definition from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a widely used reference point. NIST defines the cloud as a model that provides access to shared, configurable computing resources over the network, on demand and with minimal management effort.
The definition rests on five essential characteristics, three service models and four deployment models:
- Five characteristics: on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service.
- Three service models: SaaS, in which software is delivered as a service; PaaS, in which an application development environment is provided; and IaaS, in which infrastructure such as servers, storage and networking is provided.
- Four deployment models: private, community, public and hybrid cloud.
This framework is useful because it moves the internal discussion from the question "should we move to the cloud?" to the question "which workload, with which service model, in which deployment model?"
Which workloads do companies move to the cloud most often?
Eurostat data give a good clue about where migration usually starts. In 2025, of the EU enterprises that use paid cloud, 85.15% used it for email, 71.69% for office software and 71.53% for file storage. These are followed by security software at 65.49%, finance and accounting applications at 58.16% and database hosting at 45.52%. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) stands at 30.12% and customer relationship management (CRM) at 27.91%.
The picture is similar when it comes to service models. While 96.44% of paid cloud users buy at least one SaaS service and 77.25% buy at least one IaaS service, the share of PaaS users is 26.08%.
Another point Eurostat highlights is the level of dependency. Because they buy advanced services such as security software, database hosting or a development platform, 77.53% of enterprises using paid cloud are classified as highly dependent on the cloud. This shows that once the cloud is adopted, it becomes part of critical business processes, and that the decision to migrate should therefore be made together with an exit and continuity plan.
Where should a cloud migration start?
The steps below are a general framework derived from the findings in the sources; each organization needs to adapt it to its own system landscape, sector and regulatory obligations.
- Build an application and data inventory. List which systems run where, how they connect to one another and what data they process. Without an inventory, prioritization is impossible.
- Classify your workloads. Assess each system for business criticality, data sensitivity and need for change. For systems that process personal data or regulated data, involve the legal and compliance teams from the start.
- Start with standardized workloads. As the European data also show, email, office applications and file storage are, for most organizations, relatively low-risk first steps that deliver quick results. Core systems such as finance, ERP and CRM can be addressed with a more detailed plan after the first experience.
- Choose the right service model. Not every system needs to be moved; some can be replaced with a ready-made SaaS solution, while others can keep running on infrastructure (IaaS). Base the choice on business need, not on technology preference.
- Define security and access rules in advance. Settle identity management, authorization, backup and incident-response processes before the migration. According to TÜİK data, 83.0% of enterprises take at least one security measure in their ICT systems; the cloud requires these measures to be reviewed.
- Monitor cost and usage. The "measured service" characteristic in the NIST definition means that resource usage can be tracked. Turning this measurement into a regular management report prevents uncontrolled growth.
- Write the exit plan from the start. At the contract stage, make clear in what format and how quickly your data can be retrieved, and how a change of provider would be carried out.
- Prepare the team. In an environment where finding specialists is hard, training the existing IT team in cloud management is at least as important as the choice of technology for the lasting success of the migration.
Conclusion
In Türkiye, more than half of large companies use paid cloud services, while use at medium and small scale is still limited. The European data show that migration usually starts with standard workloads but over time extends to critical processes and deepens dependency. For this reason, the cloud should be treated as a management decision rather than simply an infrastructure choice.
From Orient Global's perspective, we recommend starting with an inventory and classification, followed by a low-risk pilot workload. Once the pilot's results have been measured, the roadmap for core systems can be defined together with the exit plan and team capability.
An operations perspective. In the TÜİK data, transportation and storage is among the sectors with the lowest paid-cloud use, at 16.0%. Orient Global's advisory team includes a senior executive with more than 30 years in operations, logistics and supply chain, who has managed nationwide warehouse and transport operations and led teams of 100+ people. That logistics discipline shapes our approach to cloud migration: we begin the inventory from the operation itself (orders, stock, shipments and delivery documents) and tie usage reporting to the KPIs the business already tracks.
#interimmanagement #forwarddeployedengineering